TFD Volunteer Day | Mental Health Kits

As we prepare for Mental Health Awareness Month, we had an amazing volunteer night where we built community while packing stickers, assembling mental health kits, and sharing a meal together. In total, we packed 500 “Bag of Big Feelings!” We usually need two volunteer days to pack all 500 Mental Health Kits, but we had a dream team of volunteers who worked so hard to get all the kits packed and ready for our youth!

Our volunteer day has a packing station to put the stickers together, a station for packing the “Bag of Big Feelings”, and volunteers who made this day successful and fun!

Painting Pots with Yekseny | Art Therapy

Our Painting Pots workshop, led by Yekseny, centered on reflecting on growth while painting pots. Yekseny talked about how spring is a reminder of growth and noticing change over time. Our community members painted terracotta pots as a personal expression of where they are in life. They used the process to reflect on accomplishments and goals for continued growth this year. Each potted plant was selected, connecting intention to a physical action, and group conversations allowed everyone to share the meaning behind their designs and choices. Overall, it created a grounding space for creativity, reflection, and community connection.

Mujeres Business & Fitness Fair

We are so excited to have participated in the Mujeres Business and Fitness Fair hosted by State Representative Norma Hernandez and her team! It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with community members and fellow small businesses, share the work The Firehouse Dream is doing, and provide resources and programming. We also offered items from our mental health kits to help support and sustain our co-created “Bag of Big Feelings” giveaways.

The fair was full of resources and activities: Zumba by Marcela Velazquez, yoga session led by our community partner Dasia Key, CrossFit by Susie Castro, and a panel discussion where our board president, Karina Mora, was one of the panelists. We also had the chance to walk around and check out the other businesses and vendors.

Community Yoga at TFD

This week, we had a yoga session at The Firehouse Dream, which was led by Dasia Key. For this yoga session, we centered on gentle movement and grounding. She allowed intentional moments to pause, check in, and connect movement with mindfulness. Encouraging everyone to move at their own pace while combining gentle stretches and grounding poses. These poses support and help release tension and bring more awareness to the body. Journals were incorporated as a reflective tool for emotional release and processing thoughts. Our community members used their journals to write what came to mind or resurfaced throughout the session.

This session supported both physical grounding and emotional reflection, both through movement and writing. Daisia Key guided our community members by allowing us to feel and move with mindfulness.

Legal Wellness Clinic at TFD

We recently welcomed the Legal Wellness Clinic back to The Firehouse Dream for another Legal-Aid Wellness Check-Up for the community. Just like the first visit, community members had the chance to sit down with a licensed attorney and walk through a series of questions covering key areas like housing, immigration, family matters, employment, debt and credit, and future and safety planning. These conversations offered space for clarity, reassurance, and help with next steps. After each check-up, our community members received a Legal Wellness Plan outlining any areas of concern and resources to help them move forward.

We are grateful for this continued partnership and for the opportunity to bring accessible legal support directly to our community.