Healing Together: A Community Invitation

I was born into a rich tapestry of life, the youngest of my father’s four children and my mother’s ninth. My father and I moved to Harlem in 2002, and it was here that the community nurtured me — mothers, neighbors, and teachers showed me how to share, begin anew, and bloom.

I was sensitive, shy around strangers, and a chatterbox with those I knew. School felt like another home, and I adored my elders like my titis and tios. Despite these blessings, I struggled to embrace my true Self and often felt lonely as my father’s only daughter.

Grief first found me when I lost my abuela. Her funeral sparked my first conversation with the sky — I wanted to know why. This moment opened me to a deeper understanding of the spiritual connections that would shape my life, even though I couldn’t fully grasp it at the time.

At fourteen, I began working as a peer leader, educating others on reproductive health. This role helped me discover my complexity and deepened my commitment to service, laying the foundation for my future work in birthwork. But at seventeen, I faced grief again when my father’s spirit transitioned from lung cancer. Navigating early adulthood alone was challenging, and the truth is, I am still learning because grief is always present.

At first, the mundane felt trivial. I was enraged, shaken in faith, and overwhelmed by hopelessness. Everything had shifted, and unhealthy relationships held me underwater as friends drifted away. I was navigating a world completely changed by loss.

A year later, I began college, where grief continued to intensify with each adjustment. At my lowest, I turned to Western medicine for support, but it wasn’t until I turned to ancestral veneration, honoring the vast spiritual framework of my lineage, that I began to heal. 

During my time abroad, I saw the world through my ancestors' eyes and mine. I remained open to new worlds, seeing grief as rebirth and travel as possibility. Strangers became reflectors, consciousness became a shared spirit, and as bell hooks says, love as a political act.

Upon returning to the States, I sought support from a community healer who helped me reconnect with my body, particularly my menstrual cycle. I thank her for leading me back to myself once more. 

Since then, I have dedicated myself to practicing the sacred medicines passed down from my foremothers and fathers. Grounded in interconnectedness, my spiritual framework allows me to connect with God in many ways. Reiki, as a tool for balance, honors both the scientific wisdom of time and space and the traditions preserved through ancient practices. These teachings guide my support for women, families, and our shared journey through struggle and healing, fragmentation, and unity.

My story weaves together the experiences of community support, transformation, grief, reconnection, and honoring tradition. It reflects personal growth and highlights the complexities involved, uncovering the shared responsibilities of women and men, students and teachers, and both youth leaders and elders.

As a full-spectrum doula, I meet families where they are, offering support and guidance as they navigate the profound transitions of birth, loss, and life itself. I merge ancestral wisdom with modern practices, ensuring that each family I serve feels seen, heard, and loved. Together, we birth new possibilities, rooted in the strength of our shared history and the Love that binds us all.