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Alyson Wick

October 2023

Updated: Oct 28, 2023



Image Description: A white banner with light green grid has illustrations of little mushrooms, leaves and pumpkins. Black font reads "Hello October" This month was a celebration for a number of things, such as National Coming Out Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Filipino-American History Month, LGBTQIA+ History Month, OCD Awareness Week, Indigenous People's Day and of course, Halloween! We couldn't possibly cover every single day or month of note, but we hope that you take a moment to learn more on your own and post about those that mean something to you. Stay tuned for the end of our newsletter where we talk about Indigenous Peoples Day!


 

RECENT


Card Drive Benefitting Project HELP, Inc.




Image Description: A shipping cardboard box contains rubber banded stacks of envelopes. There are 195 cards. Sitting on the edge of the box is a smaller box containing twenty-five children's affirmation cards. We are happy to announce that with your help, we've met our goal for our Survivor Card drive benefiting Project HELP, Inc. in Naples, FL! 195 handwritten, volunteer-crafted cards will be going out to them this week to distribute to the survivors they serve; 95 for women, 45 for men, 35 for nonbinary folks and 20 for children. This will serve Project HELP for one year! Project HELP is a non-profit organization staffed by professional counselors and advocates committed to providing hope, empowerment, and healing to those affected by sexual violence, sudden death, and other crimes. Along with free counseling and advocacy services, Project HELP provides their community with a 24-Hour Crisis & Referral Helpline and a rural mobile center for rape response and crisis situations. Thank you for helping us serve these survivors in this capacity! Handwritten letters are a tangible piece of hope, healing and solidarity for survivors who have experienced trauma. Early response is a key part of preventing PTSD and empowering survivors, invoking community and providing comfort. Each card contains a handwritten note, crisis resources and "snail mail goodies" such as mental health-focused stickers. To get involved or volunteer to write for future card drives and our ongoing efforts to connect cards with individual survivors across the globe, email survivorcards@gmail.com


 

Turpin High School Statement & Services Offered




Image Description: A dark blue background with a light gray grid overlaid has white, formal font that reads "Thinking of you" in all capitals. In the bottom right and left corner are a cluster of flowers in shades of pastels. Those of us at Survivor Cards are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of a local Turpin high schooler. We are here for you in the aftermath of grief and want to remind you that help is available. Please visit our bookmarked Crisis Resource List (and note that some of these lines will utilize emergency intervention for life saving measures if urgent and imminent) You are so loved and we are thinking of you now and always. Survivor Cards would like to remind you that we have offerings available to you and your loved ones: * Survivor Cards - are handwritten notes for survivors of trauma on hand, with secular and inclusive messages of hope, healing and solidarity. Our cards come with free crisis support information cards, as well as mental health focused goodies such as stickers. * In Loving Memory Albums - We also offer free album kits for those who have lost a loved one, which are provided at no-cost with no questions asked. * Free Trauma Curriculum - We have LISW created free, trauma curriculum for basic trauma prevention and first aid, age appropriate for teens and modifiable for all ages. Our Free "A Young Leader's Guide to Trauma and Healing" is a quick introduction to what trauma is, how it can impact someone you know, how to cope with trauma and identify coping skills and support persons, and be a good friend or neighbor. * Training & Resource Referral - We are happy to discuss your needs and help you get pointed in the right direction for non-urgent requests. We highly recommend QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Training for all community members, from teachers and professionals, to neighbors and friends. * Crisis Resource List Publication - Free for download here! Please email us at survivorcards@gmail.com if we can support you. (Please note that Survivor Cards does not provide 24/7 support or crisis support services. Please contact a crisis line if you need support right now or 911 if you need emergency assistance)



 

Volunteer Spotlight




Image Description: 5 women sit around a round table with a white tablecloth. They are looking down and writing on stationery. The women are smiling. We would like to express our gratitude once again to Junior League of Cincinnati, this time for including us in their jam packed #FindTheGoodDay! They created over 4 dozen cards for us to distribute to survivors, alongside putting together 200 sandwiches for local nonprofit Our Daily Bread. This was an amazing event, that Mayor Aftab Pureval wrote a proclamation honoring! How cool! The cards written by JLC were utilized in our card drive benefitting Project HELP, Inc. Project HELP is a non-profit organization staffed by professional counselors and advocates committed to providing hope, empowerment, and healing to those affected by sexual violence, sudden death, and other crimes.




Image Description: 3 women sit at a table with a white tablecloth. They are smiling and looking directly into the camera. Two of the women are white and the third has brown skin. The two women on the left have long hair, one wearing her dark hair down and the other wearing her dark hair up. The third women has dark black hair and is wearing her hair down. In front of them are stacks of envelopes and pens.



 

ONGOING


We Need Spanish-Speaking & Bilingual Writers!




Image Description: A yellow background has a darker yellow design on it, it looks like tile. There are blue borders above and below the font. The Survivor Cards logo of an open envelope with a teal heart seal is in the upper middl of the image. The blue font reads "We Need Spanish Speaking and Bilingual Writers. Email survivorcards@gmail.com to get involved!" Hi everyone! Hola a todas! We are currently in need of Spanish speaking and bilingual writers. Actualmente necesitamos escritores bilingües y de hispanohablantes. If you are interested, email us at survivorcards@gmail.com Si está interesado, envíenos un correo electrónico a survivorcards@gmail.com Thank you! Gracias!


 

UPCOMING


Anderson Trick-Or-Treat






Image Description: A white flyer has black and orange font reading the text from the portion below. There is an illustrated happy ghost holding a pumpkin-themed trick-or-treat basket in the upper middle. To either side are orange spider webs. At the bottom is the Diversity Book Fairies of Cincinnati logo, which contains an illustrated tree with books appearing to grow on the branches. To either side is a orange jack-o-lantern basket filled with treats and a stack of colorful books. No Tricks! Just Treats! Join Diversity Book Fairies of Cincinnati during Anderson’s Trick-or-Treat for: * Yummy Candy! * Allergen-Free Treats! * Free Diverse Books for Babies-12th Grade! October 31st | 6-8 PM | 1004 Brooke Avenue All Ages Welcome!



 

Indigenous Peoples' Day




Image Description: The image contains a variety of geometric patterns in many colors, as well as arrow shapes. The font reads "Indigenous Peoples' Day" Here is a look at why it’s called Indigenous Peoples Day, the history behind it and how people celebrate from PBS.org, written by Hallie Golden and Christine Fernando, Associated Press Why is it called Indigenous Peoples Day? Indigenous Peoples Day has been recognized for decades in different forms and under a variety of names to celebrate Native Americans’ history and culture and to recognize the challenges they continue to face. In 2021, Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day. He said in a statement that the day is meant to “honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today.” It is typically observed on the second Monday in October, the same day as Columbus Day, a federal holiday established decades ago to recognize Columbus’ sighting in 1492 of what came to be known as the Americas. “Columbus was a lost explorer who stumbled into this part of the world and brought famine, colonization, the deaths of millions of Indigenous peoples,” said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group. “For this country to celebrate that history is absolutely disrespectful.” Is Indigenous Peoples Day a federal holiday?

Although it is not a federal holiday, 17 states — including Washington, South Dakota and Maine — as well as Washington, D.C., have holidays honoring Native Americans, some of which are on the second Monday in October, according to the Pew Research Center. Indigenous Peoples Day is typically paired with Columbus Day or replaces the federal holiday altogether. Dozens of cities and school systems observe Indigenous Peoples Day as well. Earlier this year, Anchorage and Phoenix became two of the latest municipalities to officially designate Indigenous Peoples Day a holiday. Several U.S. lawmakers announced they had reintroduced legislation meant to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day as a federal holiday. What is the significance of Indigenous Peoples Day? Its significance for Native Americans has more to do with the fact that it’s the day the U.S. has celebrated Columbus, explained Cliff Matias, cultural director for the New York-based Redhawk Indigenous Arts Council. “We celebrate our survival of Columbus and all that he brought,” he said. Matias, whose Indigenous Nations are Taino and Kichwa, said a more suitable day to honor Native people would be the “summer solstice, which is a powerful day for Indigenous people all over the world. It might be some sort of day that we recognize generally correlating with our connection to the planet.” Still, Tilsen said celebrating on this day is powerful. “When we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus Day, it shows a victory for Indigenous people,” he said. “It represents how we won’t be erased, how we still stand in our power, no matter what they did to try to kill us off and steal our land.” How do people celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day?

Indigenous Peoples Day is meant to recognize the painful history Indigenous people have faced and to celebrate their communities, said Tilsen, who is Oglala Lakota. But it is also “a day of protest and resistance,” he said. The day is often marked by protests against memorials to Columbus, for environmental justice, for the return of Indigenous lands and in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Tilsen said he often participates in protests a day before celebrating with Native food, performances, art, music and traditional ceremonies. Recognition of the day itself follows organizing by Indigenous peoples since the 1970s, said Mays, who is Black and Saginaw Anishinaabe. Activists say the effort to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day has been resisted by people who view Columbus as a representative of Italian-American history. Tilsen said the issue “is not an either-or.” “Italian-Americans have made so many contributions to America, and that should be celebrated,” he said. “But not like this. There is so much more in Italian-American history that should be celebrated instead.” -- You can learn more about Indigenous Peoples' of the United States and their fight for rights at IWGIA.org



 

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 (Individual, Self or Organization)

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