News

News, events, and articles for the Catalyst Network of Communities.

I’m So Glad I Didn’t Die

Anita Grant is a featured human book at our upcoming Human Library event on May 31st. Her life's human book title is "I'm So Glad I Didn't Die" and she'll recount her journey from poverty, incest and a teenage pregnancy in Harlem, New York to becoming a woman in her 70's who is now a minister and counselor to help others. Her story is a ride through those early challenges eclipsing the train wreck that could have derailed her from becoming the happy, loving, spiritual person that she is today. She went from the other side of anger to a woman who loves life. Her favorite quote is from Carl Jung that says, "I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become."

Mark your calendar: Saturday, May 31st from 1-4pm at the Long Beach Main Public Library, 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802.

To read more about the Human Library event, click here.

Click here to see related posts for: #HumanLibrary


Human Library Cultivates Empathy and Understanding

If a picture can be worth a thousand words, then a real-life encounter can be a priceless novel. That’s our hope for the Human Library event to be held on Saturday, May 31st from 1-4pm at the Long Beach Main Public Library, 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802 at the corner of Ocean Blvd.  

Hosted and organized by the Long Beach Public Library, Catalyst Network of Communities, Long Beach Free School, Long Beach Time Exchange, and Eayikes, the Human Library event will feature 15 “human books” that can be checked out by attendees for 15-20 minute intervals. Human books are people who will share unique and interesting aspects of their lives like an open book so that “readers” can gain a better understanding of the person’s life experiences.

One of the human books that can be checked out is someone who lives with Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). C-PTSD can be the result of prolonged exposure to traumatic events. DID was formerly known as multiple personality disorder and is characterized by the presence of two or more identities or personality states.

Other human books range from a breastfeeding advocate, a gender non-conforming individual, creator of a children’s television show called SheZow that airs on the Hub Network, a woman formerly incarcerated in prison, and someone who has experienced agoraphobia (commonly and loosely thought of as the fear of being outside).

Human Libraries have the potential of cultivating a sense of empathy and understanding among attendees, providing a safe space to listen, inquire, and learn about others without judgment.

Rachael Rifkin, lead organizer of the Human Library in Long Beach, says, “Human Libraries are a great way to discover and challenge your own prejudices about people as well as get to know some incredible people in your area.”

Long Beach is a diverse city with people who have diverse perspectives and life experiences. It can sometimes lead to disconnectedness, misunderstandings, and apathy. This intentional effort of cultivating understanding between people is one way that organizers hope to improve the way residents relate with each other.

The first Human Library was held in 2000 in Copenhagen, Denmark by the five youth activists behind Stop the Violence, an organization created in response to a friend’s stabbing. The idea for Human Libraries came when they were encouraged to help come up with dialogue-inducing anti-violence activities for a local festival. Their concept focused on breaking down prejudice through peaceful conversation and storytelling, and was a big hit at the festival.

Since then, hundreds of Human Library events have been created all over the world. In Southern California, the Santa Monica Public Library held a Human Library in 2008. As one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., Long Beach is a perfect place for a Human Library.

Past Human Library books have included vegans, funeral directors, immigrants, police, people with disabilities, drag queens, cancer patients, ex-gang members, people who are HIV positive, graffiti artists, people who are transgender, former prostitutes, etc. Basically, anyone with a unique background or experience.

For more information, visit the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1374424792834295 or contact Rachael Rifkin at lifestories2day@gmail.com.

Meet Brandon

Brandon is a cool guy with a passion for acting and movies. He currently goes to Cal State University, Long Beach majoring in Film.  He wants to use acting as a way to encourage others. In this video, he talks about what it was like for him as a kid being shy and bullied and how his friends played a key role in helping him to come out of his shell. Shara (Link #22) chose Brandon (Link #23) as the next participant in the project and so we got him some t-shirts at Target. Check him out!  #gocatalyst #givingchain #InspireEmpathy

Ashoka's Start Empathy Initiative

When Catalyst decided to narrow our focus a few months ago to creating programs that inspire empathy and understanding between people as a means for accomplishing our mission to help you to connect, collaborate, and share resources, we had no idea that Ashoka has had an initiative called Start Empathy as well, dedicated to building a future in which every child masters empathy. It's pretty cool actually. Ashoka is a huge, innovative, and industry-shaping organization and they have lots of resources to help all of us become more empathetic - child or adult. We all need it!

For more than 30 years, Ashoka has been identifying and supporting leading social entrepreneurs who bring new solutions to difficult problems. With a network of 3,000 change-makers across the globe, they discovered that they all have core skills including teamwork, initiative, leadership, and particularly a foundational one - empathy.

That's encouraging for us because while we hadn't realized about Ashoka's initiative, Catalyst had a similar (albeit smaller scale) realization. For 8 years, Catalyst has been working within our local and regional communities to help people connect, collaborate, and share resources through literally dozens of programs, projects, activities, and events, but we discovered that there were some common limitations for change-makers in these communities. Without new participants, new volunteers, new donors, and new leaders, the resource pool for these change-makers dries up. People and organizations may collaborate outside their typical circles once or twice, but it's not likely to be sustainable if there is a lack of genuine understanding that leads to conflict. People may come to donate or receive materials resources, but the true concept of sharing doesn't necessarily stick. That's why we realized that we need to go deeper - help people and organizations develop and cultivate empathy and understanding for each other so that the substance of their connectivity, collaboration, and sharing is more meaningful and long-lasting.

I've always looked up to Ashoka. They are always on the leading edge of social innovation and I've always aspired to be an Ashoka Fellow. I love the fact that we're in alignment in our recognition of the importance of empathy! We're in very good company. #gocatalyst #InspireEmpathy

Cambodian Son

What would it be like to be exiled from America? Check out a screening of this documentary this Saturday, May 10th at the Art Theater at 8pm. #InspireEmpathy

"Deported by America. Adopted by Cambodia. Embraced by the World." 

WINNER of Best Documentary at the 2014 Center For Asian American Film Festival, "Cambodian Son" is a documentary film that follows the journey of an exiled American spoken word poet, Kosal Khiev, from the streets of Phnom Penh to the stages of London during the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Join us for a screening on Kosal's journey and how the challenges he faces impact our communities in Long Beach.

Walk or Roll with Catalyst at LB Pride Parade

Catalyst has the same mission but with a new focus: connect, collaborate, and share resources BY creating programs that inspire empathy and understanding between people. If we can get more people to care about each other, then we can change the way we engage with each other. And that will change our culture!

Walk or Roll with Team Catalyst at the Long Beach Pride Parade this year on Sunday, May 18th. If you would like to join us, email volunteer@gocatalyst.org.

Meet Keith

As Link #20 on the Catalyst Giving Chain, Keith shares about his life recovering from drugs and alcohol and how he's used those experiences to help others. Watch his video here and please like, comment, and share it!

#gocatalyst #givingchain #InspireEmpathy

Human Library Helps Inspire Empathy

*Photo above taken from the Facebook page of Human Library Organization.

What if instead of checking out a book at the library, you could check out a human?

Catalyst Network of Communities, through our Long Beach Free School project, has partnered with the Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach Time Exchange, and Eayikes to host a Human Library event on May 31st. Check out today's write up at LBPOST here.

Held at the main library in downtown Long Beach, the Human Library event will be an opportunity for people to check out a Human Book for 15-20 minutes. You'd be free to engage with the person so that you can gain a better understanding. Listen to personal stories, ask questions, or just have a conversation with someone who has an intriguing background. This is a great way for you to cultivate your empathy towards others.

Would you like to apply to be a Human Book? Contact Rachael Rifkin at lifestories2day@gmail.com.

Meet Daryl

This week's video for Link #19 on the Catalyst Giving Chain is of Daryl. He's got a genuine passion for serving those who are homeless and anyone who seems to be in need. Check him out!

We didn't have a sponsor for this participant which means we won't be able to sustain the project for much longer without your generous support. Can you help by making a donation so that we can continue doing this project? Anything and everything helps! Thanks! You can make a tax-deductible donation here: http://www.gocatalyst.org/donate/

‪#‎gocatalyst‬ ‪#‎givingchain‬ ‪#‎InspireEmpathy‬

Meet Conrad

This week's video of the Catalyst Giving Chain is Conrad. He is Link #18 on the project and here he talks about being a student, working in a hospital, and shares his thoughts about empathy. Check out what he received from us because Shelly thought of him!

#gocatalyst #givingchain #InspireEmpathy


Catalyst 3.0

For the past several months, Catalyst has been up in the air. What I mean by that is we’ve been going through a lot of reflection, evaluation, and strategizing about how we can best carry out our mission of helping you to connect, collaborate, and share resources.

We’ve had to come to terms with some hard realities: (1) we haven’t been financially sustainable; and (2) we haven’t seen the kind of engagement from our community that would indicate we’re having meaningful impact.

Don’t get me wrong – over the past several years, we’ve literally reached tens of thousands of people through our numerous projects and programs. But the reality remains the same . . . .

Read More

Tactical Urban Interventions

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Catalyst founder Eric Leocadio will be a panelist at Tactical Urban Interventions on Thursday, April 10, 2014 from 6:00pm - 8:30pm at California State University, Long Beach at the University Art Museum (UAM). The event is part of the M&A exhibition at the UAM is dedicated to the work of Urban Applications(UA), a project of Materials & Applications. UA has begun to partner with other groups in Los Angeles county who are responding to multiple civic needs by developing community-engaged projects that interpret local environmental infrastructure improvements and include area residents in hands-on experiences that promote deeper understanding in and ownership of their immediate environment. 

What are some of the best strategies to engage communities in the development of new public places?
What are some of the problems with opening the design process to non-designers? What are the opportunities?

Panelists:
Tiffany Chen, Long Beach Office of Sustainability and GreenLB
Jenna Didier, Materials & Applications and Urban Applications
Eric Leocadio, Catalyst Network of Communities
Brian Ulaszewski, City Fabrick
Unable to attend: Jimmy Ng, The Growing Experience

Moderated by John Southern – Principal of Urban Operations, and Faculty at Woodbury University School of Architecture.

For more info, see the event page on Facebook here.

Happy 8th Birthday to Us!

Today is Catalyst Network of Communities' 8th birthday! On April 1st, 2006 I incorporated Catalyst Long Beach (our official name) as a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation in California. One of the first things we did that month was to gather up some folks to participate in the Community Action Team's 30 Minute Beach Clean Up. (yeah sorry, i used to be that skinny.) Over the last 8 years, we've been able to do so much together! And now, as we start our 9th year of service to our communities, I hope that many of you will stick with us and continue to share our vision to see cities experiencing a greater sense of community, collaboration, and citizenship through meaningful relationships. #gocatalyst