Are you free enough to resist with love?

-Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

(from the VOLAR website)

The first two webinars of this series will focus on gentrification and displacement, and community building with Dr. Marisela Gomez, a Dharma teacher who has followed Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings for the last twenty years, and one of the founders of The Village of Love and Resistance (VOLAR), an organization in East Baltimore dedicated to building capacity for local residents to co-own and co-lead the redevelopment of their majority black and low-income neighborhoods.

Dr. Gomez belongs to the Baltimore and Beyond Mindfulness Community Sangha, and has written extensively about historical and current practices of rebuilding abandoned and disinvested communities in America.

VOLAR is a black and brown-led collective with more than 100 years of experience of living, working, worshiping, studying and playing, and praying in East Baltimore. VOLAR plans to renovate and transform a facility into a community and wellness center as well as rebuild and reinvest into the surrounding area through engagement of the people and implementing neighborhood development projects.

The third webinar will be lead by David Sampé, who will share with us his experiences and insights on “Gentrified Wood” - how wood from gentrifiers' home improvement projects is transformed into stunning works of art.

David is the founder of Article 730, a transformative organization that aims to address mental health concerns by going beyond traditional approaches. They embody hope, healing, and creativity, recognizing the interconnectedness of these elements in fostering well-being.

One of the missions of Article 730 is to repurpose discarded wood from gentrifiers' home improvement projects, which can create captivating works of art that enrich and beautify the community. 

Scroll below for all webinars.