“I know what it is like to be othered and dehumanized to the point of being erased, as though I don’t exist. I also know what it is like to be stigmatized with a mental health issue and be labeled as ‘irredeemable.’ How can we allow this to happen? Because in white supremacist culture, the individual and the individual’s needs are prioritized over the community and its communal needs. As a result, a loss of connection and an isolation occurs. To each his own.

“And when this happens, then it is ok that there are those of us who live on the streets and those of us who don’t. And it is okay when those with privilege act out of their trauma (by othering and dehumanizing) and not okay when those of color and those from marginalized communities do (often through substance use and addiction).

“We have to stop hurting each other. We have to start seeing each other, no matter who we are or what our story is, as sparks of the divine, fully capable of being whole and truly connected. If we believe that life is not an accident and that there is a larger cosmos in which we are all attached, then when one of us is in pain, all of us are in pain. When one of us feels joy, we all feel joy.”

Love is a powerful healing energy that can bring people together. It is at the heart of everything we do, and it is the only way to stop the pain and suffering that we all feel when even one person is hurting.