Friends Outside In Sonoma County

Life, for some of us, is returning to normal. For others it will never be the same, and for 44 people it is tragically over, literally consumed by the fires that devoured so much of our county.

Even Sonoma County's inmates have suffered through the fires, incapable of helping their community or their families. They are at greater risk of isolation with their families displaced; they are at greater risk of being released to nothing at all with homes and cars, and whole neighborhoods, destroyed.

Friends Outside is here to help these men and women stay connected to the community while they are incarcerated, and to aid their reintegration when they are released. We need your help and your donations so that we can continue offering programs like Creative Conflict Resolution and Women's Circle. These evidence-based programs are proven to reduce recidivism and to help people get back on the right path; they help heal our community.

Please make a tax-deductible donation to Friends Outside today. Thank you.

As we've known for a long time, adverse childhood experiences can have have long-lived effects. Science is catching up with common sense.

http://sideeffectspublicmedia.org/post/childhood-trauma-leads-brains-wired-fear

Childhood Trauma Leads to Brains Wired for Fear Negative childhood experiences can set our brains to constantly feel danger and fear says psychiatrist and traumatic stress expert Bessel van der Kolk. He

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The Lotus Project is a 12-week program that was begun in the jail November 2013. The overall theme of the program is mindfulness. The program is designed to encourage its participants to become more mindful of their thoughts and behaviors. Each session addresses a mindful living skill, such as values clarification, boundary-setting, and empathy.

Today we had a very productive meeting with the staff from Mobile Supportive Services, a new non-profit that provides outreach services for homeless and at-risk families, households and individuals. The idea is to reach out to people who are at risk of becoming homeless and hopefully assist them to avoid homelessness. What's that expression? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

If you've been thinking about having a film made about your heart-warming narrative, you could contact Drew Denny and Talia Herman--two very talented young women who know what picture to film and what questions to ask. They get right to the heart of things!

We're going to be in the movies! Tomorrow we are being filmed talking about our Read-Me-A-Story program, as part of a story about how the Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence lovingly and charitably benefit local programs. By the way, check them out. They rock!

Great board meeting tonight!

Last night our director, Kate Jenkins, arrived at Friends House to give a presentation about Friends Outside and she was immediately swept into the dining room for a yummy supper and engaging conversation. She reported that later, during her presentation, she experienced an exceptionally accepting and interested audience. She received perfect tech support from one of the group members who projected our new Web site on the screen so Kate could use that as a center point for her presentation. She said that she doesn’t remember falling in love with a group of people before, but she sure did last night! It turned out that there were some people in the group who had sweet remembrances of the stories that (our founder) Virginia Heck told about the work we do. There were people in the audience who had met or worked with Rosemary Goodenough, the founder of the first Friends Outside in Santa Clara County. Quite a number of people there had taken Alternatives To Violence Project training, which is what our Constructive Conflict Resolution workshops are based on. The gentlemen who laid the carpet in our office many years ago was there and got to hear that the carpet is holding up very well (thank you!). In other words, the Friends Outside story was told by many people in the room—not just our director. What a delight! The group generously donated funds and lots of greeting cards. Thank you all for your kindnesses!

Last night our director, Kate Jenkins, arrived at Friends House to give a presentation about Friends Outside and was immediately swept into the dining room for a yummy supper and engaging conversation. She reported that later, during her presentation, she experienced an exceptionally accepting and interested audience. She received perfect tech support from one of the group members who projected our new Web site on the screen so Kate could use that as a center point for her presentation. She said that she doesn’t remember falling in love with a group of people before, but she sure did last night! It turned out that there were some people in the group who had sweet remembrances of the stories that (our founder) Virginia Heck told about the work we do. There were people in the audience who had met or worked with Rosemary Goodenough, the founder of the first Friends Outside in Santa Clara County, and a number of people there had taken the Alternatives To Violence Project training that our Constructive Conflict Resolution workshops are based on. The gentlemen who laid the carpet in our office many years ago was there and got to hear that the carpet is holding up very well (thank you!). In other words, the Friends Outside story was told by many people in the room—not just our director. What a delight! The group generously donated funds and lots of greeting cards. Thank you for your kindnesses!