| | Note from Executive Director
Violence Prevention Belongs to Everyone | | | |
In April, FNVW co-sponsored a Protect Minnesota book club event featuring The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic by Minnesota-based authors Jillian Peterson and James Densley. I was blown away by their research findings, which emphasized the humanity of mass shooters. Over 80% of mass shooters were in a noticable crisis prior to their shooting. Many mass shooters experienced feelings of suicidality either before or during their attack. Hate-motivated mass shootings and fame-seeking perpetrators have rapidly increased since 2015. Peterson and Densley emphasized that the mass shooter epidemic in the US is a symptom of our culture and we must take a holistic approach to violence prevention. | | | |
Peterson and Densley identify the lack of a social safety net in the US, our gun culture, the individualistic ethos of the American Dream and the notable increase in mainstream hate rhetoric as contributing to the growing rate of mass shootings in the US over the past 50 years. We can, and we must, interrupt this trend through nonviolent action. We all have a role to play. Here are four possibile ways you can take action: | | | |
1) Call your representative. Tell them to support a Senate vote on HR 8 (The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021) and HR 1446 (The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021). Click here to search for your Senator. 2) Become an Alternatives to Violence Projet (AVP) Facilitator. AVP workshops prevent violence and empower people to lead nonviolent lives. FNVW is poised to return to offering AVP workshops in prisons and jails and hopes to expand community workshop offerings. We need more facilitators to make this happen! I invite you to check out the AVP workshop on June 24-26 to learn what AVP is all about. Click here to sign up. 3) Support FNVW in a new way. Make a donation, tell your friends about our work or become a volunteer! 4) Widen your circle of care. Belonging and human connection bring people back from the brink of violence. Sometimes a simple check in is enough to get someone through the day. Violence prevention belongs to everyone. Together we can be the change. With Revolutionary Love,
Leah | | | |
| | Welcome Donna Roost - FNVW's New Volunteer Engagement Specialist! | | | |
 | FNVW's new Volunteer Engagement Specialist, Donna Roost. | | | We are thrilled to share the news that Donna Roost is joining FNVW as our new Volunteer Engagement Specialist! Donna brings a tremendous amount of experience and passion to FNVW. She's attended People Camp and has taken an Alternatives to Violence Project workshop, so she knows and has utilized the strength of transforming power. She's excited to support FNVW's rich volunteer community and to continue engaging new people in FNVW's work. She can be reached at donna@fnvw.org. Read on to learn more about Donna! | | | |
Donna is a licensed social worker, who has worked as a Long-Term Social Worker at Sholom, focusing on enhancing the quality of life for seniors in a care facility. She worked as a Social Service Program Manager at MORE where she assisted refugees and immigrants with basic needs such as food security, housing, and employment. Donna facilitated for UCare’s Member Advisory Committee providing a bridge of communication between members and UCare Staff while promoting an interactive productive meeting. Donna finished her degree later in life from St. Catherine University (SCU), she was involved in the Phi Alpha Beta Epsilon Social Work Honor Society and she received the Mary Alice Meullerleile Leadership Award. One of the papers Donna wrote while at SCU, is titled, “Say Yes to People and No to War”. Being of service is an important value for Donna, and she has volunteered for the Legislative Advocacy Partnership, with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Justice Commission, Midway Green Spirit Garden, her faith communities, Senate District 66B, and at all of her children’s schools in various capacities throughout the years. Donna has three adult children, who reside in the Twin Cities and she enjoys having dinner with them on a regular basis. Vegetable and flower gardening, biking, kayaking, hiking, cooking and gathering with friends are favorite pastimes for her. | | | |
| | People Camp 2022
Building a Social Change Community:
50 Years of People Camp | | | |
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People Camp 2022
August 7-13th
Northern Pines Retreat Center
Park Rapids, MN People Camp is a week-long, intergenerational experience of cooperation, exploration and community living. People Camp provides a unique opportunity to rest and refresh your mind, body and spirit through a variety of workshops, group activities and recreation options in a camp setting. Check out the People Camp Guide to learn more about what People Camp is all about! | | | |
People Camp 2022 Workshops An exciting workshop line-up is in store for People Camp 2022. The first part of the week will focus on social change activism and feature two 2-session workshops: “Cultural Organizing for Climate Justice in the North”, led by Shanai Matteson from MN350, and “Strategies for Nonviolent Action” with P.J. Hoffman. Filling out the rest of the week are “From Blame into Mourning into Love-based Action” led by Pam Winthrop Lauer, “Mini AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project) Training” featuring Maria Musachio, and “Community Singing and Inclusive Spaces” with FNVW’s own Leah Robshaw Robinson. People Camp 2022 Book Club Selections | | | |
 | “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” is by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and indigenous person. She embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers and that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. | | |  | “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander argues that we have not ended racial caste in America - we have merely redesigned it by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color. She challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America. | | | |
| | June Virtual AVP Combo Workshop | | | |
What: In the context of a supportive community, you'll discover your power to build safer communities and transform conflict and frustration in your life. The three day workshop schedule is:
June 24, Friday 5-9pm CST, with a 30 min. break
June 25, Saturday 11-6pm CST, with a 1 hour break
June 26, Sunday 9-4pm CST, with a 1 hour break Sign up: online using the AVP-MN Combo Community Virtual Workshop - June 2022 Registration Form now to guarantee your spot! Where: The entire workshop will take place via Zoom. We are happy to provide technological assistance if you have any questions about Zoom. Who: All are welcome to attend. No prior experience necessary. Cost: The suggested fee to participate in this workshop is $25 - $100. We understand that not everyone may be able to afford this, and no one is turned away due to lack of funds. | | | | | |
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June 2022 - AVP Inside Out Newsletter | | | |
The AVP Inside Out Newsletter publication provides an opportunity for members of the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) community, inside and outside correctional facilities, to connect with one another about the effects of violence on us all and the strategies we use to transform the violence in our lives and communities. Click on the links below to read the past two issues. We welcome your contributions to AVP Inside Out! Review the submission guidelines here. Please email submissions to: AVP@fnvw.org. | | | |
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FNVW was honored to be invited to lead the May 28th plenary session at Northern Yearly Meeting's Annual Session. Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Facilitators "Motivated" Maria Musachio, "Bodacious" Brucie Hawkins and "Judicious" Janet Anderson led an AVP Mini-Session called "Opening Doors: Coping Creatively with Conflict." 33 people from Quaker Meetings across the region attended the plenary session to experience the transforming power of Alternatives to Violence Project methods through a variety of AVP exercises that offer tool for approaching and responding to conflict in nonviolent ways. | | | |
| | Follow FNVW on Social Media! | | | |
FNVW is working hard to expand the reach and impact of our programs. Social media is a powerful way to engage more people in our work. We need your help to increase FNVW's visibility on social media. Here's what you can do: - Take a moment right now to follow our pages
- Like and share our social media posts
- Volunteer to create social media content to help tell FNVW's story and promote events.
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This is a historic moment where communities are re-imagining public safety and how we live in relationship with one another. Now is the time to support the principles and practices of nonviolence that FNVW's programs champion. Your financial support will help us move our mission forward in 2022! | | | | | | | |
 | FNVW E-Letter
June 9, 2022 | | | Upcoming Events - Saturday, June 11: AVP Refresh for Facilitators 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
- Friday-Sunday, June 24-26: Virtual AVP Combo Workshop
- August 7-13: People Camp
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Friends for a NonViolent World
393 N Dunlap Street Suite #450E | Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104
(651) 917-0383 | info@fnvw.org | |
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