Great Thursday all,

Many of us are experiencing technical difficulties due to power outages with our internet and cellular devices. This can definitely place us in a sense of uncertainty and anxiousness. This is why the timing of this email is so important. I want you to breathe! Take the time to be deliberate about a gift that many of us take for granted. BREATHE!

Next, I am asking you to share this email with at least one other person as we prepare for our Purple Path Annual Healing Retreat. We initially started the healing retreat as a promise made to my mother and husband in late summer 2022. After my mom passed away followed by the medical emergency and inequities my husband faced, I just knew what was shared as a vision with the two people I love the most would fade into the sea of ideas. I wanted people who did not have a safe and brave healing space within a love-minded community to have this positively life-changing experience. In doing so, the impact was far beyond the scope of what I imagined. Why? The simple answer is that I allowed God to use me in a way that would humanize the experiences of every person who attended. Since then, we have grown significantly to serve women and men. Not only do we have an annual retreat in April, we have a bi-annual retreat in October, too! God is!

Because you are part of our email community, I want to share some phenomenal news regarding our retreat. Our annual retreat will be held at the Tinley Park Convention Center in Tinley Park, Illinois. Due to the feedback received from prior guests who attended one or both retreats last year, we will start at 10am CST opposed to 8am CST. We will have a total of 8 powerful speakers and a moderated panel discussion about Black men and mental health. More details coming within the next few days! Stay tuned!

The other ask is that you make sure to be in the building this year for our 2nd Healing Retreat. Grab your tickets today. The access code for the one-day access is HEALING2024ONE.

With all that said, it is important to know that the purpose of our Purple Path Healing Retreats for the community is to create a supportive and transformative, save and brave space where individuals can heal, grow, and thrive holistically—physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and socially. By addressing the needs of the whole person and fostering a sense of interconnectedness, these retreats have the potential to create lasting positive, sustainable change within individuals and communities.

Some of us love the visuals (just as much as I do) so I decided to share 10 reasons why healing benefits our communities. See below.

Grace + JOY, Dr. J

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