Community care is often described in aspirational visions which can feel painfully out of reach when you’re exhausted, underfunded, stretched thin, and trying to survive systems that were never designed to support you or the communities you care for. So the question becomes not whether community care is important, but what it actually looks like when resources are scarce and the work is relentless. Read on to learn more.

The recent traumatic events in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and across the country have brought collective grief, reflection, and difficult conversations. At the same time, communities are responding with care: showing up for one another, calling for accountability, and reaffirming the inherent worth of every life. These responses remind us of a deeper truth — that collective wellbeing is not separate from justice, but central to it.

Wellbeing, at its core, means feeling supported, connected, seen, and resourced physically, mentally, and emotionally. And when many people in a community hold that sense of care and connection for one another, wellbeing becomes a collective strength, a foundation for justice, resilience, and flourishing.

It started with a question: How might we transform the homeless response sector in Los Angeles by expanding the foundation of care and wellbeing to include frontline workers? What if our workplaces could be spaces of healing, creativity, and joy — not simply sites of service?

Being Well, our first wellbeing gathering for frontline workers in LA's homeless response sector, brought together 78 participants from 56 organizations for two days of healing-centered programming. Post-event surveys showed 93% of participants reported improved personal wellbeing, with 96% saying the experience shifted their thinking about rest and care in their work.

Alli offers a meditation of loving kindness. This practice is a refuge, inviting us to reconnect with our inner peace and extend a compassionate presence to a world grappling with hardship and struggle.