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After a remote pivot of “work” and an office closure in the days following the announcement of the projected path of Hurricane Ida, we had a happenstance listening tour with our community, on their needs and the storm’s impact. Upon learning of our team and communities’ overlapping hardships (a sobering echo of testimonials drenched in Hurricane Katrina associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)), we saw a need for mental health support.

As a growing team, we were faced with the challenge of mental elasticity daily as we heard stories, frustrations, and tensions of our community, while living with these same conditions ourselves; this provided insight on what was the status of our individual and collective wellness. So, we did what we do best: We advocated, educated, and developed programming based on our community’s articulated needs. And this is how the Fund 17 Wellness Initiative was born.  

 

Our Wellness Initiative 2023-2024 in partnership with @foundationforla was magic, and it could not have been so without the incredible community partners, program partners, our thought leaders support, and the team that made it possible. These workshops were attended by staff, support team members, members on our Board, community members and our community of entrepreneurs over the course of the year.