Over the course of 3 days in May, compassion took center stage in Grant Park and in a virtual space. Concern and care for the Self, for the Community, and for the Environment were the subjects at their own dedicated day over the weekend of May 20-22. CompassionCon 2022, created and hosted by Compassionate Atlanta, brought together a collection of professionals and the interested public in a sharing of information and activities to address some of the most essential topics of our lives. While day 1 and day 3 had virtual and regional offerings, Saturday’s event in Grant Park gave visitors opportunity to experience spoken word performances, children’s games, food trucks, mobile healthcare units, music, dance, sound bath and meditation, and more.
A Home For Everyone In DeKalb participated in day 2 of CompassionCon – compassion for community day - represented by board members Marion Owen and Joe Mehlhop. On this day, the A Home team spent four hours side by side with representatives from local support groups and advocates explaining their work and inviting others to join them in their efforts. The sharing of missions can have an exponential effect of energizing people already engaged in helping their communities – hearing fresh stories of commitments made and strategies undertaken is inspiring and encouraging.
While outdoor festivals can be fun, CompassionCon also offered presentations that were serious and poignant. In a talk on stigma reduction, a panel of women shared devastating stories of personal trauma –sexual abuse, drug addiction, violence - and social alienation. Many times the specific events of affected lives are simply the beginning of long-term struggle. A Home sees this in the individuals it serves. The loss of a job, a substance abuse problem, or separation from a close support group can cause a life to spiral out of control, and the stigma associated with that hardship can compound the situation. People who are unhoused can either be seen as a blight on the community, or are not seen at all, which can make it even more difficult to find stability and success.
True compassion is a way to connect us all. It’s a way to understand the challenges that are associated with keeping ourselves physically and mentally healthy, developing a responsible role in our community, and being mindful and respectful of the gifts and need of our natural world. Compassion is a life skill that we should develop and encourage.
A Home is proud to be a part of a network that embraces this important value and is open to partnerships to make its work stronger, whether from the individual volunteer, the contributing patron, government agencies, or the organizations that have expansive social programs. No helping hand is too small or too large to forward our mission of finding homes for people struggling with stable housing. If you want to join us, visit the Participate page on our website and sign up.