I’m so glad I found your wordpress and that you’re leading a panel at La Casa de Maria in January in Santa Barbara, CA. I became heavily involved in the Baltimore riots as some of my friends were advocating violence and I was trying to dialogue between minorities and police so that both could achieve their objectives peacefully as much as possible. My “adopted Dad” is a retired LAPD police officer and I worked closely with police when I worked in residence life for Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, CA. I was very concerned about the issues minorities were facing and the backlash against police departments that occurred during the riots and afterwards. There has to be a better way! I think you have it. After that experience, I gradually discerned a call to enter Catholic religious life after recovering from anxiety and depression due to workplace bullying. I am beginning two years of volunteer corps service with the Catholic Sisters in San Antonio, Texas, before entering my religious community in CA. I hope to become a police chaplain so that I can provide spiritual care to the public involved in emergencies and to police officers who might talk to a chaplain but may be unwilling to talk to psych. I’m also on the board for a new non-profit, Boots Up! that will provide additional services to veterans re-entering civilian life and the workforce, and I look forward to becoming a peer advocate for people with mental health issues through NAMI. I have an MA degree in Ethics from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, and I’m also a disability advocate who has a disability and mental health issues. I look forward to learning more about your work!