PRESS KIT

HOLISTIC LIFE FOUNDATION OVERVIEW 3VisionMissionBackground

PROGRAMS 4The Mindful Moment ProgramHolistic Me

PROGRAMS cont. 5Baltimore City School PoliceDrug RehabJuvenile JailWorkforce DevelopmentMentoringResidency Program

FACT SHEET 6

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & FOUNDATIONS 7

MEDIA 8

CONTACT INFORMATION 9

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Vision:

The Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) seeks to improve social, community, educational and emotional outcomes in low-income, underserved communities by providing multi-faceted programming (including yoga, mindfulness, and human and environmental health) that empowers youth, families, and adults.

Mission:

The Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) is a Baltimore-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to nurturing the wellness of children and adults in underserved communities. Through a comprehensive approach which helps children develop their inner lives through yoga, mindfulness, and self-care HLF demonstrates deep commitment to learning, community, and stewardship of the environment. HLF is also committed to developing high-quality evidence based programs and curriculum to improve community well-being.

Organizational Background:

Since 2001, The Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) has provided yoga and mindfulness based programming for underserved residents in the Baltimore community and beyond. Through a comprehensive approach which helps children develop their inner lives through yoga, mindfulness, and self-care, HLF demonstrates deep commitment to learning, community, and stewardship of the environment. Since its inception, HLF has facilitated yoga, mindfulness, and environmental based programs for youth in schools, recreation centers, group homes, the Baltimore Juvenile Detention Center, and other venues, across the nation and internationally. HLF has facilitated adult programs in many different settings, including drug treatment centers, mental illness facilities, colleges, senior centers, schools, corporations, and wellness centers across the nation. HLF is also committed to developing high-quality evidence-based programs and curriculum to improve community well-being in urban, rural, private and public sectors.

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The Mindful Moment Program

This enables students to integrate mindfulness into their daily school

lives by beginning and closing the day with techniques for calming the

body and mind, using breathing techniques, mindfulness practices, and

mediation. Throughout the day, students may be referred by

themselves or by teachers to visit the Mindful Moment Room, where

HLF staff members actively listen to students and provide breathing and

meditation techniques that will support emotional self-regulation and

focus in the classroom.

Holistic Me:

After School Program

Our flagship after school program, Holistic Me, completed its 15th year

of service. We provide yoga and mindfulness instruction, academic

tutoring, and enrichment activities to 170 Pre-K to 5th graders after

school each day.

Summer Camp

For the second year in a row, we expanded our Holistic Me after school program into a 4-week Summer

Camp at Robert W. Coleman. The Holistic Me Summer Camp provided enrichment

activities, yoga, and healthy meals for 123 Baltimore youth. The program allowed for

continuation of the great work done at Coleman throughout the year, as well as a

positive place for kids to spend their summer days.

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“The Holistic Life Foundation, led by Andy Gonzalez, Atman Smith, and Ali Smith, is doing some of the most positively transformative work happening in our country’s inner cities. While delivering an assortment of after school, mentoring, environmental education, and leadership training programs, HLF is changing the lives of the youth in their Baltimore neighborhood using a combination of yoga, mindfulness, and pure love. And their work doesn’t stop when the young people leave school, as HLF’s teacher training prepares graduates to deliver the HLF programs to other schools and neighborhoods. Andy, Atman, and Ali’s work should be a model for communities across the country.”—James GimianPublisher, Mindful Magazine and www.mindful.org

PROGRAMS cont.PROGRAMS

Baltimore City Public School Police

The Holistic Life Foundation has conducted multiple day

long trainings and currently leads weekly yoga and

mindfulness classes to Baltimore City Public School Police.

Drug Rehab

The Holistic Life Foundation has conducted mindfulness

sessions at numerous Drug Rehab locations around

Baltimore City.

Juvenile Jail

The Holistic Life Foundation leads weekly yoga and

mindfulness classes twice a week to the youth at the

Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center.

Workforce Development

In its fifth year, the Workforce Development program

provides yoga and mindfulness facilitation training, as well

as long-lasting life and job skills to future Holistic Life

Foundation instructors.

Mentoring

The Holistic Life Foundation mentors youth after they exit the after school program and provides them with support throughout their middle and high school years to prepare them for college and/or employment.Residency Program

The Holistic Life Foundation has been facilitating our

residency program for the past seven years at Lincoln

Elementary in Madison, Wisconsin. Students not only

learned Yoga postures and Mindfulness techniques during

the week, but they also learned how to teach Yoga and

Mindfulness to their classmates.

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SPOTLIGHT: Historic Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary School

The Holistic Life Foundation conducts yoga/mindfulness classes twice per week at Historic Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary School during its after school hours. The program began in February and will run through the entire school year making an impact on over 50 children. HLF staff teaches yoga and mindfulness techniques to students that they can incorporate into their lives to better manage stress and anger, to improve their focus and concentration, and to regulate and control their emotions.

The children at the Historic Samuel Coleridge Taylor are a joy to work with! BRILLIANT YOUNG MINDS IN THE MAKING! - (Alaetra Smallwood, HLF Staff)

I love the connection with the kids and really enjoy our yoga classes outside on field day on Thursdays. I'm really joyful not only in working for HLF, but also in being able to partner up with such a great organization! Working with the program coordinator and kids at HSCT is a pleasure and really gives a sense of tackling community issues in Baltimore! - (Ross Robinson, HLF Staff

PROGRAMS cont.

Today the foundation’s programs reach more than 18 schools in Baltimore city, over 20,000 kids

all over the nation, and serves adults in corporate boardrooms, drug rehab centers, mental

health facilities, and the justice system. 

HLF conducted the first ever randomized control trial study on Mindfulness and youth with

Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public and Penn State’s Prevention Research Center.

We have offered our Youth, Yoga & Mindfulness Training (5th year) and Bring Your Meditation

into Your Life Retreat (2nd year) at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

We continue to lead our Care for Caregivers Retreat (3rd year) with Sharon Salzberg at the

Garrison Institute.

We have received Presidential Environmental Youth Awards for outstanding youth

environmental stewardship from President Obama

Leading over 30 Baltimore City Public School Police Officers in a trauma and mindfulness training

# of Children served through Holistic Me

Program

# of Children served through

Mindful Moment Program

# of teachers served through trainings and

programs

# of Children served through HLF programs

# of Baltimore youth employed as instructors in

Baltimore Community

170 Daily 2500 Daily 500 7500 Weekly 40

People Who Care For People Retreat Garrison Institute, New York

Speaking Engagements

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FACT SHEET

Mindfulness Training for the University of Maryland School of Social Work, College Park

Harvard School of Education Mindfulness in Education

Art and Science of Mindful Living Symposium, Middlebury College, Vermont

Mindfulness training with faculty and students at Dartmouth, New Hampshire

Mindfulness session at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania

Loyola University of Maryland’s Colloquium Speaker Series

Keynote speakers at Mindfulness Conference at Howard University, Maryland

Mindfulness training with faculty at Cumberland College, Maryland

Yoga and Meditation sessions at West Chester University, Pennsylvania

2 day speaking engagement with president and the heads of student-led organizations at

Frostburg University, Maryland

Contemplative Practices for a Technological Society keynote at Virginia Tech University

Mindfulness Session at the City College of New York

Foundations that Support HLF

The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund The Rockefeller Foundation The 1440 Foundation The Eagle and the Hawk Foundation The Jim and Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation Abell Foundation Goldseker Foundation France-Merrick Foundation Thalheimer Foundation The Aaron and Lillie Straus Foundation The Family League of Baltimore Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation

Connect

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MEDIA

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & FOUNDATIONS

Throughout 2016,

HLF’s Founders, Ali

and Atman Smith

and Andres

Gonzalez used

their expertise to

educate others

about yoga and

mindfulness, with

an emphasis on

working with

urban youth.

Holistic Life Foundation, Inc. (facebook.com/HolisticLifeFoundation)

@HLFINC (twitter.com/hlfinc)

Holistic Life Foundation (youtube.com/HolisticLifeFoundation)

@HLFINC (Instagram.com/holisticlifefoundation)

Video

TEDxCharlottesville- Breathing Love into Communities

NBC News- Making a Difference Segment

Breathing Life Into Communities

CBS This Morning- Students get Meditation, not Detention

The Doctors- Should Meditation Replace Detention in Schools?

Print

Mindful Magazine Article April 3, 2013

Yoga Journal Article May 5, 2015

O the Oprah Magazine August 2016

CNN November 8, 2016

Washington Post November 13, 2016

PBS NewsHour February 21, 2017

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Holistic Life Foundation, Inc.

Andres Gonzalez

andres@hlfinc.org

2601 N. Howard Street,

Suite 130

Baltimore, MD 21218

410-235-4300 – phone

410-235-4305 – fax

www.hlfinc.org

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HAVE A MOMENT?

MAKE IT MINDFUL.