“For Ourselves & Our Descendants, We Are Creators of Healing and Beauty.”
community wellness
Healing, health and wellness
The Guild stewards co-created healing and wellness initiatives for the community that span traditional, neo-traditional, and new health and wellness modalities in support of all forms of physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental health.
The Guild leverages its access to resources and relationships, including its organizational credibility, to connect with aligned neighbors and community members to manifest a collective positive impact in the world.
A proud principle that The Guild embodies is the knowledge that from individual healing processes, momentum spreads and amplifies throughout the collective.
One such example of the collective effect of the Guild’s community presence is Open Streets/Open World: Blue Hill Avenue, a community-based initiative that transformed a one-mile stretch of roadway into a car-free corridor for community celebration, healing, cultural exchange and wellness initiatives. “I had never seen so many people play together, with such purpose, in all my years of growing up in Roxbury,” one neighbor recalled. “It was not only about having fun. It was not frivolous. It really had meaning.” Another community member said, “The smiling faces make your soul jump. Even when people walk by, they’re just happy.”
Featuring free yoga classes, bike riding, zumba, music performances, photo exhibits and more, this global greenways and community-building initiative had not been attempted before in such a non-commercial, historically neglected neighborhood of color in the Greater Boston Area.
The Guild agreed to lend support on conditions tied to its deeper mission: rather than introduce another outside-in effort, The Guild meant to ensure an initiative that would stabilize opportunity creation and support for neighbors and businesses of color along Blue Hill Avenue, from within the community.
Over 10,000 neighbors and 200 partners and sponsors later, Open Streets/Open World on Blue Hill Avenue has become a celebrated example of the potential for partnering community members with new community-owned development and healing processes.
As a result of these successes, The Guild is now planning a series of Open Streets/Open World events in partnership with the City of Boston.
Mosaic of Voices:
Key Benefits: neighborhood revitalization, social cohesion, safety, youth jobs and leadership, civic engagement, improved quality of life, local economy support, healthy food access points, workforce development, interim development solution for public sector assets, new urban policy, neighborhood-based education/training hubs, new systems and infrastructure for healing and wellbeing. Venue for community/org activities. Educate students in the creation of new models and practices. Lessen social isolation.