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Writer's pictureAlyson Wick

July 2023

Happy July & Happy Disability Pride Month!

Image Description: The updated disability pride flag with a diagonal green, blue, white, yellow and red stripe is in the background. Illustrated stick figures are standing on different colored shapes, some have invisible disabilities and others are visible. They hold up hearts or a small flag.


Recent:

Anderson Family Wellness Day



Image Description: A thin, white, blonde woman with long hair wears a pink shirt, a necklace and glasses. She is smiling at the camera. In front of her is a table with a purple tablecloth and blue letters spelling out "Survivor Cards" The table has flyers and resources on it. We had a wonderful time at the Anderson Family Wellness Day on Saturday, June 10th! We networked with many community organizations and leaders, and handed out tons of mental health resources, free, youth mental health curriculum, volunteering information and flyers on ongoing, free programs. This amazing community event had free health screenings, CPR training, yoga, Zumba and children's activities. We look forward to setting up again next year!


 

Tools to Take Care


Image Description: Two women do yoga. One is an older white woman with a short blonde bob. She wears a black shirt and maroon yoga pants. She is sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. The other woman, closer to the camera is younger, she has brown skin and her black hair is in a long braid. She wears a black shirt and cheetah print yoga pants. She is sitting on a pillow on a yoga mat with her legs crossed and her eyes are closed. Our second Tools to Take Care: A Free, Community Self-Care Event in collaboration with Touch Education was so relaxing and very educational! We learned about stress and how it impacts the body, specifically the head and neck, enjoyed some very relaxing yoga and created Survivor Cards together for our June card drive benefitting HUSH No More!



 

June Card Drive for HUSH No More!


Image Description: A beige square has darker brown and brownish red abstract shapes in the upper right and lower left corners. In black font reads "June Card Drive Benefiting HUSH No More" and below has a list of collected items on different color rectangles. The list is below in the main text of this newsletter section.

Thank you to everyone who contributed financially, or in the way of hand written Survivor Cards for our drive benefitting Hush No More in June! With your help, we are providing them with:

  • 150 Survivor Cards for women

  • 25 Survivor Cards for men

  • 25 Survivor Cards for children

  • 100 mental health-focused stickers

  • 100 National Suicide Lifeline hotline cards

  • 200 Survivor Cards business cards

  • 175 affirmation cards for adults

  • and 25 affirmation cards for children


Image Description: A photo of all the items sent to HUSH No More as part of our card drive collection, including 150 women's Survivor Cards, 25 for men and 25 for children rubber banded in stacks, various resource cards, affirmation cards and stacks of stickers. This will make an amazing impact for them and those they serve, and provide a personalized piece of hope, healing and solidarity to 200 survivors of trauma. We are glad to help them out and end to the stigmatization of "hush" topics.



 

July is Disability Pride Month!


Image Description: A yellow background has bright blue, red and pink abstract shapes. Blue font reads "What is Disability Pride Month?" Bullet points are below.

Disability Pride Month is an annual and worldwide observance holiday during the month of July.

It is used to promote awareness of disability as san identity, a community, a culture & the positive pride felt by disabled people.

It directly challenges systematic ableism and discrimination disabled people face.

Boston held the first Disability Pride in 1990. The first Parade was held in Chicago in 2004.

Disability Pride Parades are held worldwide, from LA, NYC, to Brighton, UK.

You may have noticed an increase in content on our social media accounts!

In case you missed it, we did a week of themed posts for Juneteenth and another for Pride last month, covering topics like barriers to mental health treatment for the Black and LGBTQIA+ communities, the impacts of conversion therapy and trauma, the history of both holidays, mental health resources for both communities, and some highlights of activists past and present.

Check them out on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

Stay tuned and follow us for more Disability Pride themed posts throughout the month of July.

We hope to cover topics like Spoon Theory vs. Fork Theory, effective allyship, ESA vs. Service Animals, trauma statistics, resources for the disabled community, and "A Day in the Life" feature.

(Please message us if you'd like to be part of this!)



 

Volunteer Highlight


Image Description: A card has two drawn and colored dinosaurs, one a pink stegosauraus with a red heart sticker on its chest and one a green, long necked brachiosaurus with a green heart on its neck. There is pink hand writing that says "YOU ARE SO" and green that says "LOVED" A huge thank you to Youth Ministry Collective based out of Delaware, OH for these amazing Survivor Cards! Volunteers for these cards are in grades 6-12 and from 4 different churches in the area. We can't wait to distribute these to survivors who could benefit from them, along with our snail mail goodies and mental health resources. Thank you for your time and creativity!


Image Description: A hand written card says "For: The most important person in your world: YOU. Inside the card says "Nothing can justify what they did. Healing takes time, it might not look how you think, but the important part is you. With this healing, take time to reflect on yourself. Realize that just because life is different, doesn't mean you can't make the best of it."


Image Description: The outside of the handwritten card has 5 yellow star stickers. It says in green writing "Lovable, unique, strong, intelligent"... Inside the card reads "Hey stranger, you may not feel at your best right now, but I give you 5/5 stars. While I don't know you personally, I know these things to be true: You bring value to this world. You deserve to be listened to. You are loved." The cards above and more are on our website, Instagram and Facebook for your viewing!


 

Free Curriculum


Image Description: A screenshot of the cover of our free curriculum. It reads in bold font "A Young Leader's Guide to Trauma and Healing" and in smaller, regular font "Created by Michelle Brewer-Bunnell, LSW in collaboration with Alyson Wick for Survivor Cards, 501c3" Our free curriculum "A Young Leaders Guide to Trauma and Healing" is now available on our website! This curriculum was designed for 12-14 year olds, but is easily customizable for any age, child to adult. You can download all 11 pages by visiting our Tips & Publication page of our website, or email us at survivorcards@gmail.com to request it in PDF format. This curriculum can be copied, edited and used in any environment, from classrooms, to in-home, to youth groups, etc.


 

Volunteering & Community Service


Image Description: A hand holds a stack of 50 cards in white envelopes, next to a window with a monarch butterfly window cling that looks like stained glass. The cling has 2 butterflies and some yellow daylilies. Behind the window is a backyard with green grass. Did you know you can write Survivor Cards for your volunteer or community service hours? Whether it is a legal requirement or just for school, we can sign off on your hours. Just email us at survivorcards@gmail.com to discuss. (Make sure to check requirements from the enforcing agency) We wanted to share a little bit of a story of a recent community service project: A survivor emailed us to let us know they had legally required hours for community service and that they chose us to do their hours for, as they are a survivor and wanted to give back to others. It was very healing and grounding for them to write, and they wrote a shopping 50 cards for us! We are so honored and thankful that they chose a cause that meant something to them and had an experience that continued to help them build empathy for themselves and others in a way that felt safe and good. If you don't have time to volunteer, but still want to contribute to what we do, you can donate funds here or buy items off our wish list here!

Want to nominate yourself, an individual or an organization to receive a Survivor Card? Fill out our Nomination Form! It takes less than 5 minutes

 

As always, thank you for reading and being here! Here's to a wonderful month ahead!


If you'd like to receive these monthly communications straight to your email, simply visit our website, scroll to the bottom and enter your e-mail address! If you'd like to get in touch, please email us at survivorcards@gmail.com -Alyson Wick, Founder of Survivor Cards, Hot Girls Walking and Diversity Book Fairies of Cincinnati Our Wishlist Donate Nominate A Recipient

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