REGIONS

Healing of Memories Workshops have been provided in Arizona since 2013, in partnership with the Franciscan Renewal Center and Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center. The workshops are offered to address the emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds inflicted by war, human rights abuses and other traumatic circumstances. Thanks to grants from the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation the workshops are provided free of charge.

The 3rd Healing of Memories for Spouses and Significant Others of Veterans Workshop in Arizona was held at Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ on March 31 – April 2, 2017. It was another successful workshop with 12 attending – 11 women and 1 man with a variety of ages. The workshop was led by Margaret Fell and Sheila Laughton with additional facilitators Kathleen Garast, David Campbell, Annemarie Patterson and Sandi Howlett.

The 11th Healing of Memories for Veterans Workshop in Arizona was held at the Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, AZ on April 7-9, 2017. For this workshop we only invited woman veterans. It was a real success with 18 women veterans attending from all eras including Vietnam, First Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The workshop was led by Margaret Fell and Sheila Laughton with additional facilitators Zoe Wild, Annemarie Patterson and Sandi Howlett.

The 12th Healing of Memories for Veterans Workshop in Arizona was held at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale Arizona on May 12-14, 2017. It was a success with 21 participants (16 men and 5 women) representing Vietnam, First Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The workshop was led by Father Michael Lapsley with Kaya Ncosani, Bob Phillips, David Campbell, Zoe Wild and Sandi Howlett facilitating.

HOM for Vets, September 2016

Mike Wold is the volunteer regional coordinator for the Healing of Memories Workshop in Arizona. He is a US Navy Vietnam veteran who has led and been involved with organizations serving deployed military personnel, veterans and their families for over eight years. He is a successful organizational development consultant, coach, teacher and facilitator with more than 15 years of experience in these areas plus 25 years experience in management and project management in the private and public sector.

Contact:
Email: michael_w_wold@msn.com
Phone: 651-687-9767

Partners: 
Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center: www.spiritinthedesert.org
Franciscan Renewal Center: http://www.thecasa.org

Healing of Memories Workshop in Pasadena at Neighborhood UU  Church

May 17-19, 2018

HOM flyer Pasadena 2018

Father Michael Lapsley has been a regular speaker at All Saints Church for many years, and presented his first yearly Healing of Memories Workshop there in 2011. They have been open to diverse members of the congregation, and to the public at large.

We also provide workshops to Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles. Our Northern California partner is St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, led by the Rev. Wilma Jakobsen.

Karen Hayes is the Regional Coordinator for the California programs. She brings many years of experience in the non-profit sector as an Executive Director, Major Gift Fundraiser and Program Developer. She is a filmmaker and activist for peace with justice.

Upcoming Healing of Memories Workshop

Church of the Crossroads, Honolulu

November 10-12, 2017, Fee $125, Scholarships available

Since 2010, Healing of Memories Workshops have been offered in Hawaii, usually twice annually, when Fr. Michael Lapsley visits the islands.Our goal is to develop the capacity to offer additional workshops as we train facilitators and lead facilitators in Hawaii. Participants have included church members, individuals in substance abuse treatment, women in a furlough program from prison, veterans and university students and faculty.

During his visits to Hawaii, Fr. Michael has preached at UCC and Methodist and Episcopal churches, including Cathedral of St. Andrew where he also delivered an endowed lecture. He has visited the Womenʻs Community Correctional Center twice to bring healing of Memories concepts to the women. Fr. Michael has worked with students at the Buddhist Academy of the Pacific, and in 2014 spent two weeks with students for elementary through high school at Iolani School.

IHOM-NA also sponsors community forums. Recent topics have included Hawaiian Sovereignty and the Churchʻs Role in Resisting Oppression.

Linda Rich, DCSW, LSW, CSAC lives in Honolulu where she enjoys the cultural diversity and the beauty of Hawaii.She currently serves as Chair of IHOM-NAʻs board of directors and is the Regional Coordinator for IHOM-NA’s work in Hawaii.She has been a facilitator since 2009. Lindaʻs undergraduate degree is in religion and she has a masterʻs degree in social work.She grew up in the South during the Civil Rights movement, is a survivor of childhood trauma, and served with the American Red Cross in military hospitals in Viet Nam for 18 months.These experiences all led her to seek ways to work for peace, justice, and healing and to a career in social work.

She has had both clinical and administrative roles in mental health and substance abuse treatment and has served on numerous task forces and committees related to domestic violence, improving behavioral health services, homelessness, and peace and justice. She finds joy in singing and dancing hula, walking by the ocean, and being with friends and family. Linda is a member of Church of the Crossroads, a Just Peace, Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ.

Father Michael Lapsley and students at the Iolani School in Honolulu

Contact:
Email: michael_w_wold@msn.com
Phone: 651-687-9767

Partners: 
Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center: www.spiritinthedesert.org
Franciscan Renewal Center: http://www.thecasa.org

Healing of Memories Workshops Mini Workshop, Twin Cities Non-Violent September 24, 2018

The Concept

Everyone has a story to tell and every story needs to be heard, acknowledged and respected. The workshop provides a safe space where people can begin the journey of acknowledging and letting go of that which is destructive in their lives and incorporating from the past that which is life giving. This is the first step in personal healing and wholeness as well as healing of interpersonal relationships.

An Overview

This workshop is designed to help you remember and examine life experiences, especially traumatic ones, which negatively affect your life. The process involves telling your story in a safe, confidential and nonjudgmental space without roadblocks like shame, guilt or the fear of hurting a loved one. When your story is heard, acknowledged and honored, you can take one step toward healing those memories.

This workshop is one step on the Healing Journey 

Day 1 – The First Step

• Dinner at 6:00 p.m.
• Welcome and introductions
• Overview of workshop process

Day 2 – Storytelling and Discussion

• Remembering life events
• Storytelling in small facilitated groups
• Discussion of common themes, feelings
• Evening gathering to relax

Day 3 – The Journey Continues

• Weaving experiences together
• Creating symbols of peace/hope
• Honoring the workshop experience
• Taking a step towards healing

Collaborating Organizations and Churches:

• ARC Retreat Center
• Coming Home Collaborative
• Every Church a Peace Church
• Loyola Spirituality Center
• Mary Alphonse Bradley Fund
• Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church
• Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
• Mount Olive Lutheran Church
• Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Augsburg University
• Spirit of Hope Catholic Community
• Minnesota Healing of Memories and the ARC Retreat Community are in partnership to help advance the missions of both organizations. As part of this partnership, Healing of Memories workshops are offered at the ARC Retreat Center.

Margaret Fell is the Regional Coordinator for the Institute for Healing of Memories in Minnesota. She has worked with Fr. Michael Lapsley and the Institute for Healing of Memories since 2007. She was one of the founding members of a working group of the Minnesota’s Warrior to Citizen Campaign, which has offered Healing of Memories workshops for veterans since 2009.  She served as Chair of the Institute for Healing of Memories-North America from 2011- 2014 and has been a Healing of Memories workshop facilitator since 2011, and Lead Facilitator since 2014. Margaret is an Episcopalpriest. She holds a BA degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary/Seabury Western Theological Seminary. The focus of her ministry is working with Healing of Memories workshops.

Contact:
Email : mdf1765@comcast.net
Phone: (612) 518-6808

Regional Coordinators

Jan McCray is an educator and counselor with over 30 years of experience working at the junior high school, high school and college levels. Tirelessly working for student success, she served as guidance counselor at New York’s premier Stuyvesant High School and retired as an Assistant Principal of Guidance and Special Education from the High School for Art and Design. Jan received her Doctor of Ministry Degree from the New York Theological Seminary where she currently serves on the Board of Trustees. She became a facilitator for IHOM in 2012. Jan is a member of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in New York.

Contact:
Email: http://jan.mccray@gmail.com

After her son, Greg, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center, Phyllis Rodriguez and her husband wrote an open letter, “Not In Our Son’s Name,” opposing military retaliation. They became founders of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. A documentary about the Rodríguezes, “In Our Son’s Name,” has screened nationally. After attending a workshop in 2006, Phyllis became a Healing of Memories coordinator.

Contact:
Email: IHOMNA@gmail.com

Lead Facilitator 

Paul Feuerstein, MA, STM, MSW, founder and President/CEO of Barrier Free Living, New York City developed the first Transitional Residence in the country for severely disabled homeless people (located on the Lower East Side). BFL has the largest domestic violence program for people with disabilities in the country. Freedom House, the first totally accessible emergency domestic violence shelter in the country has served victims with disabilities from over 40 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In 2015, Barrier Free Living opened 120 units of Supportive Housing in the South Bronx. He authored “Disabled Women and Domestic Violence: Notes from the Field” for a textbook Service Delivery for Vulnerable Populations: New Directions in Behavioral Health (Springer, 2011) as well as other articles.

He serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the New York City Domestic Violence Residence Coalition; board member of Homeless Services United; member of the Human Services Council’s Priority and Strategy Council and a member of its Equity planning group; and co-founder and former chair of the Disability Network of New York City. He is collaborating with the Institute for the Healing of Memories (IHOM) in Cape Town, South Africa and is the founding Chair of the Board for IHOM North America. He is the Dean of Multi-Vocational Priests for the Episcopal Diocese of New York and Co-chair of the Diocese Domestic Violence Task Force. He co-chairs the Undoing Racism Committee of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery Episcopal Church.

Healing of Memories Workshop

October 24-26, 2017

Unitarian Universalist Church of Chattanooga 3224 Navajo Drive Chattanooga, TN 37411

Registration Fee: $150, Scholarships are available through the generous support of the Veatch Foundation. Apply online at: http://www.uucc.org/uucc-calendar/special-events

The the issues that plague Chattanooga are remarkably similar to Cape Town, South Africa. The Institute for the Healing of Memories in Cape Town, South Africa has been working with young people for the past four years on a project that they call “Restoring Humanity,” a project that the Fathers 2 the Fatherless staff found inspiring and they committed to joining us for our next Healing of Memories Workshop and facilitator training in the fall of 2017.

In the spring of 2015, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Chattanooga’s social justice committee and lay pastoral care committee sponsored a fundraising event and raised funds to introduce the transformative power of the Healing of Memories workshops. Father Lapsley offered two introductory workshops that included members of the community, social workers, police officers, and church members.

Rev Cathy Harrington; is the Regional Coordinator, for the Institute for Healing of Memories in Tennessee. Cathy was introduced to Father Michael and Healing of Memories workshops while working as a Victim Outreach Specialist with 911 Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow in 2013. She is a Healing of Memories facilitator and is working with local leaders to incorporate the transformative power of Father Michael’s work in the struggle for racial justice, healing of trauma due to violence, and to support veterans, police officers, and first responders.

Cathy is a Unitarian Universalist parish minister serving a UU congregation in Chattanooga, TN. She received a Master of Divinity Degree from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley CA in 2004 and a Doctor of Ministry from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago IL in 2012. She is a member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains and serves the Chattanooga Police Department as a volunteer police chaplain. A life-long learner, Cathy is studying Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.