The Confounding Life of the Woman Seeking to Heal San Francisco's Wounds

credit:

"I was determined to go out into the world to find the'medicine' to heal my community," says Lena Miller, a white woman who grew up in San Francisco's historically African-American Hunters Point neighborhood.

A school board member at the time, Miller would go on to found a number of charities based on her ideas about the role of trauma in African-American communities, the San Francisco Standard reports.

Her efforts are premised on the psychology of violent criminals, and have generated controversy amid accusations of harassment and assault by her workers, which she and her staff say is part of a bogus narrative meant to falsely villainize them.

Miller is executive director of Urban Alchemy, a fast-growing nonprofit organization at the nexus of public safety and homelessness.

Its slogan: "transforming the energy in traumatized urban spaces."

It employs former long-term offenders Miller has described as people convicted of'murder and attempted murder.' She says this makes Urban Alchemy's ex-convict workers better at interacting with people suffering the types of emotional wounds accompanying poverty, violence, or addiction.

More recently, Urban Alchemy was selected for a $2.5 million contract to replace police in responding to 911 calls relating to homelessness, the Department of Emergency Management told the Standard in a Jan...

Read the Entire Article

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

Spokane Businesses Owned by People of Color Awarded New State Grant Funds

People of color make up about 20% of Spokane County, Wash., but they own about 8% of the county's businesses, reports the Spokesman-Review. That's why the Spokane Workforce Council is...more

Press Release: Ok Arts Council Grants and Programs Offered for Fiscal Year 2025

The Oklahoma Arts Council has released its annual list of grant requests, and it's a doozy. This year's list includes a call for artists to "bring the arts to other statewide organizations," as...more

Sustainable Finance Influencers: Bob Helmuth

One of the world's biggest asset managers is taking a stand against climate changeby investing in some of the world's poorest countries. Envestnet, which has more than $100 billion in assets...more

Rotary Club of Hagerstown Foundation Awards Local Grants

The Rotary Club of Hagerstown has handed out $62,800 in grants to 25 charities in the Washington County area, reports the Herald-Mail. The grants were awarded at a June 19 lunch held by the club,...more

Thriving Health &Amp; Wellness Communities: Technogym and Live Work Learn Play Unite for ...

If you're in the market for a new place to live, Technogym has just the thing for you. The fitness equipment and technology company has announced a partnership with Live Work Learn Play, a real...more

Bits + Bytes: A Miscellany of Technology

Amazon plans to build a data center in Malaysia, Microsoft is investing in the country's new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure, and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is...more

Ilo Prospects Lebanon Supports Social Enterprise Initiatives in Lebanon

When Kinda Darwish decided to start a bakery in Beirut, she had no idea she'd end up kneading dough for the International Labor Organization and running a second-hand bookstore in the Lebanese...more

New Haven Nonprofit Cityseed Names Sarah Miller as New Executive Director

A Yale grad with more than 20 years of nonprofit and community leadership experience has been named the new executive director of a Connecticut nonprofit that helps people grow their own food, Fox...more

Dr. Hamis Kiggundu: From Entrepreneur to Global Leader €“ An Inspiring Journey

Hamis Kiggundu's journey from "humble beginnings" in Uganda to "be a global icon in business and philanthropy" has just taken him to a new level. The European International University in Paris...more

Community Land Trusts: An 'Old-School' Innovation with 'New School' Structural Applications

A community land trust, or CLT, is a non-profit organization that purchases land on behalf of its members and sells it at discount rates to people who otherwise wouldn't be able to buy homes of...more