HEALING JUSTICE Journal : Reproductive and Mental Health News for Young and Adult Wom(y)n & the

LGBTQ community!
Fall 2011 Newsletter
Page 1. Welcome/Fall Message from the Collective! Page 2. & 3 Casa Wish list Endorse/Sponsor & Reflections from Sept Healing Circle Page 4 &5 CASA Introduces Carmen Mojica Program Director /Oct Calender Page 6 Simon Bolivar Foundation FALL HEALTH Fall Affirmations
I am never alone for Spirit is always in and around me wherever I am, I find wisdom from my past and healing in my present, I trust my inner wisdom to guide me perfectly on my journey through life I deeply, completely and lovingly accept myself exactly as I am I allow Spirit to be a co-pilot in my life, I am in tune with my true purpose, passion, and path in life I am divinely protected and guided.

Fall MESSAGE to our Friends and Family, Special Thanks to the Collective at Casa Glenda Hernandez , Sojourner McCauley, Monique Kiera, Monique de la Oz and Mia Briones for being courageous, powerful and using Casa to manifest their creative spirits and for being passionate and standing for their commitment to heal and empower young women. A Special thanks to Omar Freilla for helping us think outside the box. The WOC & LGBTQ Healing Arts Collective is excited to bring you a line up of powerful wom(y)n this Fall , Oceana Rising, Bettys Daughter Arts Collaboartive, the young women of Fuerza and the Mott Haven Village Prep School to mention a few.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO SUPPORT CASA AND YOUR INVITED!

1. We are looking for powerful, courageous, fearless womyn/gender non-conforming people of color to support us in creating an environmentally friendly healing and political space where transformation happens through the spirit to volunteer , intern or join our board today! Are you a healer, artist, organizer? We are rebuilding Casa and need support with providing workshops, painting a young womyns mural, affirmations and healing symbols. In addition we are reworking the space to be environmentally friendly and looking for folks who do carpentry. Let us know if you are willing to donate a few hours to end violence against womyn and creating safe space. Make a donation today @ Casa Atabex Ache.org, site . Your financial support makes this work possible. Please join our facebook page to get up to date information and follow us on our NEW Twitter page..http://twitter.com/casaatabexache For more information email us at casaatabexache@aol.com or call the leadership collective at 718-585-5540.

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CASA Mission Statement Casa has rich legacy of supporting wom(y)n of color heal from internalized oppression by reconnecting with their individual and collective powers of healing and action so they may transform their lives, families and communities. Utilizing a self-healing and social justice model, Casas mission is to support womyn to identify the emotional, spiritual, physical and mental impact that their experiences of abuse ,neglect, oppression (sexism, homophobia, classism, racism and xenophobia, trans-phobia), violence and poverty has on their reproductive and mental health.

Supply/ Wish List Fall 2011

Dear Supporter, It is our pleasure to submit this letter of support on behalf of Casa Atabex Ache/House of Womyns' Power located in New York Citys Mott Haven community. We would like to invite you to sponsor/endorse our Cultural Arts Empowerment & Leadership Afterschool program for young women ages 10-18. Casa is located in the South Bronx, the poorest congressional district of NYS and has been recently been ranked the un healthiest of New York 62 counties; leaving young women vulnerable to obesity (eating disorders), child sexual abuse, drugs, illiteracy domestic violence and HIV/AIDS. The economic crisis has also left this already under resourced community with no after school or recreational programming, overcrowded schools with no support, no library and safe spaces for young women to find their voice, self esteem and be the powerful leaders they can be. We are asking for you to not only donate but build a sustainable relationship with us and sponsor our program this year, ensuring the survival and power of young women. Sponsorship/Endorse by: Making a monetary donation, Provide gift certificates, goody bag items, promotional goods to support the creation of our space. Donate concrete supplies from our supply list please see list. How will you benefit? By sponsoring our program we will advertise you, your companies , or organizations name on our flyers, programs and website, verbal recognition and special thanks given at our events, promotion of your products at any future events, and distribution of your flyers can be arranged if it's of interest to you. We invite you to also make a taxable donation online at www.casaatabeache.org. Your sponsorship will make a difference! Support Casas Cultural Arts Empowerment & Leadership Afterschool program for young women ages 10-18. this FALL, In September we will be bringing in 20 new young women to go through our program, they will learn how to drum, dance, sing and use social media as a tool for self empowerment as they build their self esteem. We need your support to create a safe and green environment where these young women will have access to quality sex education and resources to take care of themselves from the mental and physical trauma they experience as a result of neglect and poverty. We will also provide alternative healthcare, nutrition and healthy meal preparation. In addition, we will provide peer support group to break the silence & address issues of anger, fear & self hate & other issues affecting young womyn with the aim of developing individual and group action strategies to address the health needs and social issues young women are confronting.

Yoga Mats Throw pillows to sit on the floor every size body pillows Back Jack chairs Bean bags Slippers to walk inside the healing space Water fountains Winds chimes Healing stones, crystals Stress relief products (worry beads, stress balls, things to throw, massage balls , punching bags, pressure point socks , or gloves, etc) natural cleaning products, for bathroom, kitchen and office space (peppermint soap, lavender soap) office supplies, printing paper, chart paper, markers Plants Healing oils all natural for aromatherapy Healing music-meditation, drums Florida water/rose water Candles in every color Incense/nag champa, charcoal, matches, sage Fabrics for altars (yellow, red, orange, purple, silver, blue, black, pink , green) massage equipments, stress balls, self healing tools (do it on your own) Self esteem products (salt scrubs etc) Natural toilet tissue, tampons, kotex ) Herbs to make food Teas for every issue (stress, cold anxiety, reproductive health etc) Affirmations for walls Vitamins Get certificates to spas in NYC to sponsor a trip for abuse victims, young women Movie tickets Barnes and Noble gift cards for self healing books

Reflections from the First Fall Healing Circle

I'm not a victim, I am FREE!
The smell of agua florida will hit you the minute you walk onto 140th st. It is a sure sign that a healing circle is happening at casa. There will be a wom(y)n dressed in white throwing water away on the side walk engulfed in the smoke of the sage seeping through the communities windows gently nudging them to wake up and breathe in the fall wind. As you get closer you can hear the drums pounding the walls of the building inviting everyone to dance in celebration cause we are alive. Inside Casa, there a community member cooking up a storm, reminding us that we are hungry, hungry for justice, hungry to forgive, and hungry to heal so we can accept the powerful wom(yn) we are in spite of our past. Today, I come to let go of fear, to not be afraid, to start over , to stop running, and to forgive myself. I want to let go of letting go, of letting go of abandonment, of fear, and of insecurities. Tears, screaming voices once lost, punching pillows, imagining, reclaiming untold stories, sacred bodies, repairing war zones. White fabric dancing, laughter, safe touch, hugs, community and affirmations. In front of mirrors we are scared to see our new selves. To look into eyes once filled with judgment and blurred perceptions of ourselves. But with holding hands and our breathe we share... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. What I have to say is worth being heard and I shouldn't be afraid to say it. You know who you are and who you want to be. That person is beautiful! Its okay to make mistakes. Its okay to stay and I don't have to run. I am good enough and I am loved. I did the best I could. I am successful no matter the outcome. I am not going to be held down. I'm not a victim and I am free!

Thank you! On Sat , Oct 4th, 2011, Casa organized its first Fall Healing Circle for the year 2011. We are excited to announce that since our inception in our space in the South Bronx in 1998, we have provided over 1000 community and personal healing circles in NYC and the work is needed more now than ever before. We thank you all for supporting our mission and continuing to do the work in your organizations, families, movements and in your personal lives. As a result Casa is announcing its new training team this year (Monique De La Oz, Monique Kiera, and Carmen Mojica) and is opening its training in healing circles to young and adult women of color. To get more information please contact casaatabexache@aol.com or call 718-585-5540. Its not to late to join the enery of the fall as it has only been with us for 2 weeks. We invite you to build your spirit and ancestral altars, light a candle and breathe because you are exactly where you need to be and this too shall pass. SAVE THE DATE for UPCOMING CIRCLES every first Sat of the month. Register Today. FALL WINTER Nov 5th Jan 7th Dec 3st Feb 4th March 3rd

Oct 1st, 2011 Join CASA ATABEX ACHE IN HEALING IN COMMUNITY & Walking with Spirit... FIRST FALL Emotional Release HEALING CIRCLE for WOM(Y)N OF COLOR & the LGBTQ community! Transitions are hard and this is the season of change and transformation whether we are ready or not! Come to the healing circle to TO LET GO of what you no longer need, let go of Fear and the past that no longer serves you? Fall prayer. Casa acknowledges our ancestors who have supported our divine and higher purpose. We walk with them this fall so that women, children and families can tap into their royalty. Our efforts will not go unseen and we will be guided by the winds of change into spiritual awakening. We are one with the universe and as such we have faith that will connect to our higher power and continue to do the goddesses work.

CASA WELCOMES! Carmen Mojica to our Staff!

A message from Carmen : Its interesting. For the last 3 years, I have wanted nothing more than to work with women to empower us collectively. Yet it is only within the last year that I have begun to learn what it means to step into my power. It reminds me of Marianne Williamsons quote: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. To be empowered means to believe in yourself. It means accepting your strengths and weaknesses. It means being yourself. All of those things are scary in a world Carmen Mojica is an Afro- that encourages us to be severely critical and self-loathing. On this healing path from selfDominican woman born hatred to self-love, I have been blessed to be supported by equally powerful women who and raised in the Bronx. have provided a mirror that reflects all I am and am not. It is out of their guidance and my She is a poet, writer, workshop facilitator, model own desire to help all women heal that understanding empowerment has started to make sense. It is my hope that working in Casa Atabex Ache, a place that encourages healing and birth doula. She has graced the stages with her journeys for women of color, that I will continue to do this important work.
poetry, presentations on Afro-Latina Identity of the Nuyorican Poets Caf, the Bowery Poetry Caf and The Brecht and universities. She is the Founder of These Waters Run Deep, a multimedia project which blends passion for life with words, visual arts, music , dance to celebrate the joy of creation towards the empowerment of women and people of the African Diaspora. In October 2009, she completed and selfpublished her literary work called Hija De Mi Madre (My Mothers Daughter), a combination of memoirs, poems and research material explainingthe effects of race on identity and also shares her life as a living example. In July 2012, Carmen release her second book, Odas de La Mujer de Miel, her first collection of poetry in Spanish .

Wom(y)n of Color & LGBTQ Artist and Healers Collaborative Presents Fall Calendar /Oct 2011
Public Performing Arts and Activism Workshops for South Bronx Community Contact: Ebony Noelle Golden Email: ebonygolden@bettysdaughterarts.com www.bettysdaughterarts.com

On September 28, Bettys Daughter Arts Collaborative in collaboration with Casa Atabex Ache launched the Body Ecology: Creativity and Transformation residency for women and trans folks of color . The residency will address reproductive rights, environmental justice and spiritual activism over a period of a month. The residency will feature public performance opportunities, creative dialogue, dance, writing and theatre workshops at Casa Atabex Ache. Participants will also have the opportunity to participate in two public performances: one at Casa Atabex Ache and the other at the Harriet Tubman Memorial statue in Harlem. The performances will feature the original work of participants who will be exploring the role of creative arts in working for individual transformation and community action. EVERY WED 6-8 p.m. at Casa Atabex Ache located at 471 East 140th Street Bronx, NY 10454. Participants have the option of paying between 20 and 40 dollars each session, although no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Dates & Topics Include: October 3: Performance/Workshop: Ritual Theatre & Choreopoem Aesthetics @ Medgar Evers College 5: Environmental Justice Workshop 12: Spiritual Activism Workshop 19: Solo and Collaborative Performance Workshop 22: Body Ecology at The Black Girl Project Symposium 26: Final Benefit Performance in Support of Casa Atabex Ache and Project Zanzibar The residency is a part of Bettys Daughter Arts Collaborative inaugural cultural arts direct action campaign season dedicated to using arts to address issues of reproductive justice within the African Diaspora community. Ebony Golden, Creative Director of Bettys Daughter said, This cultural arts direct action campaign has been a dream for several years. I am excited to use the arts to vision a world I want to live in with the rest of the ensemble and community. We are not fighting against anything, we are honoring our autonomy over all that we choose to createartistically, politically, spiritually, economically, educationally The goals of the campaign are to raise awareness, increase creative action, facilitate dialogue and support local organizing efforts.

In response to the economic crisis, Casa has created the Wom(y)n of Color & LBTQ Healing Arts Collective to address the internalization of historical poverty and scarcity mentality that women of color have been subjected to, oppressed with and internalized. Casa is excited to be opening its healing space for womens individual and collective economic, mental, emotional and spiritual sustainability. We are looking forward to collaborating with you to create a prosperous and abundant organization! We are outreaching to you and other like minded organizations like yours that want to become a member, offer workshops, rent out our healing space or become a referral to our community. The WOC & LGBTQ Healing Arts Collective was birthed out of collaborative desire for a transformative space of culture, spirituality, healing, creativity, and liberation and healing within our communities with the aim to establish a support network of women of color artists manifesting economic sustainability and providing a valuable tool for the self empowerment and self sustainability to one of the most valuable resources in our community, women! Membership: The idea of membership is commitment from the collaborators through mutual sustainability, financial efforts and shared resources. Casa understands that as artist and healers on the front lines we often times do not have access to our own health care or healing support, Casa is committed to being your respite from internalized oppression as we also become a resource of healthcare mind, body and spirit. Individual WOC Membership $100- $250 for the year. Organization WOC Collaborators $500-$1000 for the year

THE SIMON BOLIVAR FOUNDATION FUNDS CASA!

With support from the Simon Bolivar Foundation, Casa seeks to spend the next year creating a Leadership Health Model that is rooted in self-healing & organizing focusing on young women /organizer/activist self empowerment, self sustainability, leadership development and personal & organizational health. This summer we will be developing a young and adult Women of Color Healing Arts Collective. The South Bronx is the UNHEALTHIEST of New York's 62 counties. It is plagued with poverty, dis-ease, unemployment , addiction and violence against women in all its forms impacting the mind, body and spirit of young women at an increasing rate. 37% of South Bronx residents say that they have lacked money to buy food at some point in the past 12 months. Most recently, the movie Precious depicting young women reality through the life story of a young black woman whose social conditions (ie. poverty) contributed to rape and incest that she experienced at home, which as a consequence led to obesity , low self esteem, teen pregnancy, illiteracy, sexually transmitted diseases, and an intergenerational cycle of abuse within the womyn in her family. We believe that Casa can give young women the tools they can use for mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellness to deal with issues such as self mutilation, low self image, drugs, eating disorders, teen pregnancy, suicide, unsafe sex and unhealthy relationships, all leading to mental stress &emotional damage that often gets carried into their adult life affecting their reproductive health and overall health and wellness.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL! FALL HEALTH w/CASA...

1. Element: Wind Autumn is about breathing in life as it has been handed to us and as we have created it. It is here that we take a step back and give thanks, be in gratitude for what we have. Its is a time of deep reflection and evaluation of our lives. In this time we acknowledge our ancestors who have supported us. We walk with them so that womyn and children taop into their royalty and wisdom to over come injustice and violence in their lives. 2. CHAKRA: Crown & Third Eye Fall is about seeing the unseen , trusting the changes that are happening, the transitions coming, that letting go is needed. Its about walking the path we have set for ourselves and stop holding on to the past things that we do not need. All year you have been creating and manifesting now we need to trust our spirit and ancestors , accept , affirm and acknowledge who we are without judgment. 3.FEELING Grief and Worry Mental and Reproductive health The Fall season is a season of death , forgiveness and letting go of the past , looking at who we have become as a result of our past and releasing regrets. We heal from issues such as child sexual abuse, incest, rape & sexual assault , violence and oppression to find balance and grounding. Be prepares to loose relationships, parts of self and things that no longer serve a purpose. Go to the doctor, gyn and check for fibroids, ovarian cancer , STDS, HIV/AIDS. 4. Candles : Purple and White This is a time to build your spirit and ancestral altars, light a candle and breathe because you are exactly where you need to be and this too shall pass. Remember those you have lost and send them lights, think about what you have and give thanks. Think about your insecurities, doubt, self judgment, and your in authenticity. That is not who you are ..so who are you? Make a list of what can liberate you. What do you need to seek truth and wisdom and put it underneath the candle until it burns out. 5. CRYSTAL: Amethyst They comes in rings, stones to carry in your pocket. Remember DRESS IN Purple for Royalty, White and Silver for Spirit!

For More Information About CASA . Please contact us at 718-585-5540. Email: casaatabexahe@aol.com Twitter: Casa Atabex Ache Face book: Casa Atabex Ache Website: www. casaatabexache.org