05/13/2026
Today, more than 50 frontline healers from across Lake County and northern Cook County gathered at Arden Shore for the inaugural Frontline Healers Plรกtica โ a healing-centered space rooted in reflection, connection, culture, and collective care.
This gathering was shaped through collaboration with partners from the National Compadres Network, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation, The Lake County Community Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and community leaders across sectors who recognized the growing strain being carried by those serving immigrant families and communities.
Together with participants from behavioral health, child welfare, healthcare, legal advocacy, philanthropy, and community-based organizations, we created space to pause, reconnect, and honor the weight of the work carried every day in service of others.
Guided in partnership with the National Compadres Network and grounded in the philosophy of La Cultura Cura โ Culture Heals โ the gathering reminded us that healing and resilience do not happen in isolation. They happen in community.
We are deeply grateful to every participant who showed up fully and helped shape this space with honesty, vulnerability, wisdom, and hope.
Thank you as well to the Lake County Community Foundation and Casey Family Programs for helping create the conditions for this space.
For those who hold others โ may you be held, too. ๐ฆ