by Marlees West, Program Director, Frisoli Youth Center

As an extrovert, movement has long been my only solitary activity. Long runs help me center myself and  release some of my excess energy before I connect with others. In the last year, pilates has helped me to get ready for a day of: connecting to staff and young people and families; talking and learning, and teaching and thinking. By myself, at the end of the day, pilates helps me process everything that I learned, heard, and felt.

Like all of us, physical distancing has rocked my world.
I no longer have all those in-person social interactions to feed my extroverted soul. So, I created “Socially Distant Pilates People." I made my daily exercise routine a social time, initially with just a small group of 4. Over the last few weeks, our community has now grown to include more than 20 people. We 'FaceTime' ten minutes a day, once a day, every day, to do pilates together. That’s it! But that short ten minutes (followed by a virtual dance party) has felt really good. It’s kept me connected to my own identity as a teacher and facilitator (and now as an amateur pilates instructor!) and to my friends and family and friends of friends. It’s quickly become the best part of my day, lifting my mood and energy, and jump starting my creativity. I feel connected.

By Mercedes Soto, Impact Evaluation Advisor, Agenda for Children OST

Yesterday, when I was walking and listening to a podcast, in the April Fool's Day early morning snow flurry, I saw this colorful child's drawing zip tied to a tree.  The message "We are in this fight together so we must remember to be kind to each other." brought me to tears.  I was overcome by this wave of grief for all of the people and the ways of life we've lost and the people and ways of life we are losing.