Healing on the Half Shell

With all the gun violence, police brutality, and hate crimes we're seeing across the country, it's important to note their connection to , white supremacy, and generations of racism and oppression.

Did you know mass shootings are often defined as 4 or more lives being taken by a gun in a single incident?

With this definition, up to 60% of mass shootings in the US are also incidents of .

Did you know studies also estimate that up to 40% of law enforcement are domestic abusers?

And not only that, policing was created in this country specifically to maintain racial hierarchy and to continue exploiting Black and brown bodies and labor.

Police and the criminal justice system cannot and when their means, foundation, and identity rely on trauma and violence.

Healing on the Half Shell is a firm believer that we can collectively build a world that ensures , , and for all, especially .

Image description: an oyster shell designed with a green and yellow leaf and trimmed with yellow.

Friends, survivors, and allies!

We're happy to announce our first official partner in creating greater access to BIPOC survivors to receive culturally responsive and trauma informed care with BIPOC providers.

APDC provides robust services to victims of crime, mental health support, immigration assistance, and more. Healing on the Half Shell is grateful to their team as they support their community, especially in light of the recent attacks on Asian American, Pacific Islander, and migrant communities of Asian Descent.

Their behavioral health clinic has been in operation since 1980 and has always operated on a model of serving communities from within. The majority of their staff identify as multicultural and multilingual, and they hire leaders from within communities reporting high needs, to serve as community navigators and cultural brokers. All of their clinical work is trauma-informed and culturally-adapted to meet the varied needs of their clients, who are often unable to receive culturally appropriate services elsewhere.

Thank you for all you do to support survivors!

Plants 🪴 + Oyster Shells 🐚

Available for local pick up or delivery only. Requesting donations of $25+ each to contribute to making safe, culturally responsive, and trauma informed care accessible to BIPOC survivors 💜

Image description: a hand holds an oyster shell painted purple and filled with soil and a baby mother of thousands plant 🌿

The conversation around power and control is the heart of surviving violence, as well as systemic violence (e.g. racism, homophobia, transphobia, ablism, etc.).

It's not possible to separate our personal lived experiences of violence from the systems that create power imbalance.

After violence and trauma, ALL survivors deserve access to support that prioritizes their safety, wellness, and dignity.

You can contribute to making that goal a reality! DM for more info.

Image description: 2 oyster shells on a wood backdrop with green ferns with a white background and gold trim.

Friends! It's el Día Internacional de la Mujer (International Women's Day!) Monday 🙌

Which shell would you give to some of the badass women, femmes, and gender q***r folks in your life?

(who challenge the patriarchy
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.)

Not to mention, many of whom survive, heal and thrive through and beyond their experience(s) of domestic and sexual violence. 💜

Image description:

Image 1: oyster shell with gold trim edges and a yellow and green fern with a white background

Image 2: rows of various oyster shells painted and designed with plants, feathers, and more!

@ Denver, Colorado

Shells on Shells 🐚

Myth: once Someone experiences trauma/violence, they're less likely to experiencing similar violation in the future.

FACT: Without access to family, friends, partners, homes, schools, faith communities, and neighborhoods where survivors feel safe, they're more likely to experience multiple traumas.

Healing trauma is critical to disrupting and breaking the cycles of violence. Donate to to support BIPOC survivors in their healing 💜

Image description: pale blue oyster shell with a dark blue spiral mollusk shell design held for display by a hand

Bougie stripes, diamonds and frills 🌟

From fellow survivors:

1. We believe you.

2. It wasn't your fault.

3. You're not crazy.

4. You deserve to be seen.

5. You story needs to be shared when you feel safe and ready (enough)

6.Your healing will and is transforming the world as we know it 🥰

Image description:

Image 1: 3 rows of oyster shells with outer shells painted in shades of green, blue, pink, and yellow.

Image 2: 3 rows of oyster shells (inner shell); top row of shells are designed with white backgrounds and gold stripes or a golden lace design. Middle row are designed with gold polka-dots with a white background. Bottom row are designed with a white background and rows of gold triangles.

Light as a Feather 🪶

Trauma survivors, including sexual and domestic violence survivors, must identify coping strategies both during and after their safety and life have been put in jeopardy.

Coping can look like freezing, as our brains may assess that we're unable to fight or flee in the moment of violence. Coping afterward can look like disassociating when it's the only way to make an experience less terrifying, less overwhelming, and to create distance from the harm directed at our bodies.

Trauma is a normal response to abnormal circumstance. Trauma takes many forms, both systemic and otherwise. Trauma is a global pandemic. Global pandemics make unsafe homes (where sexual and domestic violence have/do occur) even more dangerous. And when we have multilayered traumas, we all deserve access to care with a provider we feel safe and seen in our wholeness.

Help us make that access possible to Black, Indigenous and People of Color who have and are surviving sexual and domestic violence. It's more important now than ever.

Image description:

Image 1: 5 oyster shells with inner shells designed with multicolored, stripped and spotted feathers with a white background.

Image 2: silvery, dark green and yellow oyster shells (outer shell)

@ Denver, Colorado

Blooming Cacti 🌵

Power and control are at the center of domestic and sexual violence, and often co-occur. So often we expect survivors to fit into neat boxes. Sexual assault? Call your local r**e crisis hotline. Domestic Violence? Seek domestic violence counseling. Was identity abuse at play? Head over to the nearest culturally responsive resource (if one exists in your area).

Survivors are complex, multilayered folks with experience, skills and knowledge within and outside their survivorship. We need to start prioritizing services that are equipped to support all survivors in their fullness, not exclusively in response to their trauma experience(s).

Image description:

Image 1: 11 oyster shells with inner shells designed with a light pink background and cacti Blooming with purple, pale yellow, pink, and blue flowers 🌻

Image 2: 11 oyster shells (outer shell) in a variety of metallic colors.

@ Denver, Colorado

PLANT ROULETTE 🌱🌿🌵

Did you know that sexual violence is most often perpetrated by someone that a survivor knows?

And maybe more importantly, do you know the single best way to reduce PTSD after an assault? Believing survivors. Literally nothing else.

DM us if one of these plant cuties catch your eye 🥰 I'd love to send you one (or more) as a thank you for donating to our cause! Pairing survivors of domestic and sexual violence who also identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with therapists and healers withing these identities.

With culturally responsive and trauma informed care, we can begin breaking the cycles of violence that impact all of us - because statistics show that ALL of us know (and likely love) survivors.

Image description:

Image 1: 3 rows of 6 oyster outer shells in a variety of metallic paints.

Image 2: 3 rows of 6.oyster inner shells designed with green leaves, plants and ferns in a variety of shapes and colors on a white background