Can you believe we are already half way into 2021! We would love to share what Yaya por Vida Foundation has accomplished for Q2 to continue to help those in our community suffering from substance use disorder.
In April, we worked hard to compiling resources and providing support in behalf of Child Abuse Prevention Month and Collegiate Recovery Day. New resources have been added on our website and social media accounts to in the areas of child care, parent education courses, surviving divorce, parental courses for exceptional needs children, guardianship assistance, foster care and collegiate on-campus recovery community clubs. All trauma and life changes are so interconnected and may lead to problematic use. We would be remised not to cover them all and support our communities – even in their toughest moments. With support from Branches Florida- we were able to provide free on site tax preparation and stimulus check retrieval during our April Care Kit drive. During this period we were also able to counsel our houseless folks on how to obtain their lost personal documents, create a mailbox and start the housing process through Camillus House. During April we recently introduced nonprofit organization CHOW – Culinary Hospitality Outreach Wellness and their new support group both in English and Spanish. CHOW is an organization of individuals employed in the hospitality industry who support each others’ mental wellness through shared stories, learned skills and available resources. We thank Latino Recover Advocacy for sharing these resources with us. Please visit Home
to sign up for their many virtual support meetings, including substance use recovery support. We celebrated Volunteer Week the last week of April highlighting, celebrating and expressing our gratitude for what makes Yaya Por Vida run smoothly – VOLUNTEERS! We would not be anything without their selfless, hard work.
May was a month beyond words, especially with Yaya’s birthday upon us. Our May 8th art gallery event “There is Something More to Life Than This” held at Archive 79 Miami (part of Radical Partners 10 Days of Connection) was a sold out event. We raised over $2000 in 4 hours through ticket sales and art auctions combined. This has allowed us to continue to move forward with our Summer Art as Healing sessions with Reaves House and fund expansion to other nonprofit community rehabilitation centers. Yaya’s spirit was felt by all through her work and story. We thank all that were able to attend and hope all walked away with a deeper understanding on substance use disorder. In May we also created partnership with Pridelines, a Miami based non profit whom’s mission is to support, educate and empower LGBTQ+ you and community in safe, diverse spaces to promote dialogue, wellness and to foster social change. From May on they have committed to provide their Mobile testing van to our houseless care kit drive sites. This has now become yet another life-saving service where folks may discreetly test for HIV/AIDS, STI’S and receive proper sexual education/ medical treatment resources free of cost. Throughout this time we co-founded the Cultural Compliance Alliance – a non profit partnership started between Yaya Por Vida , Miami Recovery Project and Latino Recovery Advocacy. This partnership stemmed from our Floridian's For Recovery Leadership Workgroup centered around Diversity, Equity and Language. We are working hard as a unit to build culturally sound recovery capital, break racial/language barriers and push for recovery support of all types in Spanish. We hope this also becomes the example where other undeserved groups can draw from to build a more diverse Recovery Community.
We celebrated June by supporting Pride Month and Family Reunification Month. Again – we are all about bringing new resources to bring each group within the community together to build quality of life for all. We solidified Narcan Training in Spanish for July to spread this life saving tool to our Hispanic families with limited overdose awareness knowledge. We have also secured monthly food donations through CAO (Cuban American Original) Bakery for our Monthly Care kit drives and a sizable 500 pair sock donation from Hanes Socks for Good program. As everyone is aware June has ended on a tragic note. Our hearts are with the residents, first responders and families affected by the Surfside Champlain building collapse. We are currently working with boot on the ground to provide after-math support for families and first responders in dire needed of trauma based care. For more information on how you can become a volunteer, donate to those impacted by the collapse and more visit
Town of Surfside Champlain Tower South Info & Resources or email us to learn more.
To sign up for our Narcan in Spanish Training July 23rd, please email us at ypv.foundationmia@gmail.com or register at tinyurl/narcanvirtual .
To be a part of our July 24th and August 28th Care Kit drives please email us as well. Donations are accepted via CashApp $yayaporvidaMIA, payapl papypal.me/yayaporvidaMIA , using our Amazon wish list at https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/HON89YBFBQD2 or making Yaya Por Vida your smile.amazon.com charity!
Thanks again to all of my wonderful colleagues, friends and the management team for providing so much love, support and encouragement as we continue to grow. As always, please reach out to us directly if you or a loved one is in need of help. Your information will be purely confidential.
See you in quarter 3!