Welcome to our world!
Activist Care Circle is officially a Substack member!
Welcome to a caring place on the interwebs.
Heather and I want to welcome you to a little corner of hope and peace. We want to create a place that we hope gives you a warm hug, a bucket refill or a virtual drink of cold water if you need it.
This is our intro to you on this platform. We have much to offer and plan to engage more soon in this additional space here on Substack. We hope to be a place for resources and encouragement.
Welcome to Activist Care Circle
We believe, to paraphrase Thich Nhat Hanh, the best way to take care of the movement is to take care of the those in the movement. We are activists, just like you, and we've seen far too many wonderful, well-meaning people step away because of burnout and compassion fatigue.
We created Activist Care Circle to support those fighting for a better world. We combined our knowledge of organizing, training, mindfulness, and art to create an antidote.
Activist Care Circle is that remedy. It's a place where activists can rest, learn, grieve, and grow. A place for activists, by activists, because you deserve the care and comfort you seek for others.
Topics & Events
Each monthly workshop has its own theme. Here are just a few we hosted in 2024.
Focus for Moving Forward
Fighting Compassion Fatigue
Mindfulness for Everyday
Radical Rest
Artivism in Action
Finding Joy in Darkness
We are always looking for additional ways to support you while you are changing the world. Here a few services we offer in addition to our workshop series.
Newsletter
1-on-1 Support through Coaching
Mindfulness Offerings
ABOUT US:
Heather Thornton is the co-founder of Activist Care Circle and Executive Director of Empowering Democracy, an organization that helps people find their role in activism. She is a community organizer, trainer, mindfulness student/teacher, and movement chaplain. Heather has played a role in helping thousands of people move from concerned citizen to effective activist. Combining her decades of business and non-profit experience with an understanding of organizing, her goal is now to help create a culture of sustainable activism and self-care for the activists in the progressive movement so close to her heart.
Heather still considers herself a proud Pittsburgher, even after 20 years of living in Texas with her family and their ragdoll cat Peep.
Amy is a life-coach, artist, retired chaplain, and co-founder of Activist Care Circle. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Divinity. Amy teaches gratitude classes, mindfulness classes and offers sobriety assistance and grief counseling. She has 20 years experience working in all areas of healthcare chaplaincy... 10+ years experience assisting chemically dependent patients. She has led groups for 25 years. She is a Certified Daring Way Facilitator based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown. She strives to be a compassionate companion to those who seek wholeness and healing- mind, body and spirit.
Amy has been a practicing artist for 8 years working in acrylics, mixed media and ceramics. She enjoys spending time with family and their dog, Lola.
If you want to hear from us as we write regular newsletters and articles, please subscribe. We’ll also be sharing with you helpful thoughts, articles we come across on our journey through this experience we all call life.