Our Impact:
on the ground
+ in the world
Each year, we offer free practices in our community to veterans, survivors of trauma, those in the prison system, people in recovery from addiction, educators, and the frontline professionals who support them.
“My favorite part was being able to open up and find myself through my trauma.
I learned how to be myself and that my trauma doesn’t make me who I am.”
— Trauma Survivor, McCall Center
OUR WORK has four interrelated branches:
COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Graduates of our Mindfulness Facilitator Collaborative Track provide 50 service hours annually, free of charge within their respective communities—increasing access to mindfulness practices throughout the world.
Leadership
Piloting: Offering free and subsidized mindfulness programming to frontline nonprofit professionals working in communities most impacted by trauma, poverty, and systemic oppression
Access
Providing scholarships
to eliminate financial barriers to Copper Beech programming
LEADERSHIP
Practice
Provide free daily meditation sessions via Zoom with a focus on mindfulness and
community support.
TURN YOUR PRACTICE INTO ACTION:
MFC COLLABORATIVE
The Mindfulness Facilitator Certification (MFC) Collaborative offers a tuition-free pathway to deepen one’s skills and embodiment as a mindfulness facilitator while offering an additional 50 hours of volunteer mindfulness facilitation through the CARE program.
How It Works
Once accepted into the MFC Collaborative, collaborators follow the typical MFC training pathway from March through November on a tuition-free basis. Upon successful graduation from the MFC program and completion of the community project, collaborators then commit to offering 50 hours of volunteer facilitation over the following 12 months, typically at one of Copper Beech Institute’s local nonprofit partners that works within communities most impacted by trauma, poverty, and systemic oppression. Collaborators meet monthly with a Copper Beech Collaborative Mentor who supports their continued learning and service work. At the conclusion of the 50 hours of service, collaborators agree to creating a blog post detailing their experience in the program and a recorded interview that Copper Beech may use in promotional materials.
Where It Works
Copper Beech Institute has established several local internship sites in the greater Hartford area where volunteer mindfulness facilitation can be offered. For students outside the Hartford area or for those who wish to complete their internship at a nonprofit of their own choosing, collaborators will only be admitted to the MFC Collaborative who have confirmed their volunteer placement in writing from the organization’s Executive Director or supervisor. Should the terms of the placement change, MFC Collaborative must work with their Collaborative Mentor to seek alternative placement, including nonprofits outside of their hometown.
Selection Process
After submitting a Collaborative application, a pool of finalists will be invited to interview. Three MFC Collaborators will be chosen from the finalists to receive a full financial scholarship in exchange for committing to volunteering 50 hours of service after graduation. We will announce MFC Collaborators by January 2, 2022. Volunteer hours must be completed within a year of graduation.
Applications for the MFC Collaborative have closed.
We also strive to transform and heal the very conditions that cause suffering in our communities by dovetailing our CARE program work with healing and justice work, which challenges various systems of oppression that influence our society. We seek to uplift and listen deeply to those most impacted by oppression and assist others in becoming effective allies in the work of liberation and social healing. For more information about these initiatives, please read our Healing and Justice Statement and contact us at grants@copperbeechinstitute.org.