Thursday, April 30 - TODAY!
3-4pm | Zoom
Audience: UIC Students

May 1st is May Day! Take a break from finals to lift up yourself and other survivors’ work, advocacy, and leadership.

HEALS: Healing for Engagement, Action, & Leadership by Survivors is a drop-in gathering space for UIC students who have experienced gender-based violence (domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and family abuse) and those who support them.

[ID: A list of four events on a light blue background. At the top is "HEALS Community for Survivors of Sexual & Domestic Violence" in white text on a purple background, with a white heart and a teal awareness ribbon to its left.]

Tuesday, May 5 - Friday, May 8
10am - 4pm | 1700 Student Services Building
Audience: UIC Students, Staff, Faculty

Need a study break? Stop by WLRC for snacks and de-stress activities!

- Play a board game
- Read a book in our feminist library
- Make art or do some mindful coloring
- Listen to music
- Grab a yummy treat and drink
- Chill on our comfy armchairs & sofas

Please note: This is not a quiet study space.

[ID: Six circles with kids engaged in various activities, including playing games, reading a book, making art, listening to music, grabbing a snack, and chilling. Above them is an anthropomorphized brain in a zen pose. At the top and bottom are details about the Finals Fuel event.]

Whether you are in your first semester or getting ready to graduate, these are tiring, stressful days. Remember, it feels hard because it is hard. If you are building a safety plan or healing from trauma, success may look different right now. You are valuable no matter what your transcript looks like, and you don’t have to do this alone. Please be gentle with yourself and ask for the support you need!

If you need help studying, writing, or getting unstuck, check out these tips:

Reach out for academic support!

You’ve got this!

[ID: Three people lined up in front of one another. The first two hold books up in front of their faces. The third has their right hand raised with two question marks floating above their head.]

Meet Nate Chang Sawyer, CCUSC Community Mental Health Intern!

As the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) community mental health intern, Nate offers different kinds of 1:1 student support including but not limited to:

- mental health/therapeutic support
- connections to resources and mutual aid, and
- advocacy support while navigating institutional barriers and academic ableism.

As a Taiwanese-American graduate student with lived experience of mental illness and psychiatric disability, Nate’s work is centered on collaborating with fellow students to imagine and build structures of collective care inside the university.

There are no costs or session caps. Meetings can be scheduled via email (nsawy@uic.edu) for both in-person and remote. Nate’s office is in 4080 BSB.

[ID: Info about services provided by CCUSC Community Mental Health Intern Nate Chang Sawyer.]

As the academic year progresses and many of you and your families are being impacted by the actions of ICE and their abductions, WLRC and the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) want to underline our ongoing support to you all. Remember that there are multiple pillars on campus to help you stay resolute in completing your studies.

As you continue to fight the good fight, know that you are not alone in the urgency you are feeling. Our space is open to study, gather in community, and check in with

staff. We are here to support your academic success through the end of the semester and beyond. We will continue to find courage in our solidarity and community, fight injustice, and build spaces of love and care.

Additional Campus Resources:

[ID: "Persevering through the Semester and Beyond: A message of support for our students" surrounded by monarch butterflies and school supplies, all on a purple background.]

As summer approaches, our team is sharing our top recommendations for good reads & fun activities! 

Thank you for a great year!

Books

Music

Podcasts

Movies

TV Shows

Activities & Places to Visit

[ID: "Hello Summer" in beige text on top of a sun with yellow, orange, light blue, and salmon rays emanating from it.]

Survivors, we are here for you!

Please reach out to the Campus Advocacy Network any time you need support, information, resources, answers, and/or advocacy related to safety, healing, or gender-based violence (sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, stalking, harassment, family abuse).

Our services are free, confidential, and open to all members of the UIC community.

To connect with an advocate:

We can help you

We're also here for allies! Please reach out to us if you are in a role where you may need to support survivors on campus (instructors, mentors, advisors, student leaders, friends, or colleagues) or have questions about resources, mandated reporting, and more. 

[ID: A grey t-shirt with "Someone you love is a survivor" painted on it in red and white. Red and black hearts are scattered around the words.]

If you are a student leader, instructor, or supervisor, please consider inviting CAN to speak to your class through our Don’t Cancel Your Class! program, or request a training for your department, college, student organization, or other campus unit. 

[ID: Three students participating in a dating timeline activity on a tabletop.]

Faculty, please include info about us in your curriculum and syllabus:

"If you have experienced sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, stalking, or harassment, there is help available. The Campus Advocacy Network provides free and confidential services to UIC students, faculty, and staff who have experienced or are experiencing interpersonal violence. 

Pregnant and parenting students are also welcome to contact CAN for resources, information, and support.

If you would like to speak with an advocate, please email CAN at can-appointment@uic.edu, call (312) 413-8206 and leave a voicemail message, text (312) 488-9784, or fill out CAN's Ask An Advocate form online at can.uic.edu/ask. To learn more, visit CAN's website at can.uic.edu."

[ID: A CAN team member standing next to a presentation screen and facilitating a discussion on how to respond to a disclosure of gender-based violence.]

UIC Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement: Urban Public Policy Fellowship
Apply by May 3
Provides seminars covering public policy-making, advocacy, community development, and service provision. Open to undergraduate students from all academic areas.

UIC United Faculty: Apply for the Student Fast Fund
Provides grants of up to $500 to students in emergency financial situations. 

UIC Vice Chancellor for Advancement: Tell Us about Faculty/Staff Who Changed Your Life
Submit by May 1
Who’s the one person at UIC who changed everything for you? The professor who pushed you further, the staff member who believed in you; the mentor whose advice still guides you today. Share your story to be featured in UIC Forward, the newsletter for alumni and friends of UIC.

UIC Asian American Resource and Cultural Center & KAN-WIN: 20/20-Hour Domestic Violence Training
Apply by May 18
This training prepares future volunteers & professionals to work in the field and directly with survivors. Participants will complete 20 hours of self-paced modules provided by the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV), followed by 20 hours of in-person training provided by KAN-WIN.

Survivors.org: Trauma-informed Yoga Workshop
Tuesdays | 6pm, Virtual
Offers survivors a free, virtual yoga practice that is gentle, grounding, and meets them where they're at.

UIC Counseling Center: Parenting Student Support Group
Thursdays | 12-1pm, Hybrid
Come as you are to connect, share experiences, and receive support from your peers. This support group is open to any UIC student who is a parent or caregiver in any way.

UIC Law Pro Bono Litigation Clinic: Free Name & Gender Marker Changes
Students assist transgender individuals with changing their names and identification documents, prepare necessary court documents, and appear in court on behalf of individuals at hearings. Includes court and document fees.

UIC Library: Upcoming Events
Check out events from the Undergraduate Engagement Program and other departments within the university library!

CAASE: Upcoming Events
The Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) addresses the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation through prevention, policy reform, community engagement, and legal service.

Resilience: Upcoming Events
Resilience works to end rape culture and empower sexual assault survivors through advocacy, education, and healing.

Check out what's happening at all our sibling centers this week!

Founded as a direct result of campus activism, the UIC Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) work collectively to produce knowledge and shift university culture, validating the multidimensional lived experiences of historically and currently excluded communities.

Informed by social justice frameworks, the Centers support students, faculty, and staff as they build a strong identity and sense of belonging, becoming change agents for a more just campus and society.

The Centers connect our communities and design intercultural and engaged-learning opportunities, student mentorship programs, cultural programming, advocacy, collaborative research, and community partnerships.

Through these efforts, the Centers expand the educational and transformational mission of UIC.

In light of actual and potential threats to our communities, both here at UIC and throughout the Chicago area, it's important to know what our rights are when interacting with immigration and other federal law enforcement officers.

WHAT TO DO

UIC's administration has shared official protocols for such interactions on campus.

If you need assistance or suspect ICE presence anywhere in IL, please call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) Hotline: 1-855-435-7693.

[ID: Details about ICIRR's Family Support Network Hotline: 855-435-7693.]

CAMPUS RESOURCES

UPCOMING TRAININGS & EVENTS

We are here for you and will continue to share resources and information with our campus community.

UIC Women’s Leadership and Resource Center
& Campus Advocacy Network

1700 Student Services Building (MC 363)
1200 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 413-1025 ∙ wlrc@uic.edu ∙ wlrc.uic.edu

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