In New York, we work with marginalized women who’ve experienced trauma, sexual violence, exploitation, displacement, and poverty. We currently partner with Sanctuary for Families (SFF) and the Program for Survivors of Torture (PSOT) at Bellevue Hospital.
Background
New York City is home to over 3 million immigrants, from more than 200 countries (ACS, 2021). Our partners work with diverse clients from around the world and across New York’s five boroughs.
Sanctuary for Families serves approximately 7,000 clients each year. In Common Threads circles, they work with survivors of GBV across NYC, many of whom are immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Our circles with Bellevue Hospital’s PSOT serve migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees who’ve fled their countries due to war, poverty, violence and human rights abuse.
“It has just been amazing to see the connection in the group, the friendship, the creating”
OUR WORK
With the support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and the Joseph H. and Florence A. Roblee Foundation, we launched our New York program in 2021.
As of 2023, twenty New-York based clinicians have gained experiential training in the Common Threads approach, and facilitators at PSOT and SFF have begun leading Common Threads healing circles for women in New York.
In 2023, facilitators at PSOT and SFF led two Spanish-speaking circles, a French-speaking circle, and a multilingual English-speaking circle with participants from across four continents.
“I appreciate the communication we have in this group. It makes me feel important. I have learned that it is alright to make mistakes, and we are all human.”
Building Global solidarity
In 2023, we hosted an exhibition of story cloths in New York. Featuring textiles made by CTP participants around the world, the exhibit invited visitors to bear witness and respond to the stories of survivors.
As one of the story cloths in the exhibition states,"When one woman speaks, she speaks for others who have been silenced. When one woman reacts, she does it for so many others who are still suffering."
“I hope everybody will take the opportunity both to see the exhibit and especially to read about it ... They look like very beautiful works but go a little deeper; each one has a story.”
View Story Cloths from New york
