EPISODE 03: Richard talks all things love and fatherhood with certified Fatherhood & Healthy Relationship practitioner and healing elder, Walter Simpkins. Walter is the Executive Director of Community Fathers Incorporated and, most recently, became the recipient of the Community Hero Award presented by The Schenectady Foundation. Moreover, Community Fathers Inc. was also awarded the Dr. Sherry P. Ulmer Innovator & Affiliate of the Year Award by the Fathers & Families Coalition of America, Inc.; all of which are a testament to his commitment to his community. Walter has touched many lives throughout the Capital Region and has been instrumental in changing the way fathers are looked at and respected in family court. What began as a once per week support group, has now flourished into a full-service father's program. Walter is an inspiring individual, electrifying in speech and comforting in his presence. He is single handedly helping to restore families, "One Father at a Time."

This podcast is produced in partnership with MenHealing, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible help, resources and community for male and male-identifying survivors of sexual victimization. Our aim is to heal, inspire and help break isolation for survivors.

Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter  and visit their YouTube Channel  to witness powerful survivor stories and other shame-busting advocacy videos.

JUST HEALING host, Richard Smith, is a nationally recognized expert on trauma and healing for survivors of interpersonal and systemic violence. He has over two decades of experience developing and leading community-based programs, helping organizations throughout the country build their capacity to heal and empower BIPOC folks and marginalized communities. He is the founder and lead strategist and anti-racism educator for Richard Smith Speaks LLC.

Learn more about his work by visiting www.richardspeaks.com and follow him on Instagram @rsspeaks

Special shoutout to H.O.L.L.A! & The Youth Organizing Collective for providing their powerful song Share Your Story from their album The Report Back

EPISODE 02:

In this episode of JUST HEALING, Richard and social entrepreneur, Hernán Carvente-Martinez, discuss identities and their impact on how we heal from trauma. Hernán is a Chicano community organizer and leader in the fight to end youth incarceration. He is the Founder & CEO of Healing Ninjas, Inc. - a social enterprise seeking to end mental health stigma while expanding access to health and wellness resources for communities of color. Most recently, Hernán worked as the National Youth Partnership Strategist at the Youth First Initiative, a national campaign focused on closing youth prisons and reinvesting that money into community alternatives.

Check out Hernán's work at www.healingninjas.org 

Follow him on Instagram @carventehernan and @healingninjas

Listen to the Healing Ninjas Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

This podcast is produced in partnership with MenHealing, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible help, resources and community for male and male-identifying survivors of sexual victimization. Our aim is to heal, inspire and help break isolation for survivors.

Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter  and visit their YouTube Channel  to witness powerful survivor stories and other shame-busting advocacy videos.

JUST HEALING host, Richard Smith, is a nationally recognized expert on trauma and healing for survivors of interpersonal and systemic violence. He has over two decades of experience developing and leading community-based programs, helping organizations throughout the country build their capacity to heal and empower BIPOC folks and marginalized communities. He is the founder and lead strategist and anti-racism educator for Richard Smith Speaks LLC.

Learn more about his work by visiting www.richardspeaks.com and follow him on Instagram @rsspeaks

Special shoutout to H.O.L.L.A! & The Youth Organizing Collective for providing their powerful song Share Your Story from their album The Report Back

EPISODE 01:

In the premiere episode, Richard Smith talks all things healing with activist and childhood sexual abuse survivor, Aqeela Sherrills. 

Aqeela Sherrills is the Founder and leader of the Community-Based Public Safety Collective, which advises and trains local public safety organizations in the methodologies that he has found most effective in helping communities reduce and prevent violence, as well as helping victims heal. This work builds on his work with The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) community-based violence reduction initiative which he co-created and directed at the request of Newark, NJ’s Mayor Ras Baraka in 2014. In the five years Aqeela led NCST, Newark homicide rate went from 104 in 2015 to 51 in 2019.

This podcast is produced in partnership with MenHealing, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible help, resources and community for male and male-identifying survivors of sexual victimization. Our aim is to heal, inspire and help break isolation for survivors.

Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter  and visit their YouTube Channel  to witness powerful survivor stories and other shame-busting advocacy videos.

JUST HEALING host, Richard Smith, is a nationally recognized expert on trauma and healing for survivors of interpersonal and systemic violence. He has over two decades of experience developing and leading community-based programs, helping organizations throughout the country build their capacity to heal and empower BIPOC folks and marginalized communities. He is the founder and lead strategist and anti-racism educator for Richard Smith Speaks LLC.

Learn more about his work by visiting www.richardspeaks.com and follow him on Instagram @rsspeaks

Special shoutout to H.O.L.L.A! & The Youth Organizing Collective for providing their powerful song Share Your Story from their album The Report Back