The Circle of Healing: The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center hosts healing groups for community

Newark, New Jersey — The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center (The HUBB ATC), a local community-based organization and member of the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative, is working to heal the community through its Men’s, Women’s and Teens Circle groups. The Collaborative, which is led by Opportunity Youth Network (OYN), is a collective impact approach to creating a school-to-workforce pipeline and provides members with support in data, strategy and fundraising.

The Healing Circle groups began thanks to The HUBB ATC’s partnership with Inside Circle, an organization started by Patrick Nolan at California's Folsom Prison. They have been successful nationally using the power of human connection found in peer-guided healing circles. They transform lives, positively impacting each system they touch by reducing violence inside and outside adult and juvenile prisons. These methods are helping youth and adults impacted by the criminal justice system heal, find purpose, and build meaningful lives of service. Founder of The HUBB ATC Al-Tariq Best was introduced to Inside Circle three years ago, received training from them, and is now partnering with them by implementing healing circles here in Newark.

“It’s about creating a safe container for people to do their own work—to work on themselves and utilize the other adults or youth to be a support system,” said Best. “The focus is on healing. It looks different for the men than it does for the women, and it looks different for the teens than it does for the adults, but ultimately, they all have the same goal: do your work so that we can be better versions of ourselves.”

While the Men’s Circle was created earlier this year, the Women’s Circle was recently started in September and the Teens Circle was added in. The Healing Circles draw in around 12-15 consistent community members for each meeting.

Program Manager at The HUBB ATC Monique Fletcher said, “The last time we had the Healing Circle, it really allowed us to realize we're not the only one. A lot of times, women, especially Black women, keep all of these things to ourselves. We used to think, ‘Whatever happens here stays here, whatever happens in our home stays in our home.’ But that circle allows us to know that we're not the only ones going through certain things. We're not the only ones with so much stuff on our shoulders. So we're really just allowed that release.”

Although the Healing Circle groups are a few months old, the staff at The HUBB ATC leading these cohorts already see a difference in the young people and adults they support.

Indo Neal, Operations Manager at The HUBB ATC said, “The benefit of the Healing Circles is that it bonds the people that are in it based on that shared experience. So when they are in there, it's kind of like being part of a class, like a freshman year class, and then you stay with the whole group until you graduate. We bond together based on shared experiences and shared advice.”

According to Best, The HUBB ATC hopes to expand the program and help people who are incarcerated heal and grow. But for now, they're preparing the next generation of facilitators. 

OYN Chief Program Officer Jasmine Joseph-Forman said, “Restorative practices are at the heart of any program working effectively with opportunity youth, and The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center is an example of how to incorporate these practices into direct services. We look forward to seeing even more young people do the work needed to transform themselves, their families, and their communities.”

To learn more about The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center and the programs it offers the community, visit https://www.thathubblife.org/.