Featured photo: Maicee Hill, peer recovery coach for the Serenity House and Dr. Tiffany Quinn, a life coach and missionary at Bountiful Love Church of God in Christ, prepare to help lead a community healing circle at ML King Peace Garden,
Written by Tanya Terry
Jesus is a healer-no doubt-but there’s a work we often have to do to receive our healing, according to Dr. Tiffany Quinn.
Quinn works as a life coach and is a missionary at Bountiful Love Church of God in Christ.
As part of the Traditional Flint Juneteenth Celebration, a community healing circle was formed at MLK Peace Garden.
“All things are possible through God if we believe by faith,” Quinn said after a prayer at the beginning of the event.
Quinn told others present for healing for their bodies, minds, emotions and communities when she started her self -care journey, it was “always about medicine.” Yet, Quinn expressed her belief in the body healing itself. She will be 59 in December and is not taking any medicine.
Quinn revealed it took her a long time to get into the process of being mindful and slowing her mind down.
“When it was Monday, I thought it was Friday,” she stated.
Community Leader DeWaun Robinson pointed out when we do activity after activity then try to sleep, we don’t sleep well.
“We understand pause,” he stated, noting also the importance of pausing from constant activity.
President of the Flint Association of Black Social Workers Marjorie Evans led an exercise in pausing and asked those present to listen to themselves breathing.
Minister Shearese Stapleton, executive director of Mothers of Joy Institute For Parenting and Family Wellness walked around the circle of community members, singing “Walk with Me Lord,” which has been sang by Mahalia Jackson and many others, “I Need You To Survive” which has been sang by Hezekiah Walker and “Family Reunion,” which has been sang by the O’Jays.
Stapleton said she walked around the circle because we’re responsible for one another.
Tara Moreno-Wallen, director and founder of Serenity House of Flint explained “holistic” meant viewing something as a whole rather than its parts: mental, physical and emotional included.
Pastor Freelon Threlkeld told participants community members need to be involved politically. He said this includes those of the Black community.
Shanda Jack, who co-owns The Self Care Company with Tiffany Alston, led an exercise in letting go. Participants were asked to recall what they need to let go of, breathe deeply if it was too hard to think about and leave a flower representing the thing they were letting go on a table in the middle of the circle.
