Social Cohesion for Resilient Communities

February 14, 2025 by

The HRC’s upcoming dialogues will provide space for community recovery for the LA fires and emerging issues on the ground in Santa Monica. 

Social cohesion initiatives – like those undertaken by the HRC – are proven to promote faster and better community recovery after a fire. A literature review published in 2024 showed that “the most influential social cohesion variables in disaster recovery are social capital, sense of community, social participation, and place attachment.”

Social cohesion efforts are also vital in preparing for the next disaster. According to an article in the journal Global Environmental Change, “social cohesion, particularly community characteristics like ‘sense of community’ and ‘collective problem solving’, are community-based resources that support both the adoption of mechanical preparations, and the development of cognitive abilities and capacities that reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience to wildfire.” 

The HRC is focused on delivering a responsive and relevant approach to fire recovery in Santa Monica. We do this by producing free, accessible spaces where local people can engage and have difficult conversations about emerging issues. The HRC’s 2025 community dialogues will create space for discussion on the most pressing, intersecting issues of the moment.

Additionally, HRC in January and February convened a rapid response Community Support Coalition (Resource List linked here) to coordinate community based organizations responding to the fires (organizations included: Providence St John’s Health Center, the Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica Interfaith Council, Bahala Foundation, SMBEA, SMMUSD, SMMPTA, and SMMCTA reps).

By creating space to address and discuss intersecting issues in our community, the HRC’s dialogue series will make a timely, relevant, and hyperlocal impact and follow a path of proven interventions that support community resilience and recovery.

To learn more and get involved, follow us on social media or email us at info@hrcsantamonica.org to request to be added to our contact list!

Filed Under: Community Conversations, Countering Truth Decay, A Community Conversation, Uncategorized, What's going on? Tagged With: , ,

HRC Co-Hosts Un|Housed Exhibit Panel Conversation

August 2, 2024 by

The Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council (HRC) is delighted to announce:

Un|Housed Panel Discussion

Date: August 8th 5-7pm

Location: Santa Monica History Museum

RSVP Here

Creativity can play a critical role in finding solutions to the great challenges of our time. In partnership with the Santa Monica History Museum, HRC will host a panel discussion as part of the Museum’s exhibition, Un|Housed: A History of Housing in Santa Monica. The panelists, including artists, advocates, and activists, will speak to their personal experiences being unhoused and subsequently working within the housing system. Skilled facilitator Dr. Karen Gunn will moderate the conversation.

Moderator:

Dr. Karen Gunn: Dr. Gunn is widely recognized as a trainer, facilitator, motivational public speaker and community activist. In addition to her extensive consultation experience, she has worked in higher education at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She was a tenured professor in the Psychology Department at Santa Monica College and served as Department Chairperson. Karen has played an instrumental leadership role in curriculum transformation, student equity initiatives, anti-bias training and facilitator of numerous professional development programs.

Panelists:

René Buchanan: René Buchanan found refuge at The People Concern (then OPCC) after being discharged from a Los Angeles hospital in 2001. After graduating from their Daybreak program for homeless women with mental illness, René later became Daybreak’s administrative coordinator. In that role she built enduring connections between the women and the wider community. René served on the Santa Monica City Housing Commission for 10 years, broadening its focus to center the most vulnerable. She volunteers with dog rescues, is active in her faith community, and promotes civic engagement and voting in her work on the Santa Monica League of Women Voters Board.

Kevin Glover: Kevin Glover is a longtime Santa Monica resident who is passionate about meeting the needs of those in the local community. He currently serves as Executive Director of Hand to Hand Hunger Project – a local nonprofit that provides hot meals, necessary hygiene items, referrals, and hosts a monthly resource fair for those in need. Additionally, Kevin volunteers with The Salvation Army in Santa Monica. Previously, Kevin was Director of Client Services at Chrysalis in Santa Monica and Director of Outreach & Missions for Metropolis Santa Monica.

Kim Reeder: Kim Reeder serves on the community advisory board for the Urban Institute’s Housing Justice project. She is an advocate with Housing Now! CA, serves on the Housing Advocates Council for Abundant Housing LA, and is a Housing Justice Advocate with ACCE (Association of Californians for Community Empowerment). She holds a BA in Communication with emphasis in Public Relations and Journalism and has a background in marketing, primarily in the entertainment industry (publicity, promotions and special events.)

Suzette Shaw: Suzette Shaw is a Skid Row resident who writes, talks, and advocates Skid Row from AnWoman’s Perspective. Suzette says her pain fueled her testimony and her testimony has now fueled her advocacy. Expressing herself through poetry, Suzette paints a broad stroke, painting hues of pain and purpose in her healing journey where she advocates for a shift in the paradigm towards the dismantling of systemic policies and practices which have perpetuated the trauma of the oppressed, which too often look like her. Suzette believes, “We can no longer talk about equality and empowerment while enforcing inequities.”

Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information, please contact us via email info@civicwellbeing.org.

Filed Under: Uncategorized