And to agenda item 33 or 27, 2 0 2, 1 discussion for possible action regarding a resolution to embrace compassion as a key value for the city of Las Vegas.
In 2006 15, this city council issued a proclamation establishing the day as the charter of compassion day there's resolution formalize the commitment to being a compassionate city in concurrence with the charter for compassion in 2016, the city was recognized as a compassionate Las Vegas, a participant in the charter for compassion movement. Again, in 2016, the city of Las Vegas is mayor's faith initiative partnered with philanthropists and Reverend Dr. Gard Jamison under the compassionate Las Vegas umbrella to create the compassionate cities awards as a way to recognize those members of the community whose hearts and service shape our community to date, the compassionate city awards has honored 24 local humanitarians for their acts of kindness and compassion. With that, we come today asking for an action item to approve a resolution and authorize the mayor to sign the resolution, to embrace compassion as a key value for the city of Las Vegas.
It was 20 years ago that Pam and Pierre Omidyar, the founders of eBay, did an assessment here in the community. And they discovered that we have a willl to do the right thing, but that we're fragmented as a community. It was 10 years ago that my sister, Julie Marie, and where's my wife
[Inaudible]
We had a whispering conversation. We like whispering conversations and we talked about how we might imagine Southern Nevada as a more compassionate community.
And with that, I'm going to ask mayor pro tem, would you make a motion on our 27 2 0 2 1 4? The resolution to embrace compassion is a key value for the city of Las Vegas. Please. Thank you. I didn't even get to call on couch. No, I love it. Enthusiasm and spontaneity way to go. Thank you. Thank you for a humanity and our community. Thank you so much. Thank you all. I am compassionate. Las Vegas, compassionate, Las
Vegas, compassionate
Las Vegas. [inaudible]
Compassionate Las Vegas. [inaudible]
We're having a conversation around compassionate Las Vegas and what is happening in our city and for our city. What I'm so excited about is throughout these conversations, we're really seeing a theme, a, a thread that is tying every aspect of our city together, and that threat truly is compassion. So pastor Martinez, could you share a little bit about how you are working with our police department and spreading compassion that way?
Absolutely. Here in Las Vegas, we've for many years work very closely with the community and our police agency, the Las Vegas metropolitan police department. We came to them with requests that they would listen to the community, that they would help us make changes that the community felt were needed. And we asked them to truly reach across the table and be willing to accept some of the critique or productive criticism, if you will coming from the community side. And since then, we've been able to put in police policy whenever there's someone shot or killed or something violent, shocking to the conscience of the community, it's now and police policy that they call out the faith-based community and non-profits to serve and reduce violent crime and reduce murders. Additionally, one of the things that was happening is the police department was targeting black and brown communities, young boys, mainly at the school bus stop and other places where they hung out and document that documenting them as gang members unilaterally.
So we were able to bring change and that policy was, was altered to now, they have to notify the parent or guardian, and they have to purge that document that used to follow a young black man or brown man for the rest of their life. Now they have to purge it after five years. And additionally, it was able to not just going to police policy, but become state law. These are the type of changes that we believe are necessary. One of the most heartbreaking changes we saw came with a young man several times up 23 times, asked for medical attention to said he couldn't breathe when the police tackled him. And he lost his life because of lack of medical attention and the trauma of the police officers, putting their weight on him and holding him down in a face down position while cuffed, since then, the police policy now says that they have to put a person in a prone position only for a brief period of time, and then put them in a recovery position where they can breathe, where they can get oxygen.
And if they request medical, they are required to call medical. And additionally, the other officers that were standing around now have the ability to intervene. If they see an officer refusing medical or using excessive force, especially if someone is in a compromised position with their, their body or their health or breathing. So that is now in police policy. But again, it took a loss of a life for that to come. And that was just prior to the George Floyd tragedy. We saw in Minnesota, what made that change, that radical change possible? You know, it, it boiled down to relationships getting a police officer to look at someone that's a civilian as a human being and getting us civilians to look at police officers as human beings and making that connection. And I think one of the things that we came to terms on is we were not going to see eye to eye with everything, with the police and vice versa, but we did agree. Would everybody be willing to keep a young person alive and safe in their own community to play in the park or have a baseball, a baseball game, or a birthday party without fear of being shot or killed. And they agreed on that. And so did we, and that was the premise of the relationship building compassion.
I just want to shout out to my brother, Troy, who is a hero who goes out at 2:00 AM and stops retaliatory violence in these crimes. And so Troy, thank you. And thank you to you. My brother will, so it was December of 2019 that we were having lunch with the attorney general of the state of Nevada. And he shared with us, there are four planks to criminal justice apprehension, prosecution. And then if you are able to, when they get out of jail rehabilitation, we said the third plank we've never done, it's called restorative justice. And we heard stories about how it was being implemented in Washington DC and the attorney General's office there and how successful it was. And so I call this low hanging fruit in a compassionate community. Why not us? Why not now given everything that's happened. And restorative justice is really implementing compassion in the criminal justice system.
It's not just about keeping offenders out of jail. It's about creating a quality of compassion throughout the culture of the criminal justice system from the police department to the da, to all the different system partners. So we are in a place now, which is really exciting. The attorney general has leaned in the state assembly speakers leaned in city council, city kind of commission, a variety of different partners in the system have leaned in and said, absolutely, we're going to do this. And so we're in the process of beginning training facilitators who will work with the criminal justice system to see if we can't create an agreement. And the beauty of an agreement is it never even hits the DA's office. It's just an agreement between the offender and the victim and the people involved the families involved to create an opportunity for truth and reconciliation.
So in South Africa, Desmond Tutu said, this is what it's all about, truth and reconciliation. So in Africa they have the term of ubuntu, which is I am because we are, we are because I am. And that basically in every tribal society there brings restorative justice whenever there's some kind of acting out. So we've got to catch up. We are part of a system which has a warrior culture that has been admitted to, by the captains and Metro police department. And they would like to see a change. And we would all like to see a change. I had a nephew who was cordoned off and beat severely and charged with a felony, holding a deadly weapon, which is one of the batons they were using to beat him with. So I've been a sent George Floyd and prior Ben acutely aware of the need for bringing compassion into the criminal justice system and with my brother, Troy, and with you will. And so many other partners, we are going to do it. We shall make it happen.
Absolutely. And the cool thing is we are doing good. What is really hitting me as we're having this amazing conversation is we've come a long way. And it really hasn't been seamless. It hasn't been without shortcomings, but we've made so much progress. What would you say to those who want to take this on in their own cities who want to be involved with the justice system? Because we do need that balance. We need to have justice and law enforcement and really police officers that are peace officers. And so what would you say to engage folks who may be interested in trying this out?
And again, you don't need to be an attorney. You just need to be aware of those people within the system, whether that's the DA's office or the attorney General's office or metropolitan police were interested in compassion and begin a conversation, begin a relationship, as Troy said, and that relationship will immediately bear fruit. Because I think in this moment a time historically, we're seeing a major shift in consciousness and that shift is toward the realization that compassion is actually more important in criminal justice than any of the other elements. And if we have compassion, then we have a system that actually works better for all the parties involved. And that's what we call the golden rule a win-win opportunity. So that's what we're promoting and compassionate Las Vegas. And we encourage it in all of the other potential compassionate communities around the planet. And we wish you all. Well,
Thank you both for joining us for the segment and looking forward to what is yet to come.
Thank you. Well,
I'm here with our chairs, for our focus on homelessness and both individuals are absolutely pillars of our community. And so amazing. So thank you both for joining us for this incredible opportunity to just share compassionate Las Vegas with the world.
Thank you. Glad to be having us. Yes.
So Kathy, I want to start with you, your role with the city addresses homelessness directly, and your spirit influence is actually pretty wide because it's got a lot of different projects. What makes Las Vegas so unique for addressing the issue of homelessness?
Las Vegas is unique in that we do a lot of things that you don't see municipalities taking the lead. And we do this because there are gaps in our service delivery system, and we will often step in and then partner to bring others together to sustain that work. For example, we had and still have an issue with people who are homeless, going to the hospital, getting their urgent needs met. And then, and then they are discharged back to the street to recuperate. We did not have any place for folks to go heal your, I would go home and rest and heal and recuperate if you have no home, but the street, you have to go back to the street. So the city re created the recuperative care center to step into the gap so that people experiencing homelessness could recover in a place that was safe and clean and restorative. And so what makes the city unique is we look for the gaps and we step into the gap. And then we work with the larger community to knit that gap or close that gap so that it does not remain after the initial investment of those public dollars.
It's that collaboration piece that I think a lot of people don't necessarily know about our city, that we really do work together to find solutions to major issues. And our government structure is a bit unique from some other places where the city has jurisdiction in certain areas where the county also has jurisdiction in what cities would typically do. So it creates a really unique opportunity to get a lot of perspectives on issues that wouldn't otherwise have that, and you brought up restoration and healing, which is certainly a theme of compassion and a purpose of compassion, Christina, with your work at St. Jude's, that's a healing at the core. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Sure. well, you know, St Jude's ranch for children has been serving Southern Nevada for about 55 years now. And I'm really proud that you know, our mission is, is deep and our core values are a long list, but I can distill it down to two words is to provide for Southern Nevada's most abused and neglected children and young people, as well as homeless young people are transition age youth. Our goal is to increase hope and to support it with healing. And the hope that we're talking about is hope and action, right? It's not this passive hope. Like I sure hope life gets better for children, but really hope in action is about breaking cycles. It's about letting young people know with compassion, that they have choices that children and young people that come from challenging life experiences have choices to break the cycle and it takes courage to say enough, I'm going to be the young person to graduate from high school or the young person to get off the streets.
It takes courage to be open to healing because we know that homelessness in and of itself is a very dangerous situation, right? Our streets streets across the United States are no different than the streets in Las Vegas living. You know, in homelessness means there's a high exposure to violence and to crime and to a lot of things that are just not good for humans. And so you know, that healing component of helping young people realize that what's happened to them is not their fault and that there are options. And I believe that's the root of compassion, right? Is, is putting the human goodness back into human services
Is so critical, especially in today's world. We absolutely need hope. Now, the two of you here together is also fairly unique because St Jude's France for children, isn't actually located in the city of Las Vegas. It's a smaller city outside Boulder city. So for you two to be together, I think also speaks volumes to what is happening with compassionate Las Vegas. And even though we're compassionate Las Vegas, we're really compassionate period. And so the whole, the Southern Nevada is included. But even with this, this time together with these conversations, we're touching the entire world. And there's a saying, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I don't know that that's true.
Christina and I have the privilege of being alumns from the inagural class of the Jameson fellowship. And we were both kind of working. We knew of each other, but had not had the opportunity to work together. And so the fellowship is I think, where we made the lifelong professional connection, which means it works this opportunity to talk about homelessness sort of evolved out of what we both already do. And what we do is look around corners. I know that sounds crazy. What do I mean by that? How do you look around corners? Looking around corners means that you not only take what you know now, the data, the facts, the reality of the people that you serve, but you also look for opportunities that may be coming around the bend. So we've actually traveled all over the United States that San Antonio in Texas we've been a Broward county in Florida, San Francisco in LA, California.
And what we wanted to see was practices in action. Cause evidence-based the stuff you can read from a report, but we looked at the work that others are doing now. We took the very best elements, the ones that were low barrier, so people could come in drunk high with their pets, with their family composition. However, they identified their family composition. We used what we learned from other cities to create a homeless resource center. So that 24 hours a day, whatever time of day or night you say I'm ready for a change. I'm ready for help. You could walk across that threshold and someone would be there to receive you. We use what we learned in other communities to say, well, okay, let's be a second chance employer. Let's give people a chance to work without regard to their criminal history or their substance use or their mental health history.
Let's give them a job. We used what we learned in other places to create the medical respite. We use what we learned in other places to build a federally qualified health centers. We've been using what we've learned to partner with St. Jude to say, how do we help transitional age? You then folks who are flee abuse, we've taken every bit that we've learned and applied it in our local context because Vegas is different so that we could again, step into that gap. That's why we visited other communities to learn. And we plugged the gaps to give ourselves time, to build a stronger, more resilient, more compassionate system, because we don't think we have the answer. We believe there are many answers. If we're truly going to be compassionate and meet people at their point of need, we have to take from others experiences so that we can apply that knowledge and broader, more comprehensive, more compassionate ways.
Yeah. So that theme of collaboration and relationship really resurfaces and shows that that is the spirit of Las Vegas. One of the things that drew me here is our diversity and how many different types of different types of different types of people we have. You know, everyone knows the glitz and glamor of the strip, but even there, you can go from Egypt to Paris, to Venice, wherever you want to go at a couple mile radius. And that's just how we function as a community if this happened in Las Vegas, which another thing we're associated with is since city, right? The city of sin, anything you want to do, that's a bias go there, but here we're hearing the different side. If it can happen in sin city, it sounds to me like it could happen anywhere. What would you say about that?
Absolutely. Right. Being human centered is the work of all humans across the planet. Right. so yes, if it can happen here in Las Vegas, it can certainly happen anywhere else, you know, to Kathy's points. When we find like-minded people who have a heart-centered approach, right. And I know from a public policy place or a local government or a nonprofit leader to say, we're, heart-centered sounds a little bit touchy, feely, but showing up with, from a place of compassion to serve others is what binds us, right. As a you know, that, that term together, we rise, right. That we can do so much more when we come together. And so, yeah, may, may Las Vegas be a beacon of hope for so many people that are looking for a pathway out of such trauma, you know, traumatic, chaotic times that we're all facing.
I love that analogy, Kathy. Like we got to look around the corner, right? What, where is there an opportunity for us to be different and to work different? Because ultimately if we want different outcomes, we know we have to do different kinds of work. And so here we are doing different kinds of work. Heart-Centered compassionate focus. And the last, you know, one of the things that, that I love about this, the synergy as we kind of identified three PS of our work, we care about the people. And so individuals experiencing homelessness have to be at the root of our focus. We have to be identifying solutions that they need, that they're asking for. Not that we think they need, but rather, really talking to the people. We need to think about our programs, right? Where do we, so we've got people, we need programs that get reinvented because we cannot keep offering the same solution and hoping for a different outcome. We've got to evolve our programs. And then the last piece is around policy, right? There is a role for policy. And so when we think about people, programs and policy, I think we can make tremendous advances for the betterment of our community and really elevate compassion for everybody in need. I certainly feel grateful to live a life of compassion.
We'll see it very well here in a sentence or two, what would you share with someone looking at the work you're doing and the success that you've had together and in your own worlds, what would you say to them to encourage them to expand this work into their city?
I hope I can get into a sentence or two wheel. You know, I'm a little loquacious here. I would say to people in order to sustain your compassion, sustain your joy. And one of the things that has been a pleasure just to straight out pleasure working with Christina is she always has the source of joy, which is why there's heart centered work matters because there's this well of joyfulness that I get to connect to. So if you're going to sustain your compassion, sustain your joy and find other folks who have their own well of joyfulness, we have to marry our compassion with joy, for humanity, not the condition, but for the existence of our own humanity, find your joy, keep your joy, nurture your joy and find people like Christina with a flashy collection. Cause that's, you know, how we talk about our joy right stuff that seems in consequential or frivolous, even really, they are
An outward expression of joy.
Christina, I want to invite you to answer the same question, which is what would you share with someone to encourage them to even compel them, to take this compassionate work into their city?
Well, first of all, thanks for the question, but Kathy, you are a source of joy. My goodness. You are a source of joy. I could go on and on about that, but thank you for all that you said a little while ago. Incredible. I would say that the work of compassion is everybody's responsibility. It, it does bring joy to my life despite the pain that comes with recognizing everything that, that Kathy summarized so well that this is hard work. But I suppose the standard that I use is, is one of compassion, layered with respect and dignity, right? Respect and dignity. In my opinion, is the practical form of showing compassion. And so using a standard for how I want my loved ones to be treated with respect and dignity in this world is the same standard I use in caring for homeless, young people or those just in our community.
And so whether addressing homelessness or abuse and neglect of children or animals or the elderly or whatever form that people are so committed to and helping the world, we need everybody to step up right. In whatever way possible to be compassionate just to our neighbors and in the parking lot to when somebody took that parking space, right. That compassion shows up everywhere. And I, I fundamentally believe that when we come together and treat each other with dignity and respect and be heart-centered, that all things are possible, all things are possible. So that, so that's really what I would share.
I like that. Well, thank you both so much for this amazing conversation and just the work that you're doing to address homelessness. No, where we're not there yet, but we are moving forward, which is what matters. And each of you is creating a movement of compassion, not just within your organizations within the city, but within this world, your ripple of compassion is literally changing the globe. So thank you so much. Thank you for your time, Dr. Malice and your role. You have so many responsibilities and you get to see so many different facets of what is happening within our city. Could you share a little bit about the, my brother's keepers Alliance and how you are working towards restorative justice in the education?
Absolutely. so I have the luxury in my position of overseeing kind of two prongs of our work here at the city. One is all of education initiatives. The other is our social justice initiatives within social justice, where it kind of spills over into education. I have the privilege of serving as the co-chair of the Las Vegas, my brother's keeper Alliance. I co-chair the educational equity task force. And within that task force, we're really focused on improved outcomes specifically for boys and young men of color, but for all marginalized populations we worked really hard to ensure that systems that are negative, do not grab our kiddos and hold on to them because we know what that looks like if we do not prevent it. And so we work with the Clark county school district with the department of juvenile justice services and many community partners and agencies to provide a landscape where all kids have equal footing and equal opportunities.
Because we know that incarceration does not change behavior. If it did, then prisons would eventually be empty because that behavior would all be corrected. We know that recidivism rates are very high, especially for Latin acts and African-American young men. And so how do we change that and do something more positive? So our restorative justice work is really centered on that. Some people think restorative justice is about letting people go or not holding people accountable. It actually holds people more accountable than, than systems that are less tolerant and more punitive in nature. It's a community-wide effort. It is not the school district's job alone. It is an effort that takes all of us
With what you're sharing. What I'm really pulling out of that is you take the whole system and infuse compassion into it, where you're doing healing work, where you are doing the, the transformation of character and helping people with those inter and intra personal skills. And so I think that that is absolutely remarkable. What would you say makes Las Vegas unique in the fact that this is happening here?
So, first of all, I think for those of us that live here and for me as a native born and raised here, it's not me. We are a service oriented industry. That's a lot of our, our, of our tax base here is traveling tourism. We saw that during COVID, we were hit among the hardest states hit by the COVID shutdowns because of the way we earn our tax base. And so given that we largely operate in a travel and tourism space, those customer service skills, those soft skills, that character development, I am not suggesting that it is not important in every single community internationally, however, in a community that really is funded largely on serving others, it becomes even more important because sometimes when we serve others, they're not always kind. So I think compassion is a really important assets and character trait for us in Las Vegas, unique to us as a city.
And you've given us so much. And thank you for just the, the depth of, of information. If someone is hearing this and they're saying, well, I want to do this in my city. I'm an educator, or I just want to have an impact in young people's lives. Where should they start? What would you offer to them as a golden nugget of success for this?
Sure. So I would strongly suggest that they look at some other cities models. If you go to the city of Las Vegas and pull up our compassion resolution you can certainly see it. It's a public document. If anyone wants to reach out to me, I'll be happy to share it. It's certainly not something we want to keep a secrets at least as a model. And then I think start talking with your policy makers, your elected officials, to gather some supports and some activism around this idea of compassion. It's something that is very easy for people to buy into. It's something that makes sense. It's not controversial. It's just kindness and grace and, and treating others as you would want to be treated. And so I think it's a real easy win for cities. And then I think for us, get some of your communities involved that, that, you know, historically have not been treated compassionately. I think the more you can bring community together, the more you bridge gaps, the more people realize, wow, we're all just human beings. We're all community members. We're all Las Vegas city, resident, you know, whatever that commonality is, people start then focusing on commonalities instead of differences. And a lot of your lack of compassion and hate crimes comes out of the fear of differences instead of the embracing of commonalities. So that would be my suggestion.
I think, again, you've hit so many points of everyone watching, like we're here because we believe in compassion and we believe in unity and common humanity, but it's so refreshing to just hear it, especially from someone in quote-unquote sin city. So I've been here now seven years and every day, it's a new day and I'm so excited to wake in Las Vegas. So I know those watching, many of them have visited and spend time in our city, but of course they haven't seen that community part necessarily. And they may not be aware of all the, to share. So talk right to our audience and tell them from your perspective, as an educator in Las Vegas, why compassion is not only an essential component, but the essential component for education.
Thank you. Compassion is in my opinion, the most essential component of education, because we are being entrusted with people's most precious resource or asset their children. And if we do not hold that with the respect that it deserves, we can make mistakes that impact its higher generations. So I think using pat compassion at all times when you are dealing in the education space, I think is critical to create the most powerful and impactful statements or, or motivation for that young person moving forward.
We're talking about how Las Vegas is unique in the compassion space and with your area being education, how it is seen in the city. So to give you a framing of a question, what would you say makes Las Vegas so unique in its application of compassion in the education space?
This is a unique time in our city and Las Vegas is unique and it's a commitment, the nature of compassion and the ways in which it is playing out in our practice and regard for each other. Particularly as I think about education with the pandemic, placing things like mental health at the forefront, and at a time when so many safetiness are exacerbated and we are asking ourselves, how do we help while supporting people to hold onto their dignity and recognizing the humanity in others, the ways in which we have embrace compassion as a thread of our work. I think it's really unprecedented, whether it's the ways in which we've attempted to center equity in the work or thinking about the ways in which certain communities are disproportionally impacted by some of the social issues we're grappling with. The discussion around compassion couldn't have came at a better time. And unlike so many of our social systems that couldn't have foreseen the fallout that we've seen from the pandemic, because there was work that began many years ago under the Jamison fellows where the focus at the time was working together across organizations, as systems, as leader to really buy in a true north star. They had compassionate and center, I would say, as a result that we were well-poised and ways that we wouldn't have been.
I'm so glad you brought in the fellowship again, Dr. Tyler Garner and also that systems piece and just, I mean, everything you just said, it, it ties together so much of what we're discussing. It's so vital that we do this. So why are you a part of the steering committee? I mean, you went through the fellowship and I mean, that in and of itself is a huge commitment. And why did you take the leap and become a leader for the steering committee in infusing compassionate education?
For me, it was an opportunity to walk the talk. It wasn't enough to just say that I believe in compassion or the compassion needs to be a thread of everything we do. It was an opportunity to show up at a critical time in our community and walk it out, particularly as I think about the ways in which this time, and probably like every other time, the mandate compassion, like self care and care for others. It was the opportunity to reinforce that, but then model it and then build capacity around it by partnering, not only with other like-minded people, but demonstrating compassion at some critical times in our community, whether it was beginning as an employer that hit up an organization to say I'm gonna walk the talk by making sure that I really unpack what a work-life balance is and ways to show compassion or model compassion by recognizing that ultimately where human brains that bring their humanity to work is not something we check at the door, even though maybe maybe years.
It was what we said at appointment practice, like leave it at the door. We really don't leave it at the door. So it was an opportunity to do that. And I was coming into it at a time when they have now been many cohorts of Jamison fellows. So the opportunity to partner with such a diverse group representing so many segments of our community around steering compassion and that's exciting, it was really exciting. And so as much as I am sometimes troubled by what we are seeing as a result of the pandemic, I'm also encouraged because now more than ever folks are recognizing the need to practice compassionate practice, whether it's self care or recognizing that the intersectionality between things like housing, instability, or food insecure, security and education that we can't divorce those things. This is a great time to be partnering with other leaders to lead compassionate approaches, to addressing our social issues.
Thank you for bringing that loop again, where everything truly is so connected. We've talked to each sector kind of separately, but everything really touches everything else. And you can't, as you said, divorce one from the other, what is giving you the most hope in Las Vegas right now?
So what has given me the most hope is the momentum that is built around being compassionate, particularly as it relates to how we will make it out of this pandemic together. The disparate impact has placed at the forefront. The need, not only for compassion, but us to take a critical look at the ways in which we need to strengthen our systems and safety measures. And so you can't have that conversation without talking about what compassion might be in a time like this. And I'm telling you in previous years, hhen we, I heard conversations about our digital divide or lack of, of tech technology capacity and communities, we would say, oh, there's no way we can overcome some of these challenges to see the community come together to ensure that the fifth largest district in the country have equipped, hll of the children to make sure that they can continue to learn while in this pandemic, mpoke volumes to not only, mew possibility, because we had said something like that could never happen, right? But also foster new connections with organizations and an awareness of the ways in which it really is all interdependent. That's a really encouraging time. And I, at the time in our history, we've seen it in that way.
That gave me all kinds of warm and fuzzies. And I mean, I've lived through this, but you're so right. The things we said were impossible, we did in the middle of a pandemic that in and of itself, I mean, Vegas strong, we had the 10, one shooting was many people have heard about those watching that were around that time because we've done some celebrating and remembering, but wow. Vegas strong.
Yes. And so this only affirms for me, that is the right approach. It's the right work. And we have the right people committed to it and that there's opportunities to make it right for so many others,
For someone who wants to do this, what would you say to them talk right to that person?
Whatever your role is, there is a place for you in this work, whether it's the ways in which you can model compassion, but your daily interactions in your home or your community, or the ways in which you can partner with other to ensure that our systems are compassionate systems, there is a place for you to get engaged and see real change happen for all of us, particularly as we consider the fact that our children truly are our future. So an investment in, in compassion in this work, in this time, it's really an investment in ourselves in some respect, but our investment in the legacy that we hope to leave behind and an investment in our children, our next generation, there is a place for you. There is no, no small feat. All of it is impactful and there is no thing too great because you won't be doing it alone. You can absolutely make a difference where you are as you are in, in this time.
I, I mean, I've been in ministry for a little over 20 years, which blows my mind every time I say that, but I will say that in all of my years, I don't know that I've met anyone that hasn't experienced trauma or isn't experiencing trauma. And of course we all respond differently. But for me, the healing factor for trauma is compassion. So see era,
I think two things came to my mind. One would especially for the teens is the passing of Senate bill 2 49. Our teens heard of Haley Hardcastle in Oregon. She led the charge there to get mental health days added as an excuse absence in schools. And so when her teens heard her Ted talk, they were, they just thought it was an amazing cause. So they worked with a state Senator here to get that passed. So now students in the state mental health days will be part of an excused absence. And then also mental health crisis numbers will be on the back of all student ID cards. So that was a huge win. And then also just on a more macro scale, it's really cool to me to see the conversations we're having with our teams kind of echoed in the national and international stage with so many sports figures coming out and different celebrities or anything coming out and talking about mental health and then seeing it more on a micro stage with just the teens that we're connecting with. It's just amazing to see that conversation play out through all levels of society.
Absolutely. And that is, I mean, amazing to have that change happen in our school system. And you too, I had not said yet, but you, we just kind of dive deep into the conversation, but you lead our, our pillar or sector on mental health. And that was one of the first ones we identified as being critical for supporting every other area of focus. What is it like working together on such an important part of compassionate Las Vegas? And what would you say to someone who may be thinking of doing this or something similar in their city?
One of the silver linings to being alive at this time is we no longer have to explain why this matters, why, how we're all interconnected. And so I think really it's, for me, it's been just every day showing up and doing what I can, where I'm at and, you know, from one October on trying to be this drum to help our community, how, and I don't even know how to, you know, and I still probably don't, I'm learning along the way, but, you know, just showing up wherever I can and doing what I can for. And then it's, what's really cool is then it's like a ripple effect because then people in our state are different people who have experienced different pieces. They're like, Hey, there's this funding opportunity. So it's, it's been really, there's been some serendipity involves, I feel like just kind of watching this all start to take shape. And I think it's just time, it's time, what we did before didn't work. Let's try something else.
Well I would recommend having Dr. Annie Weitzman be their partner because she's amazing. She's leading the way. And she's met with our teams before on our, on our team committees. And she just is the guru to me for all things wellness and, and all that. So that'd be my advice, but unfortunately, I don't think there's 10 or 15 or a hundred of her, so I don't know what else.
Oh man, the Sierra right back at you and the, you know, we were so lucky cause the teens that, you know, rose up here and helped bring so much of this to life that we who we've, I don't know, I've been able to like do workshops with, and I feel like you can do it. It's it's it just takes a heart, you know, like a heart that cares. And now that we live in the zoom based primarily it's, for me, it feels easier. Cause it's like, I can just jump on and do this. It's not travel. So I think, yeah, it's time and we'll share anything we've done with whoever wants to do it. Like let's help lift each other up.
Yeah. And I will say that everyone that I've talked to about mental health and I'm sure Annie can echo this. Anytime I tell them what we're working on there, they they've personally known somebody that's struggled with it or they themselves struggle with it. So it's not hard for them to recognize the importance of it.
Let's be MBM, I think is extraordinary way.
Thank you. Yes. Yes. We've trained over a hundred people in the state. And so
Just for those that don't know what CMP is. Could you just share a high-level 30 seconds?
Sure. The center for mind, body medicine is an organization that I became involved with right after the one October shooting and they do global trauma work. So teaching people really simple skills to regulate the nervous system to kind of come back into balance and to connect with themselves in each other.
And that's what we're really trying to accomplish that to me is the heart of compassion is helping people be in balance with themselves, with each other, with the world in which we exist. All of that is critical. How do environmentalism or, and correct me on my terminology here, but how does that interact with compassion?
I think it's an excellent question. And to my mind, the idea of environmentalism and engaging with and caring for our environment is really at the heart of compassion in so many ways. For calling me when I was a little girl, my parents talking to me about, about the environment, both of them were very connected to it, this idea that our personal experience of it, others, other personal experience of it creatures that we may see every day or that we may not see every day understanding that this planet really is a full system and that it's delicate in so many ways, although it can be strong in so many ways. And it's so interrelated and this sense of compassion and empathy and understanding that something that we may do that might impact the forests, the oceans, the mountains, the deserts, whether or not we even see those places matters. And I I've had people talk about the environment and climate change as being more instead of a climate crisis and empathy crisis because of the fact that really what it is, is having that empathy for the humans, the wildlife that are being displaced right now because of climate change. And because of things that we're doing to the environment
Here in Las Vegas, we exist within really a bowl that is a desert. Could you share a bit about your organization and what it means to be environmentally conscious in Las Vegas?
I'd be happy to. My organization is the nature Conservancy and our organization is interesting in that it is based locally here in Nevada with our Nevada chapter. It's actually a part of a very large network. And I think that that is almost a metaphor for all of us. So the nature Conservancy is in 72 different countries and it's around, it's all around the United States and it present in every state and in Canada here in Nevada, we've actually been here now for 37 years. And part of why we're here is that Nevada is one of the most bio-diverse states in the nation. Many are unaware of the fact that we have over 300 mountain ranges we have for the over 300 mountain ranges. We actually have over 300 endemic species. These are species that exist nowhere else, but in Nevada where the 11th, most bio-diverse state in the nation which I think is just mind boggling and incredible. And so many people don't realize that for all the unique and funky things that make Nevada special. That is something that is truly incredible, that we stand at that level of having over 300 species that exist nowhere else, but in our state.
Wow, that is fascinating. And I did not realize that was the case. Wow.
So I was just going to say it and amidst all that for a vibrant and very growing community. Our state has grown to over 3 million people and here in Southern Nevada, we have experienced just incredible growth. And this is poised in that, in that space of a little bit attention where we have incredible growth amidst, a lack of resources here in Las Vegas and in Southern Nevada, we've actually been very proactive in addressing our water shortages. We've taken steps to cut back on turf, which which is a massive user of water. And we're actually taking even more steps to cut back on turf. Folks have been very good about reusing water and even, even our gaming industry, which I think is often very maligned uses gray water, which is water that has previously been used for things like the famous fountains. So our state has been very aggressive and very much, I think a leader on the Colorado river, even though we are one of the technically one of the smaller users,
We're bringing that loop again, where everything truly is so connected. We've talked to each sector kind of separately, but everything really touches everything else. And you can't divorce one from the other Krista, thank you for joining us for this amazing program and for sharing about the Jamison fellowship. Several people have shared already about their experience and how the Jameson fellowship is transforming the Las Vegas area. Just give us a high level overview of what that program is.
Yeah, sure. Well, first of all, I am blessed to be every day with people with great hearts. That's what we do and our work. And it's really special to have that opportunity. And we lead with compassion. We build trust and authentic relationships. And I was among the first cohort almost 10 years ago and this fellowship and it's evolved over these 10 years. And as we've evolved the fellowship, we've grown to be much more intentional fostering collaboration amongst the various social sectors to influence compassion and unity and enhancing those leadership skills to really construct impactful change.
It makes Las Vegas unique. And what made it possible for this to thrive for so long in the Las Vegas valley?
Well, our team has really realized we are young. We are ripe for education and we established ourselves as really understanding that we need to educate our community. We have a lot to learn and a lot of opportunity for growth. So we've identified that we're a true educator, a training platform where we are intentionally bringing these leaders together to motivate, inspire, and encourage them to build circles of trust. And as you talk about compassion is also cultivating self-awareness that self-compassion and introducing resilience practices to the program. It's really important.
What have been the challenges you faced in bringing leaders together in particular?
Wow, those challenges, they often have different viewpoints, but what we have learned over the time together as fellows as it is a very healthy dynamic to have those uncomfortable conversations, because that's what really sparks growth in our community is to understand people's perspectives and being compassionate for one another and supporting one another's and being objective and understanding how to work on each other's viewpoints and differences
For someone that may want to take this model into their city, bring their leaders together for such an amazing training. What should they look to do? How do they get that started?
That's a really great question. Having conversations with those partners in your community that, you know, can cast a net and, you know, be open and objective because this is something very new for communities to understand and embrace compassion is, is a, not everyone understands what compassion is all about. And so finding those partners to help foster and grow that opportunity to bring those that are open to those experiences would be just some whispering conversations as our founders like to share.
Well, Krista with so many people engaged, having done this for so long, help us just to know kind of the nuts and bolts of the program, what is actually occurring on the streets in Las Vegas?
Well, you bet, you bet. In addition to us providing those workshop platforms, you know, we also are providing our fellows the opportunity for annual grant funding to encourage that collective impact, you know, bringing those community leaders and the organizations together. Those are great opportunities to learn how to partner. We're also having additional educational and transformational programming that is just really impactful to grow our leaders. And also very rich coaching that you will have introduced into this program that really bring the individual, the organizations, the sectors, and the system all together to really understand what it takes to operate.
Yeah, that's fantastic. Having a great vision is so important, but bringing that vision to life takes a team. And so I think that's exactly what I'm hearing you share with us. And I blessed to be a part of it as well. If you had to describe what you got out of your year in the fellowship and one or two words, what would you say?
Curiosity for more learning and understanding you know, being part of that first cohort, we didn't know what we were walking into and what it would be like to come together. And it is so exciting to see it moving into its 10th year and just how much it's blossomed since I've started with the Jamison fellowship.
Just want to thank you for your leadership within the fellowship and compassionate Las Vegas at large B the organization is so much better because you're a part of it and we are just getting started. So thank you for joining us for this event, which is amazing. Can you believe we have this platform? If you are listening to our story,
It is really special. And I cannot thank all of our community leaders that are joining us in this conversation for this very special hour of what the Las Vegas community is doing, where we're growing, and I'm really excited to see the rest.
Is there anything else you want to tell to the audience or just share?
I am blessed to be working alongside you. As part of the team, our founder moon Ridge foundation, I mean, we are really the conveners of fostering culture of compassionate caring, and there we are just so excited with where we can move this community. And I am blessed with our art team.
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