Community Agreements

At Avril Heals, we focus on :

• belonging

• support

• purpose

We are a culturally diverse organization that understands healing is not uniform. We take into consideration the many unique ways of processing trauma when constructing our community healing spaces. By focusing on community building as much as targeted psychoeducation, we offer various avenues of holistic healing. Wherever you are in your journey, feeling included in the right group can facilitate mental and emotional restoration, without being abrasive or invasive.

In addition to our healing circles that are structured by trauma-informed professionals, we hope to highlight the connection that community has to mental health.

If we are not the right community for you, please don’t be discouraged. We’re here to help you on your search. You can email info@avrilheals.org if you would like us to aid you in finding the right community— which makes all the difference.

At Avril Heals, we promote brave spaces over safe spaces, and hope to empower survivors to bravely continue their healing journeys. We understand that because every person has the potential to be harmed and cause harm, we cannot guarantee absolute safety in any space. Rather, we hope to create an environment that encourages us to be brave together in addressing harm, and work side by side to ensure accountability occurs through a transformative justice lens.

At Avril Heals, we understand that for accountability processes to take place, there is often a degree of labor required from the person who experienced harm to speak their truth. We hope to reduce that labor as much as possible.

We are here to support survivors through seeking accountability for any harm experienced, especially if experienced with us.

In this work, we are able to hold many truths at once. We understand that the accountability process may be complex at times, however we will work toward the harmed individual’s needs. This process is grounded in working toward a culture of transparency, not gatekeeping.

Grounding principles of the Avril Heals accountability process:

The harmed individual will be at the center of all accountability processes, not Avril Heals’ budget lines, or any fiscal responsibilities.

Accountability may look different for each harmed individual.

The accountability processes will move forward at a necessary pace that doesn’t push the process to move so quickly that further harm is caused, or too slowly that the harmed individual feels forgotten.

Avril Heals is actively working to create, and sustain, a brave and supportive workspace where workers are able to name harm and folks are able to work through and actively participate in an accountability process. We also want to ensure we are celebrating our team, giving them their flowers, and highlighting why we are grateful they’re here. Avril Heals’ leadership knows it is not criticism that makes a workplace successful, it is honest communication and trust. In order for an organization to be successful, we must move at the speed of trust in everything we do.

In our culture, we will work to provide our team with the tools to be able to provide feedback on a regular basis and in real-time. We understand that feedback is not something to be afraid of, it’s a tool to make us all better. We will also hold regular self-care events for team members as a space to rest and fill their cup.

Avril Heals will do this work with our mission, vision, and values at the center. Our company, our vital work, would not exist without the workers who make it possible. The Avril Heals team is extraordinary. As we move forward in creating a culture of accountability and harm reduction, we know this work will only be successful if we listen to our team, work to ensure we are not replicating systemic harm, and dedicate time and resources to transforming conditions to ensure if and when harm happens in our workplace we are prepared to name it and care for those who are impacted.