• JUNE Dear Commonweal Friends, Welcome to the Spring issue of Commonweal News. We can no longer fit reports on Commonweal’s two dozen programs and projects in a single issue, so I will simply start by saying that Commonweal’s programs are doing well. In this issue, we report on our core work in healing and the 200th week-long Commonweal Cancer Help Program. We hear from Commonweal Garden Co-directors James Stark and Penny Livingston-Stark about their remarkable tenure in Commonweal Garden. They are turning the garden over to Anna O’Malley, MD, who has a beautiful vision. David Steinhart reports on the influential work of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program. Commonweal’s Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) Director Karen Wang announces a new initiative and website focused on bringing CHE’s collective knowledge to millennials. We remember our beloved Jnani Chapman, the senior Cancer Help Program masseuse, who died recently in a tragic accident. The historical context in which we are working is unusually turbulent. There are profound connections between the environmental, economic, technological, social, and political dynamics of our time. We often focus on the unique characteristics of this turbulence in the United States. But we see reality better if we step back and look at the global system. Techno-capitalism is the principle disruptive force. It causes, responds to, and interacts with increasingly disturbed biospheric conditions. Human communities are equally affected by techno-capitalism and biospheric change. Our response becomes a third force at every level—from the personal to the geopolitical—in turn interacting with the first two. Often we see only the disruption. We miss the creative opportunities. That is part of Commonweal’s work—to see the opportunities amidst the turbulence and tragedy of our times. With deepest gratitude, Michael Lerner, President
PHOTO COURTESY ERIN O’REILLY
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hen I am out in the world talking about Commonweal, people ask me how our organization works. They want to know about the bond that holds our programs together when they look so different from each other on the surface. Commonweal, as an organization, is unique in many ways, and its core structure is innovative. An analogy I like to use is that of an aspen grove. Aspens appear to be individual trees, but they are actually connected under the ground at the root level. Their shared roots communicate with each other, warn of hazards, and share nutrients. They are one biomass—the same being. Our programs appear to be independent of each other. But, like
aspens, our programs grow in clusters, with connected roots and intertwined branches. Our grove of healing programs—like the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, Healing Kitchens, Healing Yoga, and Healing Circles—collaborate on a deep level while they do their work individually. Our environmental health grove includes an array of programs that explore, study, and educate about issues of environmental health importance. Our arts and education programs, like
When I am among the trees… they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. – Mary Oliver
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the New School at Commonweal, Visual Thinking Strategies, and the Power of Hope camp, form a third grove, inspiring and influencing each other. All these groves are rooted in the same soil and share an interconnected root system. That shared root system includes administrative infrastructure, the literal soil of our Bolinas land, and—most significantly—a shared commitment to what Rachel Naomi Remen calls Tikkun Olam: the concept that the world is repairable, and we are bound to the task of repairing it. Commonweal is a community of people joined at the root, doing good work, sharing values and vision. We support each other and learn from each other—a unique and multifaceted process that a community can use to help repair the world. Warm best, Oren Slozberg
R E G E N E R AT I V E D E S I G N I N S T I T U T E AT C O M M O N W E A L G A R D E N
Opening Windows to Wonder by Penny Livingston-Stark and James Stark, co-founders of the Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden We came to this beautiful place called the Commonweal Garden after sharing hopes and dreams with Michael Lerner and then Executive Director Charlotte Brody. Thank you, Michael, for inviting us into the garden and the Commonweal family. We are so grateful to the Commonweal staff, who fully and lovingly supported us over the years. With this foundation of trust and support, we embarked on a journey of restoring the overgrown and dilapidated site into a vibrant model of a permaculture learning center. That transformation would not have been possible without the strong support of donors and the greater community, who generously volunteered their time and energy to bring the garden to life. At the same time, more than 100 interns and apprentices lived and worked with us in the garden, learning the skills they would need to transform their own communities. As the garden blossomed, its reach grew. We introduced the Commonweal Garden vision and model to indigenous and other communities throughout the United States, Canada, Indonesia, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and Iceland. During the last 13 years, more than 6,000 students have visited the garden to participate in our classes and trainings. They came from public and private schools, farmer training programs, national and international universities, a wide cross section of professions and spiritual orientations, and underserved communities, including youth and community leadership programs. The people who have come to the Regenerative Design Institute at
Commonweal Garden are special. They came to learn how to become permaculture designers and teachers, to stretch their personal vision to be the change they want to see in the world. They learned how to grow food, clean water, make soaps and medicines, develop clean energy, transform waste into nutrients, track animals, understand bird language, play music and make instruments, develop their leadership and community building skills, do inner healing work, and look after their bodies and keep themselves healthy. They have come to our monthly full-moon elderfire, where people of all ages gather together and share deeply about what is present for us. Most importantly, people who have been to Commonweal Garden became inspired to develop the skills and personal visions for how they and their communities might fully participate in and contribute to the “Great Turning” of our time. It has been a joy to witness these people become change makers and visionaries. We honor them for their courage and commitment to making a difference in our world. This July, we are heading into an amazing adventure of moving to Whidbey Island in Washington. The Regenerative Design Institute will remain a program of
Commonweal, continuing to develop new pathways of service. We will be creating a two-week intensive permaculture program on Whidbey. James will continue to teach the Ecology of Leadership and Art of Vitality programs in Bolinas. Penny will continue to expand her medicinal programs and teach internationally. We plan to expand our international work, and develop online education programing, writing, and mentoring the next generation of leaders. We are so excited to be joining the vibrant community of Commonweal and other like-minded programs on Whidbey Island. It is hard for us to leave the garden that we are so connected to and love so deeply. However, our hearts are warmed knowing that Dr. Anna O’Malley will be bringing her new Natura Institute to the garden, and will continue to dedicate the garden to healing and regenerative living. Anna shares our love of nature and of the garden. She is a perfect match. The Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden is grateful for the support of the West Marin Fund, Stinson/ Bolinas Community Fund, the Marin Community Foundation and many individual donors for supporting our work. To learn more about the program, please go to www.regenerativedesign.org/. Please join us at Opening Windows to Wonder
A celebration of the Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden May 2 – June 24 in Gallery Commonweal
C O L L A B O R AT I V E O N H E A LT H A N D T H E E N V I R O N M E N T ( C H E )
Because Health by Karen Wang, PhD, Director, Collaborative on Health and the Environment Even though there is compelling scientific evidence suggesting that chemicals impact child brain development, cancer and many other diseases, fertility, reproductive outcomes, and obesity, only about two percent of existing chemicals have been well-vetted for safety and toxicity by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The problem extends further than toxics and beyond our borders. In 2015, diseases caused by pollution were responsible for 16 percent of all premature global deaths. The enormity of environmental health issues facing our communities, families, and planet can be overwhelming. Likewise, the latest news about environmental and health protections being rolled back and threatened can make it hard to be optimistic. But change does happen and there is a way forward. Through communication and education, shifts in public opinion have spurred changes in policy that once seemed impossible. Nowhere is this truer than in the success stories of protecting children from lead and the industrial chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in the United States. Yet despite these victories, there is still work to be done to close the large gap between the current level of public knowledge and understanding of environmental health and the level that is needed to catalyze widespread social change. I am excited about how the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) can be part of this work. When I started at CHE last year, I knew that I wanted to not only keep and reinvigorate the work CHE was doing, but also to expand our impact. I am
passionate about communicating with and educating my generation about environmental health because the need is clear. Currently, 2.5 million millennials are becoming new parents in the United States every year. And, despite the bad rap that millennials get, research shows that they not only post on social media about causes they care about, but they also donate, volunteer, and are activists for them. The sometimes naïve and idealistic desire to “change the world” is maturing from cursory interest and small actions to true activism. This spring, CHE launched a new media site called Because Health, responding to the need to communicate environmental health information to millennials in a new way. The goal is to keep the information accessible, curated, relevant, and shareable, while still being strongly rooted in the latest science. The focus is on providing positive bite-sized messages with actionable suggestions that anyone can incorporate into their lives no matter where they are in the process of learning about environmental health. Much of the enthusiasm for health and wellness among millennials focuses on lifestyle and genetics as the underpinnings of health. But the science shows that environmental factors are just as important. Because Health wants to change the public conversation on health and wellness to include toxics reduction and environmental health more broadly. We hope that by educating a wide audience and encouraging people to start small, we will inspire and create the next
generation of activists for environmental health among millennials. The Because Health website (www. becausehealth.org) meets individuals where they are in their lives with trusted, evidence-based resources that are easily discovered, personalized, and digested. Key features of the Because Health website include: ■■
Actionable and bite-sized content: We are building on the wealth of CHE’s scientific knowledge and translating the content to be accessible for our audience. Our experience and formative research has shown that people are easily overwhelmed and want content that is relevant to specific decisions, events, and milestones in their lives.
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Going beyond individual choices: Through partnerships with other environmental health advocacy groups, Because Health points individuals to actions they can take, such as participating in market-based campaigns, signing petitions, and contacting local, state, and national officials to advocate for policy changes.
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Building community: Our website is fully integrated with social media, where many individuals discover our content and share it with others. We are also in the process of creating online forums and groups for individuals to share their own recommendations, tips, and
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Providing a personalized experience: Users can customize their dashboard, pin preferred resources/ tools for easy access—and share with others.
To get people to our website, we have been using social media and building partnerships with other related influential people in our target demographic, asking them to help us build awareness of environmental risk factors and our website through their social media accounts. Outreach will focus on individuals and organizations whose missions align with that of Because Health to promote positive changes related to environmental health. Looking forward, we want to produce a series of short videos that personalize specific small bits of environmental health information and direct people to Because Health for more. For example, we are looking to partner with a cookbook author on a video about How to Make Eggs Without Nonstick. And we have many other creative ideas in the works! By engaging millennials, Because Health hopes to spark an interest in environmental health in a new generation. We inspire and connect individuals who become passionate about these topics to ways they can advocate for policy changes in their local communities and at the state and national levels. We also bolster support among millennials for market-based campaigns targeting toxics reduction. We facilitate groups among like-minded individuals who can share resources, tools, and stories to create selfsustaining energy around these topics and to inspire unforeseen opportunities for action. In order to continue generating engaging content that is rooted in science, Because Health relies on donations. We send our sincerest thanks to all who have already contributed. We would not be where we are today without you. If you, or someone you know, would like to make a donation to support our work and ensure that Because Health can achieve it’s goals, you can do so on our website. Please feel free to reach out to me personally at Karen@healthandenvironment. org with any questions or comments. Find out more about CHE at: www.healthandenvironment.org. CHE is grateful to Jonas Philanthropies, Passport Foundation, and several foundations that prefer anonymity. PHOTOS (OPPOSITE PAGE): BECAUSE HEALTH WEBSITE.
Jnani Chapman — In Memoriam by Michael Lerner, President Jnani Chapman, the senior masseuse in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, died tragically in a car crash on December 14 in Orange County. Jnani was driving on a highway at 4:20 a.m. She came upon a car stopped in one of the driving lanes. Jnani tried to swerve but did not make it. The driver of the other car was, we understand, not harmed. Jnani was a beloved partner in the Cancer Help Program for over 30 years. She literally touched thousands of people. She was both a preternaturally gifted masseuse and a superb yoga teacher. She taught yoga across the country. We held a moving memorial for Jnani on Sunday, February 18. Her family came from Massachusetts. Friends came from as far away as Toronto. You can read her memorial webpage at www.commonweal.org/ news/memoriam-jnani-chapman/. At Jnani’s memorial, Elizabeth Evans, who long worked with Jnani as a masseuse in the Cancer Help Program, rose to speak. Elizabeth said she was angry when she learned Jnani had passed. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, she thought. Then she dreamt she was walking from a farmhouse toward a lake. Jnani came up from the lake to greet her. Elizabeth was amazed. Jnani told her how deeply sorry she was to have left her. She said, I have all day for you. They walked together around the lake “with Jnani talking a mile a minute, as she always did, and me feeling I had to remember everything she said.” Toward the end of the walk, Elizabeth felt Jnani fading. She asked Jnani if she had to go. Jnani nodded sadly and said goodbye. When Elizabeth woke, she could not remember anything Jnani had said on their walk around the lake. Jnani was a complete original. She was truly one of a kind. She was a kind of street saint, possessed of a crazy wisdom. She was a gifted registered nurse who knew both mainstream oncology and integrative medicine in depth. She gave deeply loving attention to bodies scarred by surgeries and radiation. One Cancer Help Program participant remembered how, when she was feeling ill, Jnani lay beside her on her bed in Pacific House. They talked deep into the night. As a nurse, Jnani could accompany alumni into surgery. She rubbed the feet of alumni as they made their final passage. Jnani came to me in a waking vision the night before the 199th Cancer Help Program in March. She was radiant and filled with light. I knew she wanted the staff—her beloved comrades for 30 years—and the participants to know that she was with them. Jnani was deeply certain life continues after death. And I am certain that if Jnani is right—and I more than suspect she is—she is watching over us and helping us from the other side. The Jnani Chapman Memorial Cancer Help Program Scholarship Fund has received more than $70,000 in contributions. It is a beautiful way to remember Jnani. Many will participate in the Commmonweal Cancer Help Program in coming years, blessed by Jnani’s continuing generosity. As Jnani would say, YAY. COMMONWEAL
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Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth—The Work Continues by Michael Lerner, President
Healing is at the heart of Commonweal. Our health and healing work continuously evolves with changing needs and opportunities. We offer here a brief summary of some of this work.You can find out more about all of our programs on our website. Commonweal Cancer Help Program’s 200th Retreat and 33rd Year We held our 200th Commonweal Cancer Help Program (CCHP) in April. We will celebrate CCHP’s 33rd year in October. The community of love and healing with our alumni and staff has marked the lives of so many of us. No single group of people has done more to sustain not only CCHP but also the entire Commonweal community. Many teachers have passed through the program—teaching us all how to live, how to die, and how to love. Arlene Allsman coordinates CCHP, which is at the heart of all the other healing programs, whose work I briefly describe below. Healing Circles “Move at the pace of guidance,” our friend Christina Baldwin suggests. That is how our healing work grows. Our Healing Circles program—learning communities for people with cancer and those who care for them, based on our CCHP model—deepens slowly
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but surely across the United States and Canada. Healing Circles Langley, guided by Diana and Kelly Lindsay, offers more than 70 circles a month. Diana is a 12-year metastatic cancer survivor. Healing Circles Houston, guided by David Spaw and Susan Rafte, is developing deep partnerships, including the Jung Institute and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, which serves a diverse inner-city community. Our Cancer Help Program Alumni Circles in the East, North, and South Bay are our close-in Healing Circles. Now, a Nursing Leadership for Healing Circles initiative is emerging as a new Commonweal Healing Circles initiative, guided by Gretchen Schodde and a national group of her colleagues. Gretchen, a beloved friend of 25 years, is the nurse-founder of Harmony Hill in Union, Washington, which has offered retreats based on CCHP for more than 20 years. Our other founding Healing Circles partners, Janie Brown at Callanish in British Columbia and Jennifer Bires at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in
Washington, DC, continue to develop powerful Healing Circles work. Healing Circles Jerusalem We also have a Healing Circles outpost in Jerusalem, founded by the husband of Odelia, a Commonweal Cancer Help Program alumna who dreamt of a CCHP in Israel. Her husband, Aviad Ettinger, committed himself to realizing her vision. He wisely started with a gifted yoga teacher, Liora Amichay, and a Healing Circles program, which is now leading residential retreats in a 300-year-old monastery outside of Jerusalem. Aviad and Liora write: Dear Michael, Dear Oren, and Healing Circles friends: We now have two healing circles; each one is held once in two weeks at The Yuri Stern Foundation, which gives alternative treatments for cancer patients and their caregivers at Shaare-Zadek Medical Center in Jerusalem. A therapist and I lead both circles. The place itself is very pleasant, softly lighted, with comfortable sofas and flowers. We light a candle at the beginning and bring healthy refreshments, such as herbal tea, cookies, nuts, and raisins. Every circle starts with a short meditation in order to leave behind the day we have had, slow down, and focus on breathing and calming the mind. We read poetry
often as we’ve found that it makes our points stronger. In each meeting we touch a different subject. We use a talking object. Each person gets to talk at least two times in a session, with a quiet gap for breathing after each person talks. Sometimes some of the participants prefer not to talk and that’s okay. We read the circle rules at the first two meetings but after that, it was no longer necessary… I was worried about translating Healing Circles into Israeli culture, but actually, it seems that no translation was needed and I now have a strong faith in the way it works. Every week, while driving home from a circle, I realize we have taken another step towards touching pain and dealing with it. It is a safe ground for the participants; the groups support a wide range of emotions, from anger to fear, sorrow, and gratitude. I, myself, am going through a deep healing process with the loss of my parents to cancer. In July we will give a two-day retreat at the Convent of the Sisters of Zion in Jerusalem. The retreat will include yoga, therapy, and massage practitioners, and a meeting with a nutrition expert, all of whom are members of our project. It will host eight to ten women, and most of the participants in the cancer cirlce are already intending to sign up for it. We highly thank you for your support in this process and hope you are all well and happy. Love, Aviad and Liora
Our Healing Circles Global website has launched: www.healingcirclesglobal.org. We are also closer to launching Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies, a website devoted to exploring integrative cancer therapies. The New School at Commonweal is home to dozens of podcasts and videos on healing and on work with cancer. Bay Area Young Survivors Retreats for Young Adults In 2012 we began a partnership with Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS)—an organization started by a CCHP alum for young women with cancer. Led by Arlene Allsman with CCHP staff, BAYS retreats are now offered three times a year. Here are a few lines from a letter a recent alum wrote about the experience: …remember how awkward it felt to start dancing with all the other women. remember you felt your body wouldn’t cooperate… remember that dissolving. remember smiling and wriggling with katrina. remember winking with deb. remember swishing through space… remember how free you were to listen to your body. remember how beautiful you thought everyone else’s movements were. how alive. how true. how honest. remember your eyes filling with tears because you were overwhelmed by how long it had been since you felt this free and safe in your body. remember this feeling of unhinged joy. of contagious laughter. of so much safety to explore this new, weird life.
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Anna O’Malley, MD – The Commonweal Garden and Natura Institute Anna O’Malley, MD, a beloved integrative community physician, takes over leadership of the Commonweal Garden from James Stark and Penny Livingston-Stark in July. This is an extraordinarily important transition for Commonweal, since the garden grounds our work more deeply on this land than any other project. Penny and James have made an extraordinary contribution to the dissemination of permaculture work and nature awareness in the Bay Area and around the world. Anna is the third generation custodian of the garden. She has a profound commitment to the power of nature in healing. Her new Natura Institute for Ecology and Medicine at Commonweal Garden (www.naturainstitute.org) will explore reconnecting people with the living systems that restore us to wholeness. Natura will bring an ecological consciousness to healing programs, and will illuminate the medicine of being in reciprocal relationship with the Earth. The Commonweal Medical Advocacy Collaborative The Commonweal Medical Advocacy Collaborative (CMAC) is directly inspired by the work of Mark Renneker, MD, the founder of the discipline he calls medical advocacy. Mark is a renowned surfer, and was the subject of a two-part series by William Finnegan in The New Yorker, “Playing Doc’s Games.” Here is an excerpt from Finnegan’s article: In a sport open only to the absurdly dedicated—it takes years to master the rudiments of surfing, and constant practice to maintain even basic competence—Mark is the fanatics’ fanatic. His fanaticism carries him into realms that are literally uncharted...“One thing about Doc,”
says Bob Wise, who has been surfing in San Francisco for almost thirty years. “He keeps open the idea that anything is possible.” Mark is one of the co-founders of the Surfer’s Medical Association, and has surfed from near the North Pole to near the South Pole. He surfs every time he comes to Commonweal. And he invented a way of practicing medicine that fits a special need—the need that many patients have for a medical advocate who is completely devoted to helping them find their unique way to navigate conventional, experimental, and integrative medicine. Mark has been training others in medical advocacy. He often meets his students at Commonweal for training sessions. This year he announced that this was the last group of students he plans to train. His students, highly gifted physicians and other health professionals, asked if they could form CMAC, with Mark as the senior adviser. John Laird, MD, a Sufi physician and longtime practitioner of integrative medicine, agreed to coordinate CMAC. And so a new Commonweal program was born. We currently are in the exploratory phase. I am the gate-keeper for now. I send letters of inquiry from patients to John, who distributes the letters to see which medical advocates are available and interested in taking the patient on. We’ve started with Commonweal staff and CCHP alumni to work the kinks out of the system. CMAC addresses a real need, and we are honored to have it as a new dimension of our healing work. Deborah Cohan, MD – Dancing Doctor Deb and the Foundation for Embodied Medicine
physician, and subtly mischievous rabblerouser spreading the messages of joy, interconnectedness, and love.” As a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of California San Francisco and Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospitals, Deborah runs HIVE, a hub of sexual and reproductive wellness for pregnant women and others living with HIV. A dancer all her life, Deborah danced in the operating room immediately prior to her bilateral mastectomy. A video of the intraop flash mob, taped by the anesthesiologist, was posted on YouTube by a friend, unbeknownst to Deb, during her surgery. The video went viral and instigated a pop-up social movement of joy and healing through dance. Upon completing chemotherapy, Deborah founded the Foundation for Embodied Medicine at Commonweal: www.embodiedmedicine.org. Healing Ourselves and Healing the Earth Many of our other healing programs are, in essence, healing circles as well. Oren Slozberg’s Power of Hope summer camps are healing circles. We’re exploring a new retreat for children with chronic illness and their parents. BJ Miller, MD, is developing his Institute for Living and Dying through Commonweal. BJ’s work on end-of-life issues is nationally known. A simple way of thinking about our work in healing goes back to our origins. Commonweal is a center dedicated to healing ourselves and healing the earth. We take every opportunity to continue to dedicate ourselves to that great work. Find out more about our healing programs at www.commonweal.org/health-healing
Deborah Cohan, MD, now staffs our retreats for young cancer survivors. Deb describes herself as “a loving mother, joyous dancer, compassionate The beautiful photos on these pages are from a recent BAYS retreat, and are provided courtesy of Hillary Goidell.
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Brain Science Is Driving Juvenile Justice Reform on a Grand Scale by David Steinhart, Director, Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. This familiar biblical phrase suggests that we can choose when to forsake childhood and go forward in life as an adult. But based on emerging brain science, childhood has a stubborn grip on human development, pushing the timetable for adult maturity well into one’s mid-twenties. In the United States, the law has been slow to catch up with the science of adolescent development, but it is getting there. Based on recent United States Supreme Court rulings, some of the most severe punishments reserved for adults can no longer be applied to juveniles. Moreover, age lines drawn under old state laws to define criminal responsibility are being modified to pull more youth into the rehabilitative fold of the juvenile justice system. Conditions of juvenile confinement are also changing to incorporate “trauma informed” care and other developmentally-based approaches. All these reforms are grounded in acceptance of scientific evidence that the adolescent brain does not mature until the mid-twenties, well beyond the age of majority set for various purposes by older state laws. This transformation of juvenile justice law began in earnest with Roper v. Simmons, the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned the death penalty for persons under age 18. In subsequent cases, the Supreme Court held that juveniles cannot be sentenced to lifewithout-parole without taking individual maturity into account and without an opportunity for release. These decisions were grounded in a new, science-driven doctrine of constitutional law—that
juveniles have diminished capacity and “diminished culpability” for criminal conduct, compared to adults.
The California Response California has been on the leading edge of states that have adapted their juvenile justice systems to these emerging legal doctrines. A recent example is the 2016 voter-approved ballot measure that ended the practice of prosecutorial “direct file” on juveniles in adult criminal court. Backed by Governor Brown and a strong advocacy coalition, Proposition 57 reversed a 16-year-old “tough on crime” initiative that had given prosecutors the authority to file charges on children as young as 14 in criminal courts, where the outcome often involved being sentenced to state prison. The 2016 reform is anchored in principles of adolescent development. Now, any transfer of a juvenile to criminal court must be evaluated by a juvenile court judge based on factors including age and maturity. Pending California legislation would take Proposition 57 even further by banning transfer of any 14 or 15-year-old to an adult criminal court. California is also taking steps to incorporate more young adults into the program and service zone traditionally reserved for juveniles. A five-county pilot program approved by lawmakers in 2016 permits qualified 18-21 year old felony defendants to be housed in local juvenile facilities, instead of county jail, with intensified programming. A pending proposal backed by the Governor would allow some 18-21 year olds now in state prison to move into the programenriched facilities of the state Division of Juvenile Justice.
Commonweal’s Role in Reform Commonweal has played a key role in this reform movement. Between 2014-17 we co-sponsored a series of California laws that now require courts and law enforcement agencies to seal juvenile offense records upon satisfactory completion of probation. Record sealing removes re-entry barriers to jobs, housing, and education for justice system youth. In 2017-18, Program Director David Steinhart chaired the state committee charged with revising California regulations on conditions of confinement in county juvenile facilities. The result is a vastly improved set of facility standards—limiting uses of force by staff, revising education and other programs, upgrading health and mental health services, and improving system responses for LBGTQ and immigrant youth. We have also been working with the state Division of Juvenile Justice to improve re-entry outcomes for wards returning home from state confinement—including a lead role in restoring “honorable discharge” status that can open doors to employment and other re-entry options for state wards who perform well on release. In sum, we have entered an era of policy reform that is expanding services and supports for justice system youth across a wider age spectrum. In California, Commonweal’s Juvenile Justice Program is fully aligned with what appears to be the unstoppable transformation of the juvenile justice system. For more information about the Juvenile Justice Program, please go to: www. commonweal.org/program/JJP We are grateful to the following funders for their generous support of the Juvenile Justice Program: Annie E. Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, and The California Wellness Foundation.
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You r Su p p o r t M a ke s a D i f fe r e n c e The thing that holds us all in dark times is community. Love, friendship, and community. These dark times may be personal—the tremendous struggles each of us must necessarily go through on our journeys. There is no way around them. The real question is how will we respond: with how much grace and skill and compassion for ourselves and for those we love or those we encounter? These dark times are also unquestionably collective. The dark figures that are arising all around the world— the horsemen of the apocalypse, as it were—symbolize our deepest fears and intuitions. Again, there is no way around them. The only question is how we respond. We thank each of you for all you have done to hold the Commonweal community dear to you. You support us in so many ways—with the gift of your attention, your prayers, your volunteer energies, and your financial support. As you receive this edition of Commonweal News, I ask you to consider contributing to Commonweal again. You can do so from the Commonweal website (www.commonweal.org), or by returning the envelope that came folded into the pages of this document. We are so grateful that more of you are choosing to make a
W I T H
monthly contribution to Commonweal by credit card. These sustaining contributions are invaluable because they enable us to plan better. Ask yourself if you could make a monthly contribution of $20, $30, $50, or $100. We also are beyond grateful when you let us know that you are including Commonweal in your estate plans, or direct memorial contributions to us. Finally, we love creative contributions of real estate, vehicles, and other tangible valuables. Please contact Erin O’Reilly, Oren Slozberg, Arlene Allsman, or me to discuss any of these substantial ways of supporting our work. Commonweal doesn’t exist separately from our community. We are an expression of our community. We are a voice of kindness, consciousness, and service in the world. The ancient work of the heart, the head, and the hands. We are grateful to each of you for your participation in the Commonweal community. Take care of yourselves. And let’s take care of each other. In gratitude, Michael
G R AT I T U D E
We express our deep gratitude to the following organizations that have supported Commonweal this year: A & A Fund ● Abundant Well Being ● Alan and Nancy Baer Foundation ● Alberta S. Kimball–Mary L. Anhaltzer Foundation The Altman 2011 Charitable Lead Annuity Trust ● AmazonSmile Foundation ● Ann F. and Lawrence A. Wiener Educational Foundation Annie E. Casey Foundation ● Applied Materials Foundaton ● Argosy Foundation ● Barbara Smith Fund ● The Barinaga Goodman Fund of West Marin Fund Bay Area Young Survivors ● Big Switch Networks* ● Birkenstock Village* ● BLIA San Francisco* ● Bohm Law Group* ● Brothers Comatose LLC* Brown-Monson Foundation ● Burt Liss Charitable Fund of The Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay ● California Endowment, The The California Wellness Foundation ● The Canary Fund of RSF Social Finance ● Centerville Presbyterian Church* ● Church of Scientology* Community Foundation of Snohomish County ● Connekt* ● Correctional Medical Group Companies, Inc.* ● Distracted Globe Foundation Doune Fund of Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut ● East End* ● Elkind Family Foundation ● Fenwick & West LLP* ● Fidelity Charitable The Frey Family Foundation ● The Fulton-Kunst Fund of RSF Social Finance ● George T. Cameron Educational Foundation ● The Germanacos Foundation Globe Foundation ● The Hand in Hand Partners Fund ● The Heffner Rosenwald Howard Foundation ● Hirshberg Charitable Lead Trust Institute for Spirituality and Health ● Integral Yoga Institute of New York ● The J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund ● Jenifer Altman Foundation Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund ● Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angles ● Just Angels* ● Jonas Philanthropies ● Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco* ● Kitchen Table Foundation ● Law Offices of James S. Muller ● Lloyd Symington Foundation ● Lone Lake Physical Therapy The Math Learning Center ● Maverick Llyod Foundation ● Montessori De Terra Linda* ● Morning Glory Family Foundation ● Morris Schapiro and Family Foundation Mount Zion Health Fund ● Mountain Elementary School* ● Muriel Murch Full Circle Endowment Fund ● The New York Community Trust Oak Fund of Triangle Community Foundation ● O’Donnell Iselin Foundation ● Panta Rhea Foundation ● Passport Foundation ● PayPal Giving Fund Pearlman Geller Family Foundation ● Pledge to Humanity* ● Reflection Fund of RSF Social Finance ● Rise Above the Ash* ● Robert Mondavi West* Rockefeller Brothers Fund ● Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors ● Rootstock Wine & Beer Bar* ● Rotten Robbie* ● Saint Patricks Church* San Francisco Bay Coffee Company* ● San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation ● The San Francisco Foundation Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, Inc ● Schwab Charitable ● Service Space ● Soil King Garden* ● Sonoma Clean Power Authority ● Stinson/Bolinas Community Fund Stupski Foundation ● Sylvan C. Coleman Foundation ● Szekely Family Foundation ● The Terrance Bourk & Penelope Stuart Bourk Gift Account Theobald Foundation ● Thermochem, Inc.* ● Tides Foundation ● Tobys Coffee Bar ● Vanguard Charitable ● Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation Visual Understanding in Education, Inc. ● Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign ● West Marin Fund ● West Marin Fund The Whitman Institute ● The Wright Gardner ● Zenni Optical* ● and several foundations that prefer anonymity
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June 2018
W I T H G R AT I T U D E ( C O N T I N U E D ) We offer special thanks and gratitude to the following Commonweal Friends for their generous contributions of $100 and above during the last six months. A full list of all of our donors can be found on our website under “About Us.” (Donations received between 10/1/17 and 3/31/18) Lynda Abdoo Joan Abrahamson and Jonathan Aronson Donald Abrams Gerald Abrams David Adams Kathryn Adams Tim Adams Megan Adamson Suzanne Agasi Robert Agoglia Carlos Agurto Randi Allen Paula Kirkbridge Allen* Arlene Allsman Donna and Tom Ambrogi Susan Amussen Leslie Andelin Mary Anderson Meredith Anderson Thomas Anderson Anne Andrews Lauren Ashley Betty Azar and Larry Harris Marion Bageant Robert Baird William Baird Deborah Baker Kathy Baldanza Robert Baldassano Christina Baldwin Laura Mae Baldwin Arlene Banks Carol Banquer Jeannie Battagin Gretchen Baudenbacher Corrine Bayley Brooke Beazley Jeffery Belden Alan Bell Carl Belline Susan Benton Nancy Bernard Arlene Bernstein Kathy Bero Nancy Bertelsen Alexandra Berven Ramona Berven Kiana Biletzky* Deborah Binder Garth Bixler Diane Blacker Mae Blackmore* Alison Bleaney Penny and Keith Block Daniel Blodgett Dianna Blom Lela and Jack Bogardus Joyce and Ross Boulanger Thomas Bozzo Nonie Brady Frish Brandt Paula Braveman and John Levin Clayton Wayne Breckon
Adrea Brier Julie Broms Mary Bromwell Madison Brookshire Susanne Bruggemann Diana Bublitz Steve and Marjorie Burr Penny and Robert Cabot Mary Callender James Campe Alison Carlson Andrew Carman Sylvie Carnot Lyman and Carol Casey Tracy Cathcart Charlene Chang Jed Chapman John and Lorri Chapman Keith Chapman Nicole Chase Stephanie Chuang Richard Clapp Shelby Clark Felice Davis Cohen Judith and Neil Collier Terrence Collins Wendy Richardson Collins Philip J. Collora Deborah Condon Mary Anne Cook Mary Elizabeth Cooney Tracy and Reinold Cornelius Shira Weinert Cornfeld Steve Costa and Kate Levinson Kristin Costigan Sally Cotton Roy Cox John Critesborak Pamela Culp Barbara Cunningham Ian Cunningham Connie Dawson Kathleen DeBeer Marcia Degelman Gun Denhart Mike and Nanette Dentinger Alexandra B. Derby Karin DeSantis Nischala Devi and Bhaskar Deva Maureen and Ed Dion Perry Catherine Dodd Betty Doerr Cecelia Doucette Maureen McCarthy Draper Linda Dunham Sheila Dunn Mara Dworsky Richard Eagan and Elizabeth Ostrow Edith Eddy Barry Elson Rich Emiq* Jaune Evans
Dawn Fairbanks Amber Marie Faur* Robert Feraru Beth Fergin Carolyn Fine Friedman Barry Flicker Khris Ford Donna Froese Amy Gage Patricia Garber Howard Gardner Matthew Gardner Ronald Garrigues Gale “Gigi” Gartner Bernard Gershenson R.H. Gibson Roshan Gidwani Sarri Gilman and Ken Kortlever William D. Glenn Sheilah Glover Sheilah Glover Marilyn Goldberg Brahmi Gold-Bernstein Paul Goldfinger Peter C. Goldmark Charles Gompertz Bing Gong and and Eleanore Despina John Good Sally Goodwin Paula Gordon Judi Gorski Robert Gould and Patrice Sutton Sally Gradinger Lindy Rose Graham Bess Granby William Grant Karen Green Sadja Greenwood Joan Grubin Fernando A. Guerra Robin Gueth Amy Chase Gulden Thordis Gulden Isabelle Gunning Beth Gustafson Lisa and George Hagerman Reuben Hale Betsy Hall Jeanne Halpern Susan Halpern Judy Hammond Cecelia Hard Mary Kay Hardwick Martha O. Hart Amy Hassall* Wendy Hawkins Elia Haworth Meri Hayos Sharen Heath Alan Heggen Judith Heike Lynne Heilbrun
Steve Heilig Linda Henderson Lynne Henderson Robert L. Hendren Khalaf Hirmina Meg and Gary Hirshberg Charles and Sandra Hobson Rose Hom Kathy Hood Vanessa Horne Ruby House Catherine Howard Evelyn McDonald Howard Vivian Sieh Hsu Patrick Hubbard Bettina Hughes Elizabeth Hull Kerri Hunter* Rita Hurault Giovanna Joyce Imbesi Jon Jackson Jeri Jacobson Mark Jensen Michele and Len Jirek Susan Joerling Georgia Johnson Kirstin Johnson Bonnie Jones Richard Kantor Rebecca Katz Barbara P. Katz Lakshmi and Ramesh Kaza Gregg Kellogg Dana Kelly Gary Kelson Kathy Kerdus Cecily Kihn Ann H. Kim Debra Kirchhauser David Kirkpatrick Heidi Klauser Benjamin Kleine Gary Konkol Harriet Kossman Ronda Kotelchuck Kathleen Kraemer Maxine Kraemer Margaret Kral Marty Krasney Kim, Honey and the Kronenberg Family Patricia and Larry Kubal Alex Kushner Ellen Labelle Beth Lamb Virgina Lane David Lawrence Bethany Leal Katrina Leathers Eun Sook Lee Woowon Lee Jill Leiner Michael Lerner Susan Lessin Richard Levi
Libby Levin Diane Levy Nancy Lewis Cynthia Li Kelly and Diana Lindsay Hanmin Liu and Jennifer Mei Haven Logan Leslie Lowe H. Christopher Luce Mark Lucero Hal Luft Eulalia Mack Elizabeth MacLeod Janet Mahoney Craig Marciniak Vanessa Marcotte Ira and Barbara Marks Susan Collin Marks Gilbert Marquez Alexandra Marston Paul Martin Marsha Maslan Terri Mason Georgia Lee May Katrina Mayo-Smith Elaine McCarthy Richard McCluney and Christina Conklin Mary Lee McCune Lindsay McDonell Nancy McFadden Mark McGuire Susan McIntosh Jennifer McKenzie William Mentzer Josephine Merck Paul Merrill Doris Meyer Jerry Millhon Marilyn Mindel Marjorie Minner Ingrid Mittermaier Nancy Mohler Robert Moon Jill Moore Kenneth and Kristen Moore Gwendolyn Morgan Lloyd Morgan Betsy Morgenthaler Carolyn Morris Jo Muilenburg Fitzhugh Mullan Terri Mullen* Aggie Murch Judith Nagelberg
Corinne Nakao Jo-Anna Nakata Tessa Namuth Lynn Nelsen Laura Nelson Lewis Nerenberg Mark and Lorry Newhouse Susan Newstead Sylvia Nobbmann Sheila North Michael Northrop Robin Obata Heather Ogilvy Amy OHara Rosemary Oloughlin Jo O’Malley Erin O’Reilly Meredith Orthwein Carmen Ortiz Joseph Osborn Michael and Joann Oyola Richard Paine April Paletsas Parker Palmer Ji-Yoon Park Robert Park Kathy Parker Ruth Penn Elizabeth Perry Jenny Peters* Barbara Peterson Julien Phillips Diane Pick Edith Piltch Ayn Plant Allan Pleaner Gary and Jean Pokorny Julie Portelli Joyce Radtke Chad Raphael Susan Rappaport Robert Rebitzer Sara Reingold Mark Richard Steven Richardson Norbert Riedy Carole Riggin Elizabeth Muir Robinson Susan Robinson Alice Rose Margo Rosen Ruth Rosen Fernne Rosenblatt Diana Rothman Robert Rufsvold Belinda Ryder
Barbara Sachs Senn Eileen Salinas* Betty Sarber John Sasko Barbara Schaetti Sarah Schafer John Scheels Pamela Schell Lisa Schenkel Ted Schettler Sepha Schiffman Patty Schmidt Claire Schneeberger Mary Schneider Gretchen Schodde Philip Schrodt Elisa Schwartz Kate Sculti Patricia Seth-Tuttle Judith Shaw Paula Sheridan Mary Siegrist Tom Silk Susan Simpkin Jennifer Sivertson Oren Slozberg Donald Smith Kim Smith Rik Smith Ted Smith Jim Spady Richard Spaw Christopher Spencer Deborah Steele Robert Steingut and Eileen Heitzler Mary Stephens Kathryn Stevens S. Christa Straub Gwendolyn Stritter Jeanne Strong Sara Stuart Peggy Sullivan James Sundberg Kathy Sykes Toby Symington Carolyn Tague Lois Talkovsky Gregory Tarsy Margaret Taylor Barbara Terao Barbara Terao Charles Terry and Betsy MacGregor Pauline Tesler Claire Theobald
Sheila Y. Thomas Barbara Tittle Joseph Tobin Eveline Tom Robin Toma Barbara Marie Towle Joanna and Peter Townsend David Trowbridge Amy Tuthill John Tydlaska Maria Valenti Paula Barber Vanderwoude George Viramontes Janet Visick Carol Von Haden Alexander Von Hafften and Kerstin Miller Tuan Vu Murry Waldman Robert B. Walker Tom and Claudia Walker Caroline and Fong Wang Karl Wang Nora Webb Sharon Weil Francis Weller Helen Werdegar* Catherine G. West Canon Western Ruth White Catherine Whitehouse Ann Wiener Jack Wiener Suzanne Wilcox Lynn Willeford Carol Williams James M. Wilterding Serita Winthrop Michael Witte Tia Woodward Carol Wuebker Michelle Wurlitzer Tom Yarish Elizabeth Zarlengo Sharon Ziegler Lucinda Ziesing Marya Zlatnik and several anonymous donors
*We give special gratitude to those who made generous in-kind donations through the Schoolhouse Distribution Center, a grassroots effort initiated by Commonweal staff member Amber Faur in response to the October 2017 Sonoma County wildfires. We are deeply grateful to Amber for enabling Commonweal to provide help to fire victims. Only a fraction of in-kind donors are listed here; all in-kind donors are included on our website: www.commonweal.org/support/our-donors/
G O PA P E R L E S S !
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P. O . B o x 3 1 6 Bolinas, CA 94924
Join us at the Commonweal Open House September 29 12-4 pm
From our Gallery Archives
ANN HOGEL TRANSITIONS January 26, 2018 – March 30, 2018 at Gallery Commonweal