Our Trauma

A Changing Climate

For this Many Hands, March 2026, the topic was A Changing Climate. Words chosen to validate the experience of all in our Richmond, Virginia Region as we endure the iciest winters, violent storms, and hottest summers on record. How has our climate actually changed? How will it? How can we cope – emotionally and practically? And how do we change what sometimes feels like fate? Our guest and our guides, Nicole Keller, resilience planner at Plan RVA and Daniel Hart, Associate Director of Sustainability and Environmental Justice and Adjunct Professor at the University of Richmond.

Gender Belonging

Ellie Burke, meditation teacher and life coach opened our conversation through a meditation. Reminding us that "fear is taught and learned, but courage is found in an open heart.” The perfect invitation to listen to our speaker, Shannon McKay, Executive Director of He She Ze and We. A nonprofit organization in the Richmond Region that supports Transgender and Nonbinary people by empowering their families, communities, and allies to create life-saving, inclusive environments.

Affordable Housing

For this Many Hands, April 2026, the topic was Affordable Housing. A theme chosen because of the urgency and complexity of what anyone in the know, and in the work, calls a “housing crisis.” What do we mean by the word affordable? What myths act as barriers to progress? What data tells us truths? And what do we do about it?  Our guest and our guide, Jovan Burton, Executive Director of the Partnership For Housing Affordability (PHA). An organization dedicated to transforming housing in the Richmond region through community support and transformative policy.

Our Trauma

Last month we talked about how important it is to be near and in discomfort, as we work to change this moment and our world. This month we explored how to do that being. Our guest and our guide, Amanda Mbata, LCSW and the Clinical Director for Safe Harbor — a 25-year old nonprofit in the Richmond region serving survivors of domestic violence, abuse, and human trafficking shares with us how.

How Do We Help?

For this Many Hands, September 2025, the topic was Helping. A word meant to provoke a conversation about what the word means, and what it asks us to do. And whether or not it’s the right verb needed in this moment, or…do we actually need to serve, not help. In the new world we’re living in, wherein meaningless words shared from the powerful few can shift hoards of humans toward divisive actions that damage democracy, semantics matter. What we mean by one word – and what that word means to the many, matters. To help or to serve. Breanne Armbrust, the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Resource Center – a nonprofit that serves the Greater Fulton Community in Richmond, Virginia helps us to decide.  www.manyhandslive.org