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By Keegan Williams, Photo: Hillary Schave/Azena Photography, LGBTQ Nation, August 21, 2023 Mercury Stardust’s phone camera pops on in the vacant Google Meet room. She’s doing her makeup, surrounded by her team offscreen, in a period of relative calm before the release of her first book, Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair , which will be accompanied by a 52-city book tour. Just over two years ago, the self-proclaimed Trans Handy Ma’am , based in Madison, Wisconsin, worked...

Deborah Blum holds a photo of her child, Esther Iris, who died by suicide in 2021. When it came time to write the death notice, Blum was open and specific about the mental health struggles that led to her child’s death. (Lauren Justice/KFF Health News) By Debby Waldman, The Washington Post, August 20, 2023 When Deborah and Warren Blum’s 16-year-old died by suicide in November 2021, they went into shock. For two days, the grief-stricken Los Angeles couple didn’t sleep. But when it came time...

These are challenging times to maintain physical and mental well-being, so much so that it’s increasingly difficult to encounter someone who isn’t struggling with some sort of significant medical and/or psychological challenge. On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily chats with award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and workshop facilitator Donna Jackson Nakazawa about her career at the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and emotion. Emily and Donna discuss the impact of...

(Warning: There is strong language in this episode.) As we move into the month of September, PACEs Connection is taking a break. Our staff will be on a retreat next week and will celebrate Labor Day the following week. We will be taking the next two weeks to restore ourselves. We will engage in self and collective care. In honor of Labor Day, PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren has chosen one of her favorite past podcasts for an encore this week. It is her conversation with Candice...

Sable Elyse Smith’s “Backbend” (2019) on display at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. MAURICE CHAMMAH/THE MARSHALL PROJECT By Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project, August 12, 2023 At first glance, the “Federal Prison Inmate Activity Book” looks like something a child might get at a fast food restaurant. But then you see that the word search puzzle includes terms like “larceny” and “embezzle.” On another page, above drawings of a panda and a one-eyed snake,...

A school nurse’s office in Centre County, Pennsylvania, seen on August 15, 2016. Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP By Chip Brownlee, The Trace, August 15, 2023 Picture a school nurse’s office: walls adorned with cheery posters about handwashing, a first-aid bed for the occasional stomach ache, a neat row of bandages for a scraped knee. Maybe a Kleenex box on a desk next to a stack of coveted hall passes. It’s a scene full of soft, comfortable textures — but for Robin Cogan, a school nurse...

A sign for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019. Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune By Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune, August 18, 2023 In early 2019, a small group of foster parents clustered in the governor’s office, hoping months of working with the state would improve things for children like theirs: deaf or hard of hearing and traumatized by a system that struggled to care for...

By Richard Lai, Image: screenshot from article, GameNGuides, August 18, 2023 In today’s world, the concept of family has evolved, and single-parent households have become increasingly common. While raising children alone can be a challenging task, it becomes even more crucial to address their emotional well-being and build resilience. How can we ensure that children growing up in single-parent households develop the strength and adaptability needed to thrive? This is a question that demands...

By Linda Searing, Photo Illustration: Washington Post Illustration/iStock, The Washington Post, August 21, 2023 New research points to eight healthy lifestyle habits that could add years to your life. In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, researchers found that men who had adopted all eight habits by middle age lived 24 years longer than men whose lifestyle included few or none of the habits. Women’s life expectancy increased by 23 years for those...

Photo above is of the PACEs Connection staff as we said goodbye to Jane Stevens, PACEs Connection founder and former CEO and publisher, on her transitioning to her new role as publisher of ACEsTooHigh , which was spun off from PACEs Connection on May 1. The eight staff members left in this photo curate and maintain the website, calendar, enewsletters, podcasts, webinars, maps, schedule of Creating Resilient Communities classes, membership profiles and more! They are, top row, l-r, Kahshanna...

It could be said that part of a faith community leader’s job is to take care of themselves. Time must be incorporated into the schedule to allow for self-care, and subsequently be a role model for the faith community. It is in balance and wholeness that spiritual health can be fully realized.

To read more of Kelly Wendorf's article, please click here. dis·mem·ber·ment noun 1. the action of cutting off a person’s or animal’s limbs. 2. the action of partitioning or dividing up a territory or organization. Most of us grew up learning that our body is a flesh and blood object, made up of organs, bones, veins and arteries, and encased in muscle and skin. We learned it is something to be researched, objectified, judged, used, harmed, exercised, fed, built, and discussed as if it is...