Dear gs community,
Our beloved "Chef" Yulanda Hendrix
h
as left this body and lifetime to soar onto the next part of her story. Yulanda passed away Friday night, September 15. It was very sudden and we are in a mix of heartbreak and shock.
Yulanda is the beloved partner of gs teacher and staff member, Lisa Thomas-Adeyemo, as well as a gs student, and chef who provided
love-filled and amazingly delicious food for all generative somatics and Strozzi Institute programs, as well as many other social justice gatherings, meetings, events. etc.
Yulanda was and is an intrinsic and elemental part of each and every community that she chose. We are full of stories - our stories of her and the stories that she told. We can hear her laugh like she is still in the room, and we can see the brilliance of her smile lighting up the darkness of this news. Our hearts are better from having known the fierceness of her love. Our bodies are stronger from the food that she fed us, made with those hands and motivated by that love. And our spirits will continue to glow brighter with the memory of her beautiful spirit.
Here at gs, as we continue in our grieving,
we are also focusing
our energy on supporting Lisa and her son Atoba.
They will need emotional and spiritual support over the next months and years. In this moment, we want to extend particular care and attention.
We
are pausing our
Get Centered: $30K in 30 days
fundraising effort and
will return to generating much needed support for gs in October.
Today, we invite you to join us by supporting Lisa and
helping to cover the financial costs
related to this monumental loss.
This is a call to show up for Lisa and help with the costs of memorial services and other costs that will surely arise. This is a call to hold them and care for them, to feed them and nourish them so they can grieve in all the ways they need to, and so that they can also have the freedom and space to celebrate Yulanda's life in every way that they want to. This is a call to rise Lisa and Atoba up and to honor the extraordinary legacy of Yulanda. Any support you can offer is appreciated, in any amount.
May Yulanda's life and memory be for a blessing.
With love,
Chris, Staci and everyone at gs.
