HEALING APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
Freedom School for Healing & Justice
The intention of the Freedom School for Healing & Justice is to cultivate the next generation of Black, Brown, and immigrant community healers in Oakland, CA. We believe that healing is an *embodied* practice that stems from the wisdom of community & lived experience.
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Participants will be taught through an applied community apprenticeship model guided by FCC's Whole-Person Healing framework. Trainees will be formally trained in basic herbalism, Reiki I & II, health education basics, and mental health first aid training.
Group dialogues and reflection assignments will also draw upon somatics, self-reflection, Black feminism, critical race theory, ethnic studies, cultural anthropology, political science, sociology, and more to integrate healing with historical & contemporary social justice frameworks.
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This is an 8-week course that meets weekly from June-July 2023.
In-person classes are mandatory and in-person at the FCC Ancestral Healing Sanctuary at 3134 International Blvd. Oakland, CA 94601.
There will be a short list of required pre-readings, reflection assignments, and a final project to encourage self-reflection, growth, and personal healing.
Trainees who successfully complete the 8-week series will be invited to complete 15 community service hours (3-5 healing clinics) through Freedom Community Clinic to obtain their Reiki I & II certification, mental health first aid, and FCC Healer certification.
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This course is completely free for community members. It is our hope that by learning new healing modalities you are able to give healing back to yourself, your families, your loved ones, and your communities.
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Saturday, June 10 (10a-3p, in-person)
Opening Ceremony, Somatic Herbalism, FCC Healers Gathering, Ethics, Consent, New Healer Orientation/TrainingSaturday, June 17 (10a-1p, in-person)
Spirit & Social Justice Part 1, Reiki I trainingSaturday, June 24 (1p-4pm, in-person)
Freedom Community Clinic Healing Clinic at San Antonio ParkBREAK (virtual, asynchronous)
Health Education Basics Part 1, Mental Health First Aid TrainingSaturday, July 8 (1p-4p, in-person)
Spirit & Social Justice Part 2, Reiki II trainingBREAK (virtual, asynchronous)
Spirit & Social Justice Part 3, Health Education Basics Part 2Saturday, July 22 (1p-4p, in-person)
Final Presentations, Dinner, Closing Ceremony
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Requirements for Reiki Certification and FCC Healer Certificate:
Attend all 5 in-person gatherings
Completion of all health education basics + mental health first aid training
Turn in all weekly reflection assignments
Have at least two 1-on-1 meetings with Bernie
Commit 15 community service hours to serving as a healer at 5 FCC community healing clinics with participant feedback forms
Final feedback form
Promotores de Sanación
Launched in May 2023 with its first successful pilot cohort, Promotores de Sanación has trained over 30 local women in holistic healing practices and community health outreach. All participants identify as women, mothers, first-generation immigrants, are Spanish-speaking and/or Mam-speaking, and are over 50 years old.
Promotores de Sanación is a critical training program in cultivating the wisdom of our community-- creating space for dialogue, and forging the next generation of Black, Brown, and immigrant healers.
We aim to disrupt cycles of oppression in order to create new cycles of intergenerational healing, investing in community members to gain skills, funding, and support to lead their own local health, healing, and wellness initiatives. In this way, we subvert cycles of trauma and violence with new standards of community healing justice.
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Participants engage in a 6-month apprenticeship program with an intensive summer 8-week curriculum that introduces them to community health outreach, healing justice, intergenerational healing, and embodied holistic healing practices (e.g. meditation, yoga, breathwork, herbal medicine, acupressure, and self-massage).
Trainees who successfully complete the 8-week series will be invited to complete 15 community service hours (3-5 healing clinics) through Freedom Community Clinic to obtain their health education certification, mental health first aid, and FCC Healer certification.
At the end of the program, participants create their own community healing offerings for the Fruitvale East Oakland community.
The success of this pilot program has been astounding, as we have been already able to forge 10+ local partnerships with street vendors, local businesses, markets, tiendas, and more to provide regular healing opportunities to their staff, service people, and communities.
Downtown/ West Oakland Pharmacy & Apothecary
3215 Telegraph Ave #101
Oakland, CA 94609
Fruitvale/ East Oakland Community Healing Sanctuary
3134 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94601