About

Mission Statement:

We strive to promote compassion within individuals, families and the entire Santa Cruz community. By creating awareness of our common humanity and fostering connections between citizens and organizations, we seek to make Santa Cruz a more prosperous, cohesive and compassionate place.

We seek to achieve this mission by:
• Creating a community space for compassionate listening and speaking
between groups and individuals whose opinions differ
• Taking compassionate action in addressing the human and environmental challenges
Santa Cruz faces
• Providing opportunities to learn and share information about the benefits
of compassion and empathy in creating a safe and healthy community

Some activities and events we are planning…
• Incoming SC Mayor Don Lane announces the year of compassionate action (December 2014)
• Martin Luther Kind Day of Service—Launch campaign for 2015 pledges of Voluntary Service (January 2015)
• Speaker on the Science of Compassion
• Community workshops on compassionate listening and speaking
• Community and neighborhood roundtables seeking new ways to converse about difficult community issues
(including World Café events)
• First Friday Art Tour will dedicate one month to celebrating compassion and empathy through the arts
• Santa Cruz City Council meetings highlight compassionate action throughout the year
• UCSC day of compassionate service in the community
• Celebration and elevation of existing compassionate community events including: The Human Race, Cesar
Chavez Day, Serve the Bay, Coastal Cleanup Day, Make a Difference Day and many more (we’d love to include
your event, too!)
• Prayer breakfast to unite the community in compassion