Parish Hall 1st Floor

Thursday, May 28, Parish Hall, 7-8:30pm. What if prison helped heal people? James Fox, the founder of the Prison Yoga Project, and European Program Director Josefin Wikstrom, will visit FRSUU to share their holistic approach to transformation in prisons worldwide. Their nonprofit has pioneered evidence-based trauma-informed yoga and embodied mindfulness practices to equip incarcerated people with tools for self-regulation, self-discovery, and personal growth. FRSUU member Lindsey Athanasiou sits on Prison Yoga Project's board and will proudly open the presentation. The Prison Yoga Project's slogan is "Healing over punishment," and their team facilitates programs in correctional facilities across 20 states and in 12 countries, positively impacting the lives of thousands of incarcerated men, women, and youth. James Fox, M.A., CYT, has practiced yoga and insight meditation for more than 30 years. He began his mission of sharing the benefits of those practices to relieve symptoms of unresolved trauma with incarcerated people when he became a teacher in 2000. Josefin Wikstrom, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, TCTSY-F, has worked as a yoga teacher with trauma-exposed people, including the incarcerated and refugees, since 2003. She lives in Sweden, where she teaches yoga and movement at high-security men’s and women’s prisons. (Internal: set up includes chairs in rows, display table, projector, and microphone.)

Sunday, May 3, Parish Hall, 12-2pm. Celebrating with our Afghan Family and Looking to the Future Join us to celebrate with our Afghan family, Reverend Rebecca, and all the volunteers. Hear about what we have accomplished in four years and where we are going. Learn about the Resettlement Partnership creating creative long-term housing solutions for forcibly displaced persons in the Newburyport area. Speakers: --Fr. Jarred Mercer, Rector of St. Paul's Church in Newburyport and the founder and president of The Resettlement Partnership (TRP). He will speak on TRP's approach to creating long-term housing solutions for forcibly displaced persons in the Newburyport area. --Sheila Trieff, LICSW and a longtime member of the community, has run the Afghan women's circle for the last four years and will share some of the highlights of this journey. She is also on the Board of Directors for The Resettlement Partnership. Food: soup, salad, Afghan rice and pastries, samosas, and other desserts. For any questions, please contact Sarina Khan Reddy at 978-853-4784 or sarinakhanreddy@gmail.com.