Heart of the Village invites you to meet Lateefah Simon, a 25-year veteran organizer and nationally recognized advocate for civil rights and social justice running to represent California’s 12th Congressional District.

Please join us March 27 at the Marin City Senior Center (640 Drake Ave) to meet Lateefah and hear her story, her vision, and how we can support her.

“I’ve spent my life fighting for folks without a voice. I will take the shared stories and experiences of this community to the halls of Congress so I can continue our fight. That’s how we make change.”

~ Lateefah Simon

Marin Healthy Youth Partnerships presents Guest speaker, David Sheff, who will be joined by a panel that includes medical experts, school representatives, local coalitions, and local youth.

Join this important community conversation on how to navigate youth substance use in Marin.

In-person and zoom attendance options, and interpretation available. 

Marin County Office of Education 
1111 Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael

Marin underage substance use is double the State average (yep, 2X). Join us in rallying around a collective effort to get to average.

Please join MHYP, local parents, and other community partners and stakeholders, as we connect the dots to create prevention activities everyone can be a part of.

6:30 PM - Networking and community tabling

7 -8:30 PM - Presentation and activities

Your ideas, energy, and resources, can play an important role in this simple awareness campaign aimed at parents and our community.

MORE INFO

Join this conversation with Felicia Gaston as she reveals the untold stories and experiences of what Marin City's Black population endured for 80 years while highlighting the community's character, dignity, and pride from the 1940s to the present. Learn how Marin City came to be, its development over time, social activism, and what it means to call Marin City home.

MORE INFO

Mill Valley Downtown Plaza - 87 Throckmorton Ave in Mill Valley

Celebrate local Black-owned businesses at the 3rd annual Juneteenth on the Waterfront!

Kick off a month of Juneteenth celebrations in San Francisco with a day of delicious food, community, and family fun at the Embarcadero Ferry Terminal Plaza (south of the Ferry Building) and Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Entry is free and open to the public, and food and drinks will be available for purchase.

There's still time to sign up for the inaugural 'Tee off for Education' event, at Mill Valley Golf Course, a joint fundraiser to benefit students from kindergarten through high school.

This is a four-person team scramble. There will also be a putting contest with closest-to-the-pin prizes. Lunch will be provided with your entry fee.

MORE INFO & REG HERE

This presentation will provide information on the role of peers, competencies, evidence, history, certification and resources for implementation of peer services at your organization.

Community members will also get a chance to ask questions and find out how they can start their career as a Peer Support Specialist!

Location: Empowerment Clubhouse, 441 Drake Avenue, Marin City

REG HERE

Please join NAMI Marin and Opening the World for: 'The Power of Storytelling'. A panel discussion in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month focused on the healing power of storytelling.

They have a powerful speaker line-up (soon to be announced!) which includes individuals who are have shared their personal stories as a part of our respective storytelling programs.

This panel discussion will focus on their journey with storytelling; trials, triumphs, discoveries and ultimately, how storytelling has promoted healing in their lives.

MORE INFO & REG HERE

Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, through Mental Health Services Act/Prevention and Early Intervention is offering this FREE Adult Mental Health First Aid training at the Empowerment Clubhouse, Main Room.  

Anyone can take the 8-hour Mental Health First Aid course – including first responders, students (18 years and older), and teachers, leaders of faith communities, service providers, and caring citizens.

Through a day of presentations and interactive exercises this course will teach how to help a person who is experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or is in crisis.

The course introduces common mental health challenges and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help people in both crisis and non-crisis situations.

Registration is required and capacity is limited. 

More info and register HERE

Talk Saves Lives: An Introduction to Suicide Prevention is a community-based presentation that covers the general scope of suicide, the research on prevention, and what people can do to fight suicide. Participants will learn common risk factors and warning signs associated with suicide, and how to keep themselves and others safe.
**A Zoom link will be sent 1-2 days prior to the presentation date.**

More info & REG Here

Bike4Buckelew: Access to Mental Health 4 All (B4B) is an annual fundraising event that brings mountain bikers, hikers and families together for food and fun. 
 
B4B is designed to highlight and bring awareness to Buckelew’s vital work in providing access to mental health and substance use services for our North Bay community. 
 
Set in China Camp State Park’s Miwok Meadows, the event offers guided mountain bike rides and trail hikes—from easy to more challenging— followed by a delicious Latin-inspired lunch, live music, games and a raffle. 
 
Registration link: Bike4Buckelew 2023

Join ODFREE Marin and other local organizations to discuss the connections between substance use and mental health and raise awareness for both as we celebrate May Mental Health Month and Fentanyl Awareness Day.

Click here for more info and to register.

The Marin County Youth Commission's annual Wellness Festival is back on Saturday, May 6th!

Brought to you by the Find Your Way wellness campaign, this year's theme is STRENGTH IN CONNECTION and we have partnered with the Marin County May Mental Health Month Youth Art and Film Showcase, and dozens of other Marin-based organizations, to make this year's festival bigger and better than ever!

This is a FREE event that brings youth and adults from all over Marin County together, over the universally pressing issue of Mental Health.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided!

More info and register here

Peer Coffee Talk hosted by Marin BHRS at 441 Drake Ave in Sausalito.

(This is a hybrid event with zoom or in-person options).

At this event you will:

• Gain more of an understanding of what Peer Specialist work really is.

• Ask questions so you can decide; is a Peer Specialist job my calling?

• Hear directly from our passionate peer professionals exactly what this job entails and what it looks like on different teams in Behavioral Health.

• Get to find out how you can be more involved in the Peer Recovery Movement!

REGISTER HERE for zoom link

Are you committed to building an antiracist family environment for your children? Raising antiracist children is a noble goal for any parent, caregiver, or educator, but it can be hard to know where to start.

Let Britt Hawthorne—a nationally recognized teacher and advocate—be your guide. Raising Antiracist Children acts as an interactive guide for strategically incorporating the tools of inclusivity into everyday life and parenting.

In her book, Hawthorne breaks down antiracist parenting into four sections and in this webinar you will learn about:

• Healthy bodies—Establishing a safe and body-positive home environment to combat stereotypes and create boundaries.

• Radical minds—Encouraging children to be agents of change, accompanied by scripts for teaching advocacy, giving and taking productive feedback, and becoming a co-conspirator for change.

• Conscious shopping—Raising awareness of how local shopping can empower or hinder a community’s ability to thrive, and teaching readers of all ages how to create shopping habits that support their values.

• Thriving communities—Acknowledging the personal power we have to shape our schools, towns, and worlds, accompanied by exercises for instigating change.

MORE INFO & REGISTER

Damon Connolly’s first Legislative Town Hall to update residents on his bill package for this year - 21 items in total! This Town Hall is an excellent opportunity to share your input on these pieces of legislation and ask any questions you might have.

Register Here

Not Your Kids’ Play Date!

Please join Play Marin and our sponsor, Marin Magazine, for a grown-ups only Back to the 90's Players Night, which will put the FUN in fundraiser!

When: Saturday, April 29 from 6-11 pm Where: 2320 Marinship Way, Sausalito, CA

More info HERE

Are you looking for a new creative outlet to express yourself or deepen your creativity? If so, join Opening the World for an expressive, social, emotional art class taught by photographer and artist, Marianne Owens. Marianne creates community art programs that bring the experience of what art can be.

When: Monday, April 24th,2023

Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Where: 1510 Mission Ave San Rafael ( enter on Mission Ave -walk through the parking lot )

Ages: 14-18

Cost: Free

Limited Space: RSVP Required

Snacks and drinks will be provided.

For more info and to register please contact (415) 419-9695 or info@openingtheworld.org

Celebrate Earth Day and help create a better world at Earth Day Marin, a free community event on Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 at the Mill Valley Community Center!

You will see some amazing art, hear inspiring talks, play fun games and enjoy good music at this special community event. And you will learn about actions we can take to save ourselves and our planet, such as: use clean energy, eat sustainably, live lightly and build healthy communities.

Earth Day Marin invites people of all ages to join playful activities to imagine a more just and sustainable world -- and to take action to make it happen.

Register here for FREE!

One of the many takeaways of the long overdue reckoning around equity in the past two years has been a heightened willingness of Mill Valley’s leaders, residents and volunteers to step up and be better neighbors.

A wide range of organizations are coming together once again to spearhead a Community Wide Clean Up in Marin City on Friday, April 22, 9am-3pm. Clean Mill Valley is joining Marin’s Performing Stars, the Marin Housing Authority (MHA), Golden Gate Village, the Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (MCSTOPPP), the Conservation Corps North Bay, along with a number of other local and county agencies and community partners.

“These are heavy lifting days and are probably not appropriate for young children but more likely high school students and those who can do some heavy lifting,” says Clean MV co-founder Joan Murray says. “We’ll be weeding around the three playgrounds and in other areas, spreading mulch and carrying waste and other discarded goods to debris boxes and could use your help. Remember to bring garden gloves. We’ll be working at the direction of the Marin Housing Authority.”

“Whatever amount of time that people can contribute would be helpful,” Murray says. “Even being there for a half-hour makes a big difference. We’ll meet at the first playground adjacent to Building #1 on Drake Avenue.

Meet at the lot of 100 Drake Avenue in Marin City.

MARIN CITY'S BLACK COMMUNITY BATTLES AGAINST POWER, MONEY, AND POLITICS FOR 80 YEARS. 

A Brand New Start...This Is Home documents Marin City’s founding as a shipbuilding community during WWII, as workers migrated from the American South & Midwest to create Marin County’s only Black enclave. This book focuses mainly on housing and social challenges from 1942 to the present day, showing the community’s fierce strength and resilience.

Felecia Gaston is the Founder & Executive Director of Performing Stars, a non-profit organization, founded in 1990, to provide enrichment programs for low-income children, families and communities. The organization has transformed the lives of 3,000 of youth for over a period of 32 years.

MORE INFO HERE