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This space held me when the world wouldn’t.

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@TEAO_CANADA

Last night, we gathered with community members, volunteers, and supporters for an honest conversation about the heart of our work at TEAO Canada — and the future we’re building together. We reflected on how past grants have allowed us to: ✔️ Run trauma-informed programs for racialized youth # systemically-ignored communities ✔️ Provide culturally safe retreats like Collective Pause ✔️ Offer Mental Health First Aid training for community leaders ✔️ Engage in systemic work around racialized trauma care But we also named the realities: The challenges of sustaining this work without stable funding The toll of grant fatigue and underfunded core operations The deep need for a community-driven fundraising approach We know now more than ever — it will take collective effort to move from survival mode to long-term impact. We’re calling in volunteers, partners, and supporters who believe in healing justice, trauma-responsive care, and equitable access to mental health support. If you believe in community healing, trauma-responsive care, and creating access for those who’ve been left out of traditional systems… this is your invitation. ✨ Join the movement. If you see yourself in this mission — reach out. Let’s build this together. #TEAOCanada #CommunityHealing #FundraisingForImpact #TraumaInformedCare #NonprofitLeadership #CollectiveLiberation #HealingJustice

Educational Corner: Checking Biases, Collectively. ‼️🫶🏾 reposted from @youth_mental_health #bias #discrimination #sterotypes #prejudice #intersectionalitymatters #socialjustice #humanrights #youthmentalhealth #childmentalhealth #studentmentalhealth #socialdeterminantsofhealth Credit: @cartoon.called.life Cartoon Called Life

Resilient Voices Weekly: We love creators — the artists, musicians, writers, and makers who pour their hearts into expression. And we love you — the ones who show up, rise up, and keep going, even when the world doesn’t see the battles you’ve fought. #shareyourstory #shareforshare We don’t talk about childhood trauma enough. Too often, people are quick to judge, never knowing the storms someone has endured. These images (powerfully and deeply artistic by Takisha Brown @kishaa__ ) are dedicated to you — whoever you are — may you find healing, hope, and reminders that you are never alone. ❤️‍🩹 We see you. We are so glad you keep pushing. And we are so proud of you. #CommunityCare #WeSeeYou #KeepGoing #ChildhoodTraumaAwareness #HealingJourney #ProudOfYou Repost images from @kishaa__

🌿 Our Peer Support Team Grew! We’re thrilled to welcome 8 newly upcoming certified peer support volunteers to the TEAO community! These dedicated folks completed our 2 day Peer Certification: Mental Health First Aid Training& Trauma-Responsive Care & Systemic Impact Awareness last week and will now be supporting communities across the GTA + Waterloo Region starting this Fall. #staytuned. This isn’t about fixing others—it’s about showing up with presence, offering embodied support, and creating culturally safe spaces for healing. They’ve committed to: 🌀 3 hours of community service 🌀 3 hours of collective care in our outreach 🌀 Holding space for crisis without judgment Thank you for choosing to support others with compassion, courage, and care. We see you. 📍Ontario | TEAO Canada | Trauma-Informed Peer Support #PeerSupport #CommunityCare #TEAOCanada #TraumaResponsive #GTA #WaterlooRegion #HealingTogether #MentalHealthAwareness #SupportNotStigma #SomaticHealing #VolunteerLove

We love this!!! #pocketbreathcoach ♥️♥️♥️ Reposted by @soothing_breathe 6/6 Breathing For Stress Relief. Follow for more. Try the Pocket Breath Coach app by @headfulness_lukehorton in which you can customize the breathing exercises according to yourself with relaxing background sounds and Videos. Its Available For Free in the appstore/playstore. Link In Bio Heres how you can perform this 6-6 Breathing. 6 Seconds Inhale 6 Seconds Exhale Repeat this Equal Breathing pattern. This breathing exercise can help by promoting relaxation, reducing stress, and enhancing overall mental clarity. Regular practice can lead to long-term benefits for both your physical and mental well-being. Listen to it to keep your breathing slow and deep, and it also acts as a white noise that can block out distractions. #meditation #pranayama #boxbreathing #weekend

Amplifying Voices: This message is deeply resonant for Black & Indigenous women who have been conditioned—by family, culture, and systems—to wear strength like armor, even when it’s crushing them inside. ♥️ Repost from @violadavis • They praised our strength but never asked if it was hurting us. If no one told you lately: You are allowed to choose softness. You are allowed to fall apart and rebuild slowly. You are allowed to stop being everything for everyone. And still be worth loving. Still be enough. Your softness is not a weakness. It’s your birthright. Your resistance. Your power. We’re unlearning the myth. We’re reclaiming our softness. And we’re finally choosing ourselves. Read the full piece: The Myth of the Strong Black Woman And the Softness She Deserves. blackartmatters.substack.com 🔁blackartmatterss #writersofinstagram #writer #explorepage #fypシ #relatable #reels #igdaily #pain #mentalhealth #abandoned #child #truth #inspire #explore #identity

Amplifying Voices #repost #poem @hyhw.stories ♥️🫶🏾🫶🏾 #traumahealing #community #communitycare “Of course I can do it alone. I always do. I’ve learned how to carry groceries, pain, memories, solitude, compliance sometimes all at once. I’ve figured out how to untangle things no one else noticed were knotted. I answer my own questions, fight my own doubts, cheer myself when the silence is too loud. People say, “You’re so strong,” like it’s a gift, not something I built brick by brick when no one showed up. But yes, I can do it alone. I just wish I didn’t always have to.” #poem #poetry #writer #explorepage #fypシ #relatable #reels #igdaily #darkacademiaaesthetic #pain #mentalhealth #abandoned #child #truth #inspire #explore #identity

Educational Corner: Reposted by @blackandbrownparenting 🫶🏾&hearts;️ #resourcesharing

When parenting mimics colonization, we raise our children with the very tools that harm us.

🧠 With a degree in South Asian & African colonial history and

Educational Corner: Reposted by @blackandbrownparenting 🫶🏾♥️ #resourcesharing When parenting mimics colonization, we raise our children with the very tools that harm us. 🧠 With a degree in South Asian & African colonial history and years of parent coaching and speaking, I help Black and Brown communities connect the dots between colonization, cultural programming, and how we raise our children. I speak on 📣 ● Why conscious parenting is urgent for communities shaped by colonization. -● Empowering marginalized voices to lead and thrive. ● Unlearning cultural programming and reclaiming who you are as a black or brown woman. Link in bio to book me as your speaker! Let’s GOOOO #culturalconversations #breakthecycle #generationalpatterns #generationaltraumahealing #consciousparenting #parentingwithlove #culturalcompetency #culturalconsultant #ididntturnoutfine

BEHIND THE SCENES (BTS) ♥️♥️🫶🏾 Behind the scenes of TEAO is a lot of moving parts—and a lot of heart this past June #communityhaven #community #communitycare This is what collective care in motion looks like. No filters. Just real life, with real purpose. 🫶🏾 What part of your week held care? #CommunityInMotion #TEAOCanada #HealingInAction

Amplifying Voices & Awareness: Interesting 🤔💭⬇️ Repost from @queer.collective Why white & black queers don’t mix….👀🤔 . Clip from our episode ‘is Black Masculinity Feared in Queer Spaces? Ft @haviahmighty & djblackcatt ‘ . This podcast is proudly presented by @vizzyhardseltzerca 🌈 . . . . #queerpodcast #blackmasculinity #masculinity #racism #bipoc #poc #blackpodcasts #queer

🪴 “We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass love. It’s not enough just to change the system. We need to change ourselves.” – Assata Shakur 🪴 At TEAO Canada, we believe true healing and liberation are rooted in this wisdom. Transforming oppressive systems is essential — but so is transforming our own hearts, bodies, and minds. 👉🏾 Weapons of mass construction means we actively build, repair, and restore — in ourselves, our families, and our communities. 👉🏾 Weapons of mass love means we move from a place of care, compassion, and connection, not just rage or resistance. 👉🏾 System change without personal change can leave us repeating harmful cycles. As we dismantle what no longer serves us, we must also embody the futures we wish to create — rooted in love, justice, and collective care. ♥️ Let’s be builders of belonging. Let’s be healers of inherited wounds. Let’s be powerful agents of mass love. #AssataShakur #CollectiveHealing #Liberation #TraumaInformed #CommunityCare #MassConstruction #MassLove #SomaticJustice #TEAOCanada #EmbodiedHealing

#WELOVETHIS &hearts;️🌈 “Don’t stay where you are merely tolerated. Go where you are celebrated “….Thank you 👉🏾 wheretrueloveis.com

“Don’t stay where you are merely tolerated. Go where you are celebrated &ldqu

#WELOVETHIS ♥️🌈 “Don’t stay where you are merely tolerated. Go where you are celebrated “….Thank you 👉🏾 wheretrueloveis.com “Don’t stay where you are merely tolerated. Go where you are celebrated “— loved, affirmed, and seen in the fullness of who you are. Pride is not just a month; it is a lifelong act of courage, resistance, and self-love. Find your people, stand in your truth, and let your light shine. 🌈 #Pride #LGBTQIA #LoveIsLove #CelebrateYou

The Paradox: #Collective Awareness; Community What Now Podcast @whatnowpodcast 🫶🏾 What do you prioritize day-to-day? ♥️ Connection? Boundaries? Rest? #CollectiveAwareness #CommunityCare #HealingTogether #WhatNowPodcast #RadicalLove #CollectiveHealing #PrioritiesMatter #ConnectionMatters #VulnerabilityIsStrength #RestAsResistance #CommunityConversation #Belonging

Presence over Perfection Things are moving fast. We’re deep in community, on the road, in meetings, holding space. And still—we breathe. We pause. How are you grounding today when things move quickly? Drop an emoji or word in the comments that reflects how your nervous system is feeling right now 💬 #PresenceOverPerfection #TEAOCanada #EmbodiedActivism

Unlearning is as Liberating as Learning: Educational Corner Awareness #colonization Repost from @valerie_keter Why was it easy to colonize Africa? #africanhistory #colonialism #scrambleforafrica Neckpiece @nzilafrique Makeup @delishfs ______ #TEAOCanada #TraumaInformedCare #SystemicTrauma #JanayaKhan #PrivilegeAndPower #HealingJustice #EmbodiedEducation #TraumaTraining #SomaticHealing #CollectiveLiberation

THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS

THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND IN-KIND DONATIONS.

Where Community Becomes the Medicine