Help to Build Community for Marginalized Groups

Hello, My name is Dan Frey and I am seeking someone to volunteer (stipends can be discussed) to help me with any of the following community-building activities. Our Population: people with serious mental health and or addiction challenges....

Current Activities:

City Voices (Website & Social Media) – Website content includes articles, zoom interviews and other videos to educate and empower our peers. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are tools we use to promote events, network, open dialogues, empower, inspire and stay connected with our constituency.

PIP (Peers in Person) – Peers, friends, family and allies meet for outings in Central Park and other parks for outdoor experiences. Coffee shops and museums for indoor experiences. We encourage people to open up, connect, bond and have a good time in settings where diverse peoples congregate.

Kracking Up (Nights of Mental Health Comedy) – Peers are trained in comedy to perform their 6-minute routines at a live virtual and/or in-person event with a crowd of onlookers. The comedy pokes fun at our mental health, addictions and other life-challenges. Someone famous and wise once said that laughter is the highest form of coping mechanism.

The Friendship Squad – Peers who are secure in their recovery together with peers who are having difficulties, form friendships. Friends speak every week for about an hour for 6-months or more. Peers can be paired with peers from other states, even other countries. The only barriers are language and access to technology.

Zoom Spirituality Group – Weekly (currently Saturdays) group that discusses all topics that are considered spiritual like: relationship to a higher power, perceptions of good/evil, non-duality, meditation, mindfulness, other realms, near-death experiences, the afterlife, and more. Special events include poetry sharing and writing exercises.

Possible Future Activities:

Self-stigma Workshop – Sharing of experiences and pain of being hospitalized and/or diagnosed with mental illness. Discussion of how we feel in a crowd, whether we are comfortable in our own skins. Discussion around the fear of others learning that we have psychiatric labels. Discussion around the fundamental sameness among human beings. Discussion of the spiritual make-up of a human being: the loving, harmonious, non-judgmental energy that we are. The conscious awareness that we are fundamentally. Discussion of what ego is and how it might interfere with our feelings of safety and security if not well understood. Discussion of how to practice self love and compassion as often as possible.

Healing Exercises – Yoga, Tai Chi, Reiki, Chi Kung, stretching, and/or breathwork in an indoor or outdoor setting guided by an experienced practitioner for all levels.

Roleplay Workshops – Roleplay to create greater comfort and ultimately greater confidence in human-to-human interactions (eg, having a conversation with someone on the street, a job or volunteering interview, making a new friend, elevator pitches, conference and other networking, introducing oneself in a brief and positive manner, using humor to break the ice, etc. etc.)

Self-Compassion/Love Exercises - just an idea