FELLOWSHIP AND Nurturing Environment C ommunity in a
A nupama Bhattacharya met Rodney in 2020—they were fellow activists doing community work together. The Umbrella Transition Program evolved through that community work, which she helped found. For seven months now, every Sunday, Anupama hosts group therapy sessions “where we dive into our mental and spiritual status,” covering everything from the practical—like financial literacy—to the conceptual—such as transforming negative thought cycles into positive. The location is in the large basement of one of the houses. The setting is warm and inviting, with tapestries on the wall “and salt lamps, so it’s got that warm glow.” Everyone sits in a circle, so all are equal partners in the group. “We're all together in a single community.” She begins every group with fifteen to twenty minutes of meditation. “We do some mantras together to set our minds for the group therapy session.” And they talk. “We really get into sharing our memories, our childhoods, the sort of thought patterns that we’re dealing with, and guide each
other through obstacles we're dealing with currently.” And this attitude carries on throughout the day. She sees the fellowship and connection. It is very healing, “having a sense of being cared for and having a space to lay your head down. They talk with each other all the time about their day-to-day, and within themselves have a really strong sense of community that carries throughout and makes a huge impact on everyone's mental health.” Anupama does assessments. “When we have anybody new come in, we like to sit down and get to know them.” For the first year and a half, her work also included the very important daily check-ins, but Rodney has taken over that duty. “I'm really grateful for Rodney to be able to carry that out—I know it gives a lot of comfort to the guys in the program to have that consistency.” And residents have fun in the kitchen. “We try to promote healthy cooking. As a matter of fact, many of our guys are amazing cooks! Last Christmas, the whole house decided to cook a large Christmas
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