Courage of Care's Relational Facilitators program is unlike any other experience I've had. I'd been feeling depleted in my work as a workplace inclusion consultant, and was searching for ways to feel more connected and uplifted. This community offered that and so much more. I immediately felt at home within the group which spanned all races, genders, and ages. I gained wisdom and insights, while also feeling that my own contributions were deeply respected and valued. Having ongoing access to the library of thoughtful resources and to other members will continue to serve me, months after the program has ended. Eternally grateful to be a part of this inspiring network of skilled, heart-led facilitators.

"The advanced training programs have given me tools and the courage to step into healing trauma and confronting oppression from a stance of fierce compassion. I feel that Courage's modality is unique, and one that is beneficial to anyone interested in developing the sustainable compassion necessary to address the deep suffering of ourselves and our world.”​

As a young person of color, Courage trainings have provided me with the capacity to honor my lineage through love, compassion, and social transformation. The guided meditations and open discussions have allowed me drop into a space where I can genuinely show up to the complexities of my experience. Though we are living in a world dominated by interlocking systems of oppression, the summer intensive helped me understand how to deconstruct these systems while also attending to my own personal healing. I am deeply grateful for the chance to engage in such restorative work and am excited to shift the paradigm.

"The advanced training programs have given me tools and the courage to step into healing trauma and confronting oppression from a stance of fierce compassion. I feel that Courage's modality is unique, and one that is beneficial to anyone interested in developing the sustainable compassion necessary to address the deep suffering of ourselves and our world.”​

When I came to Courage a year ago, I was struggling to find the energy I needed to keep doing my work in providing care and support for others in need. In all my fighting for social justice, giving compassion and empathy for others, I somehow had forgotten how to give that to myself. As a healer, healthcare worker, and educator, how could I give others something that I myself did not have? Courage allowed me the space, time, tools, and support I needed to come home again, and to come back stronger in support of the just and sustainable community that we are all co-creating.

Courage has provided a beautiful, intentional community to explore experiences of and responses to injustice in our world. Centered on better understanding and healing our own traumas, this program creates a space for deep self care that leads to transformation. Courage is exactly what we need to see and hear one another; its philosophy works in direct opposition to the emerging 'Cancel Culture' that shuts people out for not being on the same page or holding the same beliefs as one another. Weekly meditations, check ins, reflection prompts, and resources support members through a year-long journey of healing and hope. I'm incredibly grateful to know and walk alongside the wonderful individuals who created and participate in this program.

Without question, being a part of the Courage community has been one of the two or three most important experiences I’ve had at the intersection of the personal and professional realms. I feel a deeper sense of peace and resolve in my work as a parent, a teacher, and someone fighting injustice.

"Courage of Care has provided a practice community through which I’ve been able to deepen the foundation of my work as an organizer. I’m grateful for the vulnerability, intentionality, and courage of our community. Working with Courage continues to invite me to me to the edges of my own capacity to live my values sustainably."​​

I am a year out of undergrad and in my first year working in social services. When I started Courage I was keenly aware of the fact that I am starting to experience compassion fatigue for the first time. For me this looks like hardening to protect myself- a slow moving calcification of the parts of me that are soft and gentle. Courage reminded me of soft care, and reiterated over and over that no matter how hard I try I cannot possibly separate myself from other beings-their pain, their joy, all of it. Courage invited me to sit in the interconnectedness of all beings and explore how I can use my skills to do good in the world, and trust in the power of others to do the same. Even though the world can be harsh, Courage nourished my desire to greet every day and every being with an enthusiastic yes, and to not be so scared of saying no and letting go. I am incredibly grateful for the time I had and hope that I will be in community with you all again.

The Summer Intensive has transformed me as a person, for through it, I paused to recognize the areas of me that require healing as well as embrace mine and others’ access needs. Since the retreat, I have begun to be mindful of this and have been making a conscious effort to tend to my vulnerabilities. The retreat helped me identify how listening to the body is different from being driven by fear and doubt. This is something that I practiced during my medical school orientation. On one of the days, I knew that my body needed to go home instead of staying after to mingle with my fellow classmates, for meeting new people with my stutter poses invisible challenges. My stutter is my vulnerability, and the retreat helped me strengthen my sense of belonging. In my mind, I hear Kai’s words from practice saying “I love you.” This is something I repeat in my mind when I am feeling anxious. I also hear Vaishali’s voice wishing the body to feel safe, well, and loved. Engaging in practice with these words contributes to healing me; it helps me honor my own intrinsic value as well as serve as a better host to welcome others’ vulnerable experiences. The retreat has also helped me identify why I feel the way I do and tend to my vulnerability with grace. It is one thing to be iron and push through it, but it is another to truly attend to my vulnerability, acknowledge it, honor it, and tend to it with love. For me, actively practicing these skills helps build a beloved community where we are all heard, seen, and loved.

The Courage module really gave me the opportunity to explore different concepts like love, consent and healing to their core like I had never done before. This made me realize and think about just how important it is to take the time to understand and process things that I would normally believe I already know about. While that may be true, in today’s world it is so easy to get wrapped up in the overwhelming speed of everything and that can sometimes mean that we don’t always take the time and care to focus and internalize ideas enough to apply that care to ourselves and to the communities around us. In everyday life, this is easier to overlook but ultimately taking the time to focus on our inner care will show its long term benefits in everything we do for the world and our communities. Creating a loving, compassionate and inclusive world relies a lot on the care we show to ourselves, as much as it does on the care we show others. In this sense, this retreat gave me the space and time to explore this further and provided me with great access points to understand and apply all the things I learned/realized during this process. I feel extremely grateful to have been able to be a part of such a community where I felt seen, loved and cared for. It was truly refreshing to have been proved that such a community can exist and that I do have the power to create one myself, as long as I do the work and share that kind of love with the people around me. As I move forward, I feel much more equipped to keep learning and apply these learnings in my leadership as well as in other parts of my life.