New Video Resource: Intergenerational Healing
This month we collaborated with the Sikh Coalition to bring emotional health and wellbeing at the forefront! Listen in to Sanjog Kaur, Sikh Family Center’s Director of Programs, describe how unresolved trauma can manifest in different forms and ways to support parents and grandparents towards acceptance and healing.
Welcome to the Board, Jasvir Kaur Singh!
We are so honored to welcome this amazing Kaur to our Board of Directors. Jasvir has volunteered with Sikh Family Center for 8 years. Jasvir works as a clinical pharmacist and has participated in disaster relief efforts, including leading medical teams, across the world. Jasvir served as the Religious Secretary for Palatine Gurdwara, the largest Gurdwara in the midwest. She also spends her time as a counselor for various Sikh camps and retreats around the country teaching children. Her passion is to empower and teach children and young adults to be comfortable in their own skin, to embrace differences and build bridges through compassion.
Jasvir brings nearly three decades of dedicated experience engaging with the Sikh community across the U.S. on issues often considered “too sensitive.” She is a firm believer in the transformative power of sangat (community) and individual resilience in overcoming violence. Her personal and professional journey emphasizes the human spirit’s capacity to rise from trauma with chardi kalaa, to heal, and to reclaim sovereignty from leveraging connections with gurdwara leaders to support survivors of violence to strategizing ways to make culturally specific resources accessible for all.
Beyond Bichaari Survivor Suniyae Circles Are Back
Break the cycle of isolation! Survivor stories and power take the community much beyond the concept of “bichaari” (“o poor thing”). We know that, and we want to create another space for you to express yourself, in community.
Register now for Sikh Family Center’s Survivor listening circle: a virtual brave space for female-identifying survivors to discuss survivorship, storytelling, autonomy, health, and safety.
Sikh Fathers & Father-Figures, We Want To Hear From You
Whether you are a father or a father-figure to anyone in your life, we want to hear what practical and philosophical gifts you wish to leave your kids. Sikh Family Center is seeking more 1-2 minute videos, audio files and quotes. Drop submissions here. No answer is too simple or too small.
Listen to Shinda Singh’s response: “As I reflect on this question, I center myself around unconditional love…” A Sikh father shares his commitment to show his children non-transactional love. Putting fatherhood on our collective agenda and raising awareness about healthy parenting is a powerful gift to the entire Sikh community
Opportunity: Call for Hosts
Are you getting ready for Summer gatherings? Whether it’s a backyard barbecue, a community picnic, a graduation, or a tea party, we’re looking for enthusiastic hosts who are eager to bring people together while also fundraising for the healthy & equity-focused mission of Sikh Family Center! Contact us to start planning.
Helpline Highlights
While our Helpline work remains entirely private (we never confirm or deny if we are working with anyone on the Helpline), we’d like to give you a sense of the type of support being extended, in addition to the essential compassionate listening, co-regulation, and emotional security our Helpline peer counselors provide in each case.
Examples of recent Helpline activities to support callers from various states:
- Connected survivor to legal clinic that can prepare her paperwork (for free, as a survivor of domestic violence).
- Covered childcare expenses for survivor’s children, while she attended court.
- Safety planned with survivor facing physical and emotional abuse by husband and in-laws as she considers her options.
- Advocated for pediatric medical services on behalf of uninsured child of survivor.
- Connected survivor with an adult learning center that provides free classes for ESL learners, basic literacy skills, preparing for Driver’s Test.
- Supported several survivors dealing with unique and complex domestic violence situations with ongoing emotional support.
