HEAL Program

What is HEAL?

HEAL (Healing, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Liberation) is a Healing Justice program for individuals and communities ready to engage in deep personal healing and bold collective action.

This program is open to Sonoma Valley High School students who are ready to explore their identities, heal from personal and collective experiences, and build community power.

Participants in HEAL will:

Examine the intersections of personal and collective trauma
Engage in art, storytelling, and somatic practices to reclaim power
Build advocacy skills and strategies for collective liberation
Leave with tools to sustain both personal wellness and community change

HEAL is not just about feeling better, it’s about transforming ourselves, our communities, and the systems that seek to harm us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can join?

High school students in Sonoma Valley are eligible.

Where is the program offered?

The sessions are held at Hanna Center in Sonoma.

What is the commitment if I join?

We require all participants to attend the first two sessions, where group agreements are made.

There is also a requirement to attend at least 6 of the eight sessions.

The program is free and a $58 per session stipend will be provided to each participating student ($464 in total, if all sessions are attended).

What are the possible benefits of joining the program?

Results from a 2023 analysis of surveys between the beginning (pre) and the end (post) of the program showed that on average, participants significantly improved on four outcomes that were measured:

Participants reported that their mental health symptoms were reduced by feeling less left out or depressed, or feeling more companionship.
Participants mentioned the benefits of having stronger connections to peers they had already known or meeting new people in the group.
They also reported improved knowledge on resources about mental health and substance use. In particular, they liked learning new topics that were usually not talked about in school.
Further, better coping skills were observed when dealing with the stress that occurred in their physical and home environments. Some said they were able to overcome their social anxiety to speak up and the program helped their communication skills.

Results indicate that participants’ resilience levels improved significantly with better recovery from a stressful event. Please contact On The Margins if you would like to have more access to a summary of our evaluation results: [email protected]

What is Healing Justice?

Healing Justice is a political and cultural framework that sees healing as essential to liberation. Our personal wellness cannot be separated from the systems we live under: racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, colonization and all forms of oppression impact our minds, bodies, and spirits. HEAL is a space to name these systems, explore our power, and practice healing as an act of resistance.

What does the schedule look like?

Please scroll down this page for a list of session dates and times. We require that participants attend the first two sessions and try to miss a maximum of two sessions throughout the cohort.