WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHO WE're reaching
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VQ BLOG
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Together we can
prevent gun violence |
 By Cathy DeForest, Vision Quilt Founder Sometimes there is a moment when you realize the work you are doing matters. It is making a difference. You can see it, feel it, hear it in the voices of those around you. This is happening for me every time I walk into Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland, California.  Eighth grade students at work on their Vision Quilt panels. Over the past couple months, Vision Quilt has been working with 7th and 8th grade students and teachers at the school as they study gun violence. It is an extraordinary three-month expeditionary learning program, and Vision Quilt is honored to be a part of it.
We are sharing the mission of Vision Quilt with these young students and we are working with them as they made their own panels. Many of these students are exposed to gun violence on a regular basis and to hear them talk about it is powerful and sobering.
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 The 6th Biennial Book Fair took place at the amazing Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. Over 200 artists and vendors represented 23 countries from all over the world. By Cathy DeForest, Vision Quilt Founder Upon returning from the Codex Book Fair I feel energized, even exhilarated. With more than 200 exhibitors from 26 countries, Codex is one of the largest's book and fine arts fairs in the world. Lasting the better part of a week in Richmond, California, I was thrilled to be an exhibitor, surrounded by so many creative and inspiring people. It was also an opportunity to introduce the Vision Quilt to more people.  This mural at RYSE Youth Center depicts youth overcoming challenges through working together in Richmond, CA. With dozens of panels from the Vision Quilt on display, we shared the project's message with hundreds of people, and I met a number of inspiring individuals also working to prevent gun violence. Individuals like Francisco Rojas and Jed Rodriguez from Richmond's Ryse Youth Center, who work to create "safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power" with a focus on empowering young people to "love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities." Ryse Center staff visit hospitals to support gun violence victims and their families as well as offer young people counseling, academic support, job support and opportunities for artistic expression.
 We want to share a quick photo blog from the Women's March in Ashland, Oregon. There was a huge gathering for our little town-- a great feeling of community and support. Dozens of people chose to wear Vision Quilt panels as they marched. Gun violence is a women's issue!
 Vision Quilt Coordinator Lynne Prather of Oakland, California in front of the White House. Vision Quilt is joining the Women's March in our local communities and in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 21. We are marching with our mothers, daughters, sisters and our male friends to send a bold message to our new government that women's rights are human rights.
Why is it important for Vision Quilt to march? Because we know that gun violence is a women's issue. The statistics are staggering. Guns make it more likely that domestic abuse will turn into a violent situation. The presence of a gun increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent, according to a comprehensive report compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety.  We have exciting news to share! The Vision Quilt team has added a new tools section to our website and we believe this will help us reach many more people much more quickly. The online toolkit has many of the elements of our boxed toolkit in an easy to download format.
The online tools are organized in the same way our folders are set up in our regular VQ kit. Create Powerful Panels which includes workshop plans and handout materials. Engage Your Community features guidelines, strategies and information on volunteers. By Cathy DeForest, Vision Quilt Founder
As Vision Quilt works with communities to find solutions to gun violence, we do our best to stay informed. What’s at the core of the problem? Where is the need the greatest? How can we make a difference? What types of interventions are most likely to bring change? To gain perspective we scour research and news articles on a regular basis. Sadly, we find the stories about specific acts of gun violence every day. But, the ones we want to share are the pieces that help us understand why and help us focus on which efforts to prevent gun violence are working. As 2016 comes to a close, we'd like to share a few accomplishments from our first full year. We are so grateful you have chosen to support Vision Quilt and we are honored to do this work. We are looking ahead to 2017 with strength and optimism. But first, here are some of the things we are proud to share from 2016.
Let us begin by saying we now have more than 300 Vision Quilt panels created by people ages 3 to 96 including students, survivors, veterans, grandmothers, gun owners and incarcerated youth.
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