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Root Cause Collective

@therootcrew

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Building Ecosystems of Care for the Whole Being: Mental Health. Fitness & Nutrition. Spiritual Health. Parental Health. Organizational Health.

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All year, The Root Wellness Center has been planting seeds of healing.

Every gathering, every cohort, every ritual has been a reminder that healing is not an individual act. It’s something we do in community, in relationship, in rhythm with the earth and our ancestors. 🌍✨

The foundation is set, now help us build our dream. We’re working to build a North Carolina based Ecowomanist health and healing hub that draws from the rich tapestry of Black ancestral traditions, spiritual healing practices, and collective community stewardship practices that heal the land and its people simultaneously.

If this vision moves you, we invite you to donate.

Your contribution keeps our programs free, helps us reach more community members, and fuels our long-term vision: a health and healing justice hub where collective care, ancestral wisdom, nature, and research come together to build intergenerational wellness.

🌱 Give today at the link in our bio.

#HealingJustice #Healing #Ecowomanism #RootWellnessCenter #TheRootCrew taken in North Carolina by @therootcrew

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10 months ago

To every donor, client, referral, follower and friend... Thank you for helping us create safe spaces for healing this year! May you have the strength and courage to create safe spaces this holiday and may your New Year be overflowing with intimate connection to authentic community.

So much gratitude to @chazreidfilms
for capturing our Black Farm Healing Justice Event, @elijahs_farm for hosting us and @mayyadda for creating a masterpiece of a song that has become our anthem this year!

#healingjustice #mentalhealth #ecojustice #ecowomanism #spiritualhealing #community #happyholidays by @therootcrew

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4 years ago

We are just over a month out from election day on Tuesday, November 3, but early voting has already begun in many states.

Although the president isn’t on the ballot this year, so many causes that affect our day-to-day life are.

At @ficpfmovement's regional gathering in Chicago, AW Shields was moved by the Vote in Her Honor Campaign, an invitation from @il_arj to vote in the honor of the 1,446 women in the Illinois Department of Corrections who are unable to vote in the upcoming elections due to disenfranchisement as a result of their incarceration.

Consider voting in Her Honor this election season and lift up the name of one of these women who cannot cast their own ballot by visiting ILARJ.org/pledge. ✨

You do not have to live in Illinois to participate. You vote. She counts. Take the pledge. 💚

#VoteInHerHonor #Abolition #Wellness #ElectionSeason by @therootcrew

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a day ago

Last month, we gathered in Oakland with participants in @dream.corps Oakland Area Green Reentry program, which connects justice-impacted people to green career training and job opportunities.

Over the program’s eight weeks, Root Cause founder AW Shields and trauma recovery coach, Kia Davis, led virtual wellness workshops and group coaching sessions, where participants dug into emotional boundaries, impostor syndrome, and balancing reentry, work, family, and personal wellbeing.

To close it out, the group came together in person for an identity-based ritual honoring each participant’s journey through the program. They reflected on the gifts they bring to every community they’re part of, and how to care for their own wellbeing in the midst serving others.

Mental health tools should feel practical, accessible, and connected to people’s real lives. This is especially true for folks stepping into new roles, environments, and chapters. Sharing this space with participants as they closed one chapter and opened another was an honor.

Shoutout to the entire Dream.org team for the intentionality they brought to every detail, from program content to the folks in the room. We can’t wait to work together again. ✨

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness taken in Oakland, California by @therootcrew

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7 days ago

Our team touched down in San Juan, Puerto Rico for @galaxy_gives’ Leader Fellowship Gathering and left with our spirits full. ✨

While there, AW Shields moderated “The Conversations We Avoid: Child Sexual Abuse, Community Safety, and New Possibilities for Change.” This was a courageous conversation about accountability, healing, and prevention without relying on punishment or prisons, because holding someone accountable and recognizing their humanity isn’t mutually exclusive.

José Humphreys and Chalice Overy also hosted the first in a series of Galaxy Fellows wellness sessions, “Lead Free: Nurturing Our Light Through Personal Transformation for Collective Liberation.” This session invited fellows into reflection, ancestral connection, and what it means to care for ourselves while leading with purpose.
Meeting in Puerto Rico, the site of Galaxy’s inaugural fellowship convening, and the oldest active colony in the world, added weight and power to it all. The island’s culture and resistance were the backdrop for real connection and healing.

This is the kind of work we love doing – facilitation, wellness design, and space-holding rooted in liberation. If your organization is building something similar, visit the link in our bio and let’s chat.

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness taken in San Juan, Puerto Rico by @therootcrew

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a month ago

We were honored to be in the room at FICPFM’s “Still Rising: 15 Years of Courage, Care and Change” regional convening in Chicago, where our founder AW Shields moderated a panel on Moving Forward After Experiencing Loss & Developing Leaders. This panel served as a conversation about what it means to keep organizing, building, and leading while carrying grief and transition.

AW opened the panel with this:

“Today we are going to explore what it means to keep building, organizing, leading and dreaming in the midst of grief, transitions, and challenges. With all that we are experiencing, FICPFM knew it was imperative that we think deeply about how to develop leaders in real time while still carrying personal and collective loss, and so I am honored to moderate this necessary conversation and hold space for the rich and raw revelations that grace us today.”

She was joined by three leaders doing this work in their own communities: Bridgette Simpson of Barred Business, Marlon Chamberlain of the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, and Adam Procell of Paradigm Shyft.

This is what it looks like to be in community with movement leaders and abolitionists, people carrying grief and vision at the same time, still showing up for each other and for the work. We’re still sitting with everything that was shared.

@ficpfmovement thank you for the space and the invitation.

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness #Abolition by @therootcrew

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2 months ago

The Our Ancestors’ Garden cohort application has been extended! 🌱

OAG is a spiritual wellness cohort rooted in Black Liberation Theology, Ecowomanist, and Afro-Indigenous traditions.

Applications are open for ONE MORE WEEK. They close Monday, July 20.

We can’t wait to meet you and your family. Apply at the link in our bio!

#healingjustice #wellness #decolonizingwellness #familyhealth #raleighnc taken in Durham, North Carolina by @therootcrew

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3 months ago

Last month, Root Wellness Center attended the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 29th Biennial Session. And we walked away so full.

The theme was Revive. Reset. Resist., and we felt every word of it.

Toni Davis, led two sessions: a deep dive into our Whole Body Health program, which supports older adults through movement and nutrition, and a morning movement practice intentionally designed to be accessible and affirming for all bodies.

AW Shields facilitated a conversation that brought four generations — Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z — into the same room to speak, listen, and genuinely be heard.

What we didn’t anticipate was just how much the event would feel like a homecoming. We saw old friends who’ve become family and new faces that felt familiar. This was truly a space where Black Disciples could exhale, celebrate, and be in community.

We are deeply grateful to National Convocation for holding that kind of space. It was such a gift to be in attendance.

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness taken in Dallas, Texas by @therootcrew

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3 months ago

Earlier this month, we had the privilege of supporting @dream.corps first ever Green Reentry Incubator.

The program breaks cycles of incarceration and opens doors to the clean energy economy. We led our Lead Free mental health and wellness workshop for graduates stepping into green jobs and environmental justice careers and led an identity based ritual that honored participants’ journey through the 8‑week program.

We explored the realities of balancing employment, re‑entry, family responsibilities, and personal wellbeing. We also shared simple, practical tools for managing stress, and staying motivated and confident while approaching unfamiliar tasks or environments with curiosity, self‑advocacy, and grounded decision‑making.

Mental health tools should feel practical. Accessible. Connected to people’s real lives, especially folks stepping into new roles, environments, and chapters. That’s what we came to do, and the room confirmed we were on the right track.

Shoutout to the entire Dream.org team for the intentionality they brought to every detail, from program content to the folks in the room. We can’t wait to work together again. ✨

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness taken in Charlotte, North Carolina by @therootcrew

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3 months ago

This Father’s Day, we’re celebrating Chris, a father, a son, and AW’s brother, who’s showing us what it looks like to heal out loud.

“Your kids are watching you heal, so they can do the same.” 🌱

Our Ancestors’ Garden is a free 12-week program for caregivers and their kids (ages 3-12) in the Raleigh-Durham area, rooted in Black healing traditions and built for families ready to heal, not just survive.

Applications close July 12th and spots are limited. Link in bio. Don’t wait. 🔗

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness by @therootcrew

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3 months ago

We’ve been quietly building something.

Our Ancestors’ Garden is officially accepting applications for our inaugural cohort.

This is a free, 12-week caregiver and child wellness program. It was built for parents and caregivers raising children ages 3–12 wanting to teach their children earth-honoring values, rooted in Black spirituality and Afro-Indigenous traditions.

If you’re drawn to liberation-centered approaches to raising children, or if any part of your family has been impacted by incarceration, this cohort is a great fit for you.

To learn more and apply, visit the link in our bio! taken in Durham, North Carolina by @therootcrew

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4 months ago

Applications are open for Our Ancestors’ Garden, our inaugural caregiver and child wellness cohort rooted in Black, Ecowomanist, and Afro-Indigenous healing traditions.

This is a free, 12-week program for families raising children ages 3–12 in or near the Raleigh-Durham Triangle. If incarceration, trauma, or gender-based violence has touched your life, this space was specially built with you in mind.

Spots are limited. Applications close July 20.

✅ Link in bio to apply or learn more.  ✅ Tag or send this to a caregiver who needs it.

#HealingJustice #RootCauseCollective #LiberationWork #DecolonizingWellness taken in Raleigh ,NC by @therootcrew

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4 months ago