#and the possibility of intra-community discourse or politics among advocacy orgs etc

[bellshazes]

@reverendsus i think the whole nuclear family + stranger danger + fantasy of independence ideas that are so ingrained in american culture are a huge detriment to stuff like this … it's not BUILT to sustain communities and mutual help like tht

this is true, but i think the hopeful thing that keeps me motivated is the building of this culture is not dependent on bending laws or institutions, but can be done via grassroots organizing or leveraging existing communities.

Department of Behavioral Health/Disabilities (DBHDID, DBHDD, etc.) and Centers for Independent/Accessible Living (CAL/CILs) vary in quality but often offer trainings or community support groups for individuals with disabilities and the people who love them; you may also have a department of aging, community chest/metro united way, or other city/county-level orgs that provide public education and services

Religious organizations are often leaders in community support especially around foster care. Orphan Care Alliance in KY allows you to post needs and then meet others', like car repairs or a mattress or money for a hotel to keep a family stable.

Suicide prevention training like QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) is commonly given even for free by state and community organizations, alongside Mental Health First Aid; there are crisis intervention trainings but tend to be a little more rare or likely to cost something

Trauma-informed care, ACEs and PACEs trainings are often available depending on location from local or state organizations if you want a better vocabulary for talking about trauma and being supportive of otehrs who have experienced it

the Science of Hope, while really kind of just like Pedagogy of the Oppressed but with stats, is easy to locate ted talks on and lays out the impact & importance of hope - & how we can give it to each other

the biggest challenger here is that because it's all necessarily hyper-local, you will have to figure out for your individual area and state and context what's good and what's not. not all CILs or advocacy orgs are equally effective or well-run, but it's worth looking. you do have to get to know people, it's a lot of word of mouth, but that's the network that needs built.

and, ultimately, doing things like joining your neighborhood association if you have one or joining a community garden or just straight up getting to know your neighbors contributes heavily. hope is a social gift, and strong natural supports are the #1 most important factor in resiliency - letting people you live alongside know you both are here together, even and maybe especially if you never become friends, is a meaningful push in the right direction. be a cool aunt/uncle/cousin to non-relatives, appreciate your regular customers at work, give grace, learn to ask if folks are okay when you are able to listen, etc. forming connections that are founded in "I care that you exist in the world alongside me, even if we barely know each other, because you are in my community" is the work. it is so complex but at its heart, that is the work, period.

in turn, if you can't do that for any number of reasons right now, you deserve to have a network of supportive community too, even if you don't have it. the point of doing what you can when you can is that everybody needs the connection to others, and sometimes you need more of it.

my coworker says our job in BH healthcare is to hold hope for our members until the time they can take their hope back and hold it for themselves. sometimes you may be on one side or the other of that hopeful/lessness, but that is something you can do with very little training. and if you don't have hope, you can grow it for yourself, too, with some help. i promise that.