WHAT WE DO
Touching Land is a 501(c)(3) that uses somatic experiential arts as a tool for community-building and immigrant empowerment. We have different programming that follows different social tracks: the Empowerment Model (only immigrants) and the Building Bridges Model (mixed communities).
Our Empowerment Model is meant for immigrants and vulnerable populations where the focus is on legal rights, self-worth, mental health while building networks of support among participants. While our Building Bridges Model was created as a platform where cross-cultural connections are born. Participants from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds seek to understand not only their shared humanity, but also their rights and duties as allies in a diverse community.
We are all about building JOY, BELONGING AND COMMUNITY.
empowerment
Clay Know Your Rights Workshop:
Taught at the beautiful BKLYN Clay Studio, this class is designed for immigrant empowerment. Immigrants learn to build and glaze an object out of clay, while building an emergency plan of action and an understanding of immigrant rights inside and outside of their homes. Students leave empowered with their rights and inspired by the power of their imagination and self worth! This is a 3 hour, 4 session class.
mindfulness and rights (10 week program)
During the pandemic, we discovered that our community needed a lot of emotional support, in collaboration with BREATHE International’s U.S., ED Camila Diaz, we developed a 10 week online course for our immigrant participants teaching mindfulness and rights. We were able graduate 16 different participants who went through the entire course and successfully learnt how to self regulate their emotions.
These signature “Know Your Rights cards” are provided free of charge to workshop participants and their friends.
BUILDING BRIDGES
In Conversation Series:
Women of New York based immigrant communities will come together to build slab plates, stamps and conversation. The participants will then, in a ceremonial way, stamp their creation on each other’s plate, allowing for everyone to have a small piece of each other. This class has a small food celebration during the second session. This is a 2 hour, 2 session class.
Salsa and Visibility:
Done in collaboration with Chef Manolo Lopez from Mofon*Go and Chef Carolina Saavedra, this class was crafted specifically for companies and delivery workers with a main drive of decolonizing foods and spaces. This class is designed to create visibility of the delivery worker in the spaces they serve, but where they are often invisible. Delivery workers and their clientele will have the opportunity to decolonize food together while learning about how to assert their Fourth Amendment rights or intervene as allies. This is a 2 hour class. This class can be modified and used for other audiences as long as decolonizing food and spaces remains the center of the class.
Running, Rights and land
“Running, Rights and Land" is a program that has been in development for several years. Like clay molding and cooking, running is a powerful tool that promotes relaxation, vulnerability, and openness. Engaging in physical movement can alleviate stress and strengthen our connection to the outdoors, ourselves, and our community. It serves as an ideal somatic/mindful tool, especially when done on trails. The program also aims to foster a stronger bond between immigrants and the outdoors. Ultimately, we hope to introduce these runners to local, established running groups.
In 2023/24, we conducted a modified pilot in Brooklyn, NY. We identified a group of immigrant men who were isolated and unable to work. They needed information about their rights and the empowering and uplifting experience of running. We realized this was an excellent opportunity to introduce them to local community spaces, organizations, and restaurants ready to welcome and support them. A primary reason why these men often don't venture beyond a two-block area is due to a lack of knowledge and the need to feel safe. Our immediate goal was to help them feel comfortable and safe enough to explore their surroundings freely.
The program was highly successful. We provided shoes, shorts, reusable water bottles, and rights information to several groups of immigrants. This program was a "drop-in model", as it was the most effective way to foster community through changing groups of migrants.
One of our strengths is our ability to stay nimble and continuously build programing that fits our community. As a result, we've developed a new "12-week" running program. The first half will focus on teaching the basics of running, trail access, and rights education. The second half will involve a “buddy system” where building community with pre-existing running groups in the area is prioritized. The final session is a Trail Race in the local woods.
The program will launch in BROOKLYN in the fall of 2024.
