Sharing Our Stories with Mental Health

We hosted our first virtual panel discussion this past weekend, and it was such an honor to hear from our storytellers, as they shared their mental health journeys with us.

The Firehouse Dream believes in the power of our stories, and that our lived experiences matter. We hope that in hosting conversations with everyday community members on the topic of mental health, that our teens and young adults would feel safe connecting with a safe adult and/or seek professional counseling.

Some of my take a ways from this panel discussion was:

1. Each person’s mental health journey will look different.

2. It takes time to find the right therapist.

3. Sometimes we just need more kindness.

4. Mental health isn’t just talk therapy, it’s so much more. It’s what we eat, implementing exercise, meditation, it’s connecting with ourselves through art and writing, for some it’s medication, and so much more.

You can watch the full panel discussion below:

A special thanks to our storytellers:

Porchea-Londone, Jeremy Horn, Toria Baez, Teddy Matthews, Ashley Lauren.

If you need to talk to someone immediately please visit:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

or call their hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

ONE WEEK INTENSIVE

We did it friends! In July, we hosted our very first one week intensive, where each day we covered a different topic. Each topic was inspired by the youth in terms of what they wanted to learn. The topics we covered were: Brand Identity, Financial Literacy, Photography, Film, and Social Media. Each workshop was from 10-3pm, creating space for in depth learning and engagement. We are truly so grateful for our friends

who said yes to leading a workshop, as we brought in creatives of color working in their fields. We learned so much, and it was truly a blast getting to learn alongside our youth.

We are so excited to share some behind the scenes with you below:

And here’s the final video that our youth made in collaboration and with the guidance of Jeremy Lopez, our cinematography speaker for the day!

BETWEEN TWO CULTURES

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”

— Maya Angelou

Ever since I was a little girl, stories fascinated me. When my reality didn’t add up to what my heart yearned to see, I’d peek my head out the window of a book, into the magical world of a new story. The journey was always surreal as I would fly in and out of the lives of countless characters but the landing back home was always disorienting. My ankles would buckle and my legs would struggle to hold the weight of my own tale. For years, I’d hold my story within me in hopes of it morphing into a new future that I could bear. But as the years progressed, the details of my story began to overflow and I was drowning. The waterline inside me lowered as the pen moved along the pages of my journals. Despite being surrounded by friends and peers that couldn’t clearly see me, I began to breathe again. 
Writing is my meeting place. It is where I meet God; it is where I meet my past; it is where I meet myself. It is my self care. I can be completely me on the page without the worry of appearances.

I grew up in the suburbs surrounded by kids that didn’t look like me. My parents fought hard to bring us there to benefit from a superior education, but as my mind filled with information on Physics, Advanced literary studies, and how to analyze data, I missed out on an education of the soul. None of my friends were people of color. I was the minority in every scenario: racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, and spiritually. I was a master at blending in as best I could and would act just as surprised when someone noticed that I was brown. 
My mother immigrated here from Mexico to marry my father, a first generation Mexican-American. I am a Mexican-American and my identity in this world is caught teetering on the slippery line of the hyphen between two cultures. Summers living in Mexico cemented my love for the culture and values of my ancestors while the daily life of America caught my attention and ambition for something more. The entanglements are vast and confusing. 
The page is always where I sort it out. 
When the world is loud and shouting countless opinions on what I should look like, how I should sound, the way I should live, the page is always there. 
I thank God for the countless ways He has provided for His children to express themselves. These small lines and loops serve as the paint strokes of my heart that I can share with others or keep to myself. It allows me to sort and shout. It is my tool to share my story and give courage to others to do the same so we can all breathe a little bit easier and walk a little lighter embracing how God has created us.

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My name is Jessica Annette Galvan. I am 32 years old and a follower of Christ. For the past 14 years, Gerardo Galvan has been my best friend and husband for 8 of those years. We have 2 brilliant little girls that we have the honor to raise together. I work as a freelance writer and editor serving creatively in many capacities to increase the amplification of different voices to reveal the beauty of God’s creation.

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PROVISO FOOD & RESOURCE COALITION

We are continuing to support our community with food, wellness check-in’s and more. Our food coalition officially has a name too, we are now called the Proviso Food & Resources Coalition. We are made up of 5 locally led organizations called: Best of Proviso Township, NextGen Church, Impact Church, God’s Heritage Church, and The Firehouse Dream. I love how we are a multi racial and multi-generational coalition, and it’s been nothing but a pure joy to collaborate and partner with these amazing organizations!

We also had many of other organizations partner with for our Food Distribution on June 6th. The way God has brought an abundance of food and community had been amazing!

Special thanks to: Maywood Police, Village of Maywood, Maywood Census, PP4H, Freedom Fighters, HOJO, The Greater Northern Food Depository, Forty Acres, UTURN Covenant church, UTURN Covenant Church, many individual donors and more!

Check out the photos from our food drive:

BLACK LIVES MATTER

We are a non profit organization rooted in Maywood, IL, a community that has experienced disinvestment for decades. Maywood is a predominately Black community with a growing Latino population. As a non black Latina, I am aware of the anti-blackness that exists in the Latino community, and am using my voice to do what I can to actively dismantle anti-blackness in our community, as well as, unify the black and brown community so that we can be an unstoppable force with all of the injustices we face. I believe The Firehouse Dream is a community dream, and I’m honored that I get to lead it in this season.

As the co-founder and Executive Director of The Firehouse Dream, I am committed to:

I will use my squares and stories to talk about and share the injustices we see in our world, especially racism.

I will challenge, confront and uproot every lie I’ve believed about whiteness and white supremacy.

I will invite my fellow latino/a friends to challenge anti-blackness in our communities.

I will speak up when I see injustice.

I will not assume myself to be an ally and will do the continual internal work of uprooting my very own assumptions, bias, stereotypes and more!

I will love my black neighbors as myself.

I will pray for creative strategy and solutions for what I can do to advocate for justice.

I will do more than just share hashtags and posts.

I will make sure that I use my buying power to support black owned businesses, and move my dollars from institutions that support racism...like certain banks and corporations.

I will make sure that where we live, work, and who we are in relationship with reflects the value we ALL have.

I will listen more than speak, when learning one’s story.

I will acknowledge and celebrate the beauty of our skin colors and cultures.

I will seek forgiveness for when I miss the mark.

I will grieve when another black life is lost to police brutality, white supremacy and more.