BY: ALFONSO ABREU
Healing Grounds, a community festival for restoration and resilience, emphasises the importance of mental health while uniting the community in the process. On Nov. 18th, the festival, hosted by the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island (JCCGI), Trauma Recovery Center (TRC), and HeartShare, at the Surfside Gardens community center in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) building of the same name. The community center already plays an integral part to the Coney Island community, with the interior plastered with flyers of multiple local events, flags representing numerous countries, and handmade children decorations.
The center provides free after-school, as well as hosting multiple events for both children and adults. On the 18th, it was the space for the Healing Grounds event.
The event was a talent show, with the purpose of highlighting citizens of the community. Free food and gifts were given to attendees. LoToya Nunn, the program director of Heartshare, was the host of the event. “This event is catering to people like ourselves, to be resilient. We live in a community where there is so much turmoil and so much going on, and we just want to be grateful that we are still here. To be here and enjoy this event.” Nunn continued, “We are all resilient members of this community, no matter who you are, no matter what your story is. You are resilient.”
The talent show enforced a theme of cultures and community. As a Coney Island native, Jalayla Vasquez, who was an intern at the event, performed a Mexican folklore dance in a Jalisco dress. The Marlboro youth group, from the neighboring community center of the same name, went next and performed a rendition of “Candy Rain.” The theme of resilience shone through as two members from the Coney Island Cathedral Church, two little girls, Natalya, who only gave her first name, and Lacy Prawel, respectively, performed songs of faith and perseverance. The songs were “Better Days” by Le’Andria Johnson and “Joyful Joyful” by God’s Angels, respectively.
JCCGCI is an organization in which specializes in providing therapeutic services for survivors of domestic violence, gun violence, community violence, sexual assault, physical assault, human trafficing, and it also provides general mental health services. Dr. Chelsea Askew, a representative at JCCGCI spoke on redemption. “Redemption isn’t about erasing the past, it’s about choosing a new path, taking responsibility, earning forgiveness, and proving through actions that transformation is possible.”
It was segue into guests Bobby and Cheryl Love, author of a 2021 book about their journey. Bobby was a prison escapee who turned his life around, and they formed a partnership centered in resilience.
Nunn summarized the purpose of the event.“The event was purposely curated to highlight stories of resilience and community,” she said. “Every talent and presentation was included for a purpose of showing community.”