PLAYIt starts and ends with oneself
Creating safety within oneself begins by cultivating self-awareness and honoring your emotions without judgment. It involves setting healthy boundaries, practicing self-compassion, and nurturing a sense of inner trust that you can meet life's challenges with resilience and care.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
Community safety
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
Being one's authentic self begins with cultivating a sense of safety within. When I create that internal safety—through self-acceptance, compassion, and emotional honesty—I naturally extend a sense of safety to others. True inner safety requires gently untangling from the patterns of childhood trauma, allowing past pain to inform growth without letting it define who I am in the world.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
Inner Haven is an 8-week trauma-informed healing program designed to help individuals cultivate internal safety through emotional honesty, self-compassion, and somatic regulation. Led by one facilitator and a support staff, the program centers Black, Brown, and low-income participants impacted by trauma. Each week includes healing circles, body-based grounding practices, and reflective exercises to support inner child healing and authentic selfhood. When people feel safe within themselves, they naturally extend that safety to others—creating healthier families and communities. With a $75,000 budget, Inner Haven covers facilitation, venue, participant stipends, materials, and evaluation. The program will serve 20 people and lay the foundation for future expansion, including youth and virtual offerings. Participants will leave with tools for regulation, deeper self-awareness, and a stronger sense of belonging. Inner Haven doesn’t just offer support—it invites people back home to themselves.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
If Inner Haven is successful, Los Angeles County will have more emotionally grounded individuals who are better equipped to navigate stress, relationships, and community life. Healing becomes accessible, not just clinical—rooted in culture, connection, and safety. Families communicate with more care, cycles of trauma begin to break, and a ripple effect of emotional wellness spreads across neighborhoods. Communities feel safer because people feel safer within themselves.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 20
Indirect Impact: 200