Five Days of Virtual Healing
Five Days of Virtual Healing
Engage. Learn. Embrace. Commit.
In February of 2020, dozens of organizations and hundreds of youth and community leaders launched Healing City Baltimore in a commitment to building a racially, socially and economically just and thriving Baltimore for ALL.
More important than ever, these efforts have continued throughout one of the most trying times in Baltimore’s history, including planning for the next annual Healing City Summit, February 3-7, 2021.
This year's summit includes five days of virtual community building and healing as we work as a city united to move Baltimore forward, together.
Schedule
Registration is FREE. Sign up and attend a single session, a single day, or multiple days. Schedule subject to change.
Bmore With Youth
Students from the Healing Youth Alliance and Heartsmiles are organizing a day full of healing-focused conversations and performances in coordination with BCPSS
Social Media &
Media Day
We will encourage the community to share their stories of healing on social media. How do you find healing? How do you or your organization help others to heal?
Additionally, a press conference and a full schedule of media appearances focused on raising awareness around the summit and Healing City Baltimore’s ongoing efforts
Healing Our Souls, Healing Our City
Community, faith, university, and non-profit groups from across Baltimore will hold a resource fair, panels, and workshops themed in healing
Power Through Healing
Baltimore’s faith-based community is uniting congregations and denominations in a collective sharing of healing messages
Bmore With Youth - Wednesday, February 3rd
Students from the Healing Youth Alliance and HeartSmiles are organizing a day full of healing-focused conversations and performances in coordination with BCPSS.
Councilman Zeke Cohen
Young Elder, Youth Co-Chair
Taylor Clinton, Youth Co-Chair
Moderated By:
Ericka Alston, REBOUND
Featuring HeartSmiles Ambassadors:
Taylor Clinton
Lamar Hill
D'Aubre Lewis
Kamri Moses
A conversation with youth about how to respect them as individuals, honor their boundaries, and open productive lines of communication.
Featuring:
Young Elder
Lydell Hills
Amourai Mayo
Presented By:
Art with a Heart
Youth apprentices that have gone through the Art with a Heart workforce development program, which is centered on trauma-informed care practices and using art as a tool for teaching job readiness skills, will teach an art project as a calming exercise with recylcleable materials that participants can easily find.
Presented By:
Brandon Clayton
An interactive session where young people will develop strategies for coping with stress on a daily basis. Youth will leave this interactive workshop with strategies to utilize right away, recognizing what causes stress and how to productively channel the stress they experience into personal strength and success.
Presented By:
Khayyum Muhammad
A workshop focusing on recognizing signs of depression and anxiety in ourselves and peers, and developing coping strategies for ourselves and supporting others. Our workshop will also focus on identifying resource gaps and needs for youth and young adults.
Presented By:
Tiffany Ginyard
SELF Sessions give young people the opportunity to develop the personal and life skills needed to successfully navigate change, transition, and elevation in every dimension of their lives.
Presented By:
Kamri Moses, HeartSmiles
Taylor Clinton, HeartSmiles
Jazzi Pridgen,
Entrepreneurship knows no age. Being young and successful is rooted in skills like time management, work/school balance, building customer relationships, and taking advantage of available resources. Learn how to define your own future.
Presented By:
Wide Angle Youth Media
Did you know that creativity can help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress? In this session, youth from Wide Angle Youth Media will share their tips and tricks for destressing through photography and design.
Presented By:
Students from CHARM Lit Mag
We will read pieces that have been published in CHARM Lit Mag, written by young writers in Baltimore. Participants will have the opportunity to write their own short literary pieces to be considered by our publication.
Presented By:
Ania McNair, Not For Sale
Human Trafficking continues to be a plague in Baltimore because of its ability to hide from our everyday awareness. Not For Sale, a youth-led organization, will shine a light on trafficking's impact on mental health for its victims and the urgent need to expose the perpetrators behind it.
Presented By:
Centro Sol
A panel discussion with young women from the LatinX community about their experiences with trauma and healing.
Presented By:
Lydell Hills, Truth to Power
Participants will engage in a centering exercise intended to deepen their connection with their ancestral roots and origins, reflecting on the experiences that resulted in their story. Participants will be guided to use this inspiration in the creation of their own art work, poem, or song.
Featuring HeartSmiles Young Male Leaders:
Donte Hill
Na'im Adams
Lamar Hill
Taking care of your mental health is a sign of strength, not weakness. This raw and honest dialogue will defy stigma in focusing on the importance of mental health for young men, how they feel, and how they heal.
Presented By:
Dewmore
Exposing young people to literature as a way to process difficult topics, critical analysis, accurate and dynamic communication as they discuss issues for today and tomorrow impacting them, their peers, their community. The performance/workshop will allow youth to build relationships with others from around the region, as a safe space is created for poets to explore who they are, where they are from, and affirm their identity.
Presented By:
Miles Green
This workshop will explain what credit is and how it works, providing resources on how to establish and build credit, or how to repair and restore it. Learn how to empower your future through a solid understanding of credit and how to use it.
Presented By:
Fred Watkins, Lil' Laughs Corporation
Learn why it’s healthy to laugh at your mistakes. Finding the humor in some of your worst moments is a reminder that you're not the only one going through what you are. Laugh and learn with Comedian Big Fred and Lil' Laughs, as we break down why it's healthy to laugh at your mistakes.
Presented By:
YPR: Young People in Recovery
A panel discussion on the impact of substance use on young people in Baltimore and the work being done to realize a world where all young people have the resources they need to thrive in recovery and overcoming addiction.
Presented By:
Bry Reed, Writers in Baltimore Schools
An exploration of Black feminist healing practices using the writing of Barbara Smith, Toni Morrison, Solange, and Flo Milli. Participants will learn how writing can be a healing practice. All are invited to attend, regardless of gender.
Featuring:
Erica Green, NYTimes Columnist
Wesley Hawkins, Nolita Project
John King, Fmr. Education Secretary
Youth ask our panelists questions about their experiences growing up as black youth in urban landscapes, and how they overcame challenges.
Hosted By HeartSmiles Ambassors:
Donte Hill
Taylor Clinton
We close out this powerful day with a Social Hour Cypher featuring beats by DJ Ms. Joni of HeartSmiles. All youth are welcome to participate.
Social Media & Media Day - Thursday, February 4th
We will encourage the community to share their stories of healing on social media. How do you find healing? How do you or your organization help others to heal?
The day will also include a press conference and a full schedule of media appearances focused on raising awareness around the summit and Healing City Baltimore’s ongoing efforts.
Schedule Coming Soon.
Healing Our Souls, Healing Our City - Friday, February 5th
Community, faith, university, and non-profit groups from across Baltimore will hold a resource fair, panels, and workshops themed in healing.
Featuring:
Councilman Zeke Cohen
Dr. Melissa Buckley, Coppin State
Moderator:
Wes Moore, CEO, Robin Hood Foundation
Panelists:
Annette March Grier, Roberta's House
Joe Jones, Center for Urban Families
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings
Jemira Queen, Healing Youth Alliance
An interactive panel exploring a multidisciplinary, multigenerational approach to healing during one of our city's most challenging periods.
Featuring:
Young Elder & Lydell Hills
(Concurrent Sessions)
Presented By:
Dr. Kyla Liggett-Creel, UMD School of Social Work
Through this interactive presentation, participants will learn an overview of what trauma-informed care is and then learn how to move to Healing Centered Engagement which is a culturally based healing framework focused on collective healing. Participants will also actively engage in brainstorming strategies to implement Healing Centered Engagement in various settings.
Presented By:
Nneka Namdi, Fight Blight Baltimore
This presentation will give a basic overview of how blight developed in Baltimore, how it causes trauma to people, and the impact it has on generational wealth transfer via the family house in our community. The presentation will provide a practical framework for combating blight through cultural practice and estate planning in order to prevent future and open pathways to heal past trauma(s).
Presented By:
Ana Rodney, MOMCares
Community organizations share their views on how to approach messaging about the vaccine in the face of culturally-based medical distrust and a complicated history of medical practices and abuse in Baltimore.
Presented By:
Dr. Colleen Curran, Zen Path Wellness
Acupressure is a natural, non-invasive, and evidence-based modality that anyone can utilize to empower one's self on the path of healing.
Presented By:
Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, Inc.
This presentation consists of an identification of the constitutional and statutory rights that Maryland citizens have access to. We will identify how those rights assist victims in obtaining restitution from the convicted defendant.
Presented By Heart Nest Center's:
Dr. Sabrina N'Diaye
Kenya Pope
Akilah Muhammad
The current pandemic has left yet another crack in the hearts of the African-American community—the death of our elder women. African America has lost their beloved "Big Mama". Join us for a moment of connection and remembrance of Baltimore's Big Mamas—the thousands of women who held us up, and who continue to inspire us to keep walking, serving, and thriving.
Presented By:
Dr. Melissa Buckley, Coppin State University
Shortly after it became clear COVID was going to ravage our way of life as we know it, a group of social work students and other volunteers created the Baltimore Neighbors Network to directly combat the isolation the pandemic has created for our city's most vulnerable. Learn about the ongoing virtual work to support older adults through now 30,000+ phone calls and plans for future expansion.
Presented By:
Daniel Parsons & Frederick Douglass Students
Something remarkable happens when a room full of teenagers suddenly falls silent as each student becomes engrossed in the book they have chosen. This panel presents a case study on the role of literacy in creating spaces of stillness and healing, and how engagement turns to activism when youth can relate written inspiration to the world around them.
Continuing Education Course
Presented By:
The Family Tree
A session on understanding and overcoming the impact adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have on both individual health and community well-being, their harm to a child's brain and development, and long-term negative health and social outcomes.
Continuing Education Course
Presented By:
Healing Us Together (HUT) partners at JHU, Morgan State, and Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore
An introduction to HUT's use of the 7 Healing Centered Commitments and the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa to engage communities in conversations about moving from trauma to healing.
(Concurrent Sessions)
Presented By:
Mt Washington Pediatric Hospital
A panel discussion with licensed psychologists on how parents can improve their children's resilience and support their healing process.
Presented By:
Maritza Alcoreza-Dominguez, Living Classrooms Foundation
Expand your love language for yourself and your family. Talk about what's stressing you out. Learn some tips for space and time management. Develop healthy habits. Make a plan to spend more quality time together. What does that mean for your family? Join us for mindfulness meditation practice and reflection on Forever Loving Your Family.
Presented By:
Mark Jews, Holistic Health Counseling and Coaching
Providing a different approach to wellness strategies— mental, physical, nutrition, spiritual, and social/emotional—through a lively education session.
Presented By:
Fulton Bank
Financial stability and independence can greatly affect mental and emotional wellbeing. Learn about creating a personal spending plan/budget, better understanding credit and how to use it wisely, and the benefits of home ownership.
Presented By:
Kerry Graves, National Alliance on Mental Illness
Tevis Simon, Mental Health Advocate
This session will work to change attitudes, assumptions, and ideas about mental health conditions and bring awareness to mental health disparity. Participants will be given tools and resources for managing their own mental health.
Presented By:
Dr. David Fakunle, DiscoverME/RecoverME
This workshop facilitates understanding of the importance of storytelling in culture, the function of the griot in the context of trauma, analyzing the primary components of a story, application of positive intrinsic qualities in an effort to create and fortify emotional foundations for recovery and healing, and modalities for expressing one’s story.
Presented By:
Monica Guerrero Vazquez, Cento Sol
Continuing Education Course
Presented By:
Desyree Dixon, Bolton Therapy and Wellness
A description of Trauma Based Identity Dysphoria and how our society, our communities, and our families can impact our self image.
Continuing Education Course
Presented By:
MD Dept of Health - Prevention and Health Promotion Administration
This workshop will highlight impacted zip codes for HIV, STIs, and Hepatitis, and provide local, state and national resources that can be accessed virtually for rapid and confidential responses; materials that can be linked to church websites for ease of referral and use.
Yoga with Mica Saunders of Moxie Movez
Zumba with the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Baltimore
Meditation with Ty McDermott of Bridging Gaps Through Positive Solutions
(Concurrent Sessions)
Featuring:
Andrea Brown, Black Mental Health Alliance
Dr. Kaye Whitehead, Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice
Mally Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven
True healing and change can only begin when we acknowledge systemic racism, commit to ending it, pursue opportunity and justice for all, and break down the barriers to humanity between neighborhoods and people. Hear from the various perspectives that embody the Healing City mission.
Featuring:
Shantay Jackson, Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement
Ray Kelly, Citizens Policing Project
Erricka Bridgeford, Baltimore Ceasefire
Truly breaking the cycle of violence begins with understanding and addressing the underlying trauma that fuels it. We will discuss the need for holistic systems of programs and resources in support of community-centered public safety and violence intervention to empower social and behavior change.
Featuring:
Troy Staton, More Than A Shop Initiative
Donna Bruce, Stylist & Social Justice Advocate
Larry Wilson, Healing Hands Barbershop
In Baltimore's neighborhoods, non-traditional spaces like barber shops, salons, and other businesses become community centers and places of healing. Hear how these unofficial santuaries build community ties through the healing hands and guiding wisdom of the local leaders who preside over them.
Power Through Healing - Saturday, February 6th & Sunday, February 7th
Baltimore’s faith-based community is uniting congregations and denominations in a collective sharing of healing messages.
Schedule Coming Soon.
2021 Featured Speakers Include:
JOHN KING
FORMER SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
JOE JONES
PRESIDENT/CEO, CENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES
ANNETTE MARCH-GRIER
PRES/CO-FOUNDER, ROBERTA’S HOUSE
YOUNG ELDER
HEALING YOUTH AMBASSADOR
LAMAR HILL
HEALING YOUTH AMBASSADOR
ANIA MCNAIR
HEALING YOUTH AMBASSADOR
BRANDON SCOTT
MAYOR OF BALTIMORE
WES MOORE
CEO OF ROBIN HOOD
ERICA GREEN
NYTIMES COLUMNIST