Friends and Family : 2015

Congratulations to Vincent Atchity Named Executive Director of Equitas Foundation

“I am thrilled to be joining the Equitas Foundation,” said Vincent Atchity. “In the two short years the organization has been in operation, it has already laid a solid foundation through researching and elevating best practices, connecting with community advocates, and providing support for implementing community mapping exercises. I look forward to helping the organization thrive and grow in the coming years.”

Equitas Foundation announces Vincent Atchity as new Executive Director to lead the strategic direction for the organization by catalyzing relationships, facilitating collaboration of community leaders, and serving as an advocate for individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Vincent will assist Equitas to achieve its vision of helping communities institute diversion practices in the justice system to better support these individuals by connecting them with treatment and resources.

Equitas Foundation announced today that Vincent Atchity has been named as the non-profit’s new Executive Director. In this role, Vincent will lead the strategic direction for the organization by catalyzing relationships, facilitating collaboration of community leaders, and serving as an advocate for individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Vincent will assist Equitas to achieve its vision of helping communities institute diversion practices in the justice system to better support these individuals by connecting them with treatment and resources.

Vincent is an accomplished national leader in community health management with a proven talent for leading successful start-up initiatives. In his most recent position as COO of the North Colorado Health Alliance, he was responsible for establishing and managing a network of 70 cross-sector organizations and ensuring their collaborative efforts toward sustainable community health were impactful. Vincent’s career experience also includes several positions in higher education, including serving as Assistant Dean at Fordham University and at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. Vincent earned his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees at the University of Southern California, and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

Equitas’ largest undertaking in 2015 has been facilitating the Diversion Power program by initiating the Early Diversion "Train the Trainers" State Initiative via a partnership with the Colorado State Office of Behavioral Health and working directly with communities on “Sequential Intercept Model Mapping” to conduct an asset and gap analysis to identify where persons with mental illness, brain challenges, and/or substance use disorders are falling through the cracks of the criminal justice process. From there, the communities are able to identify opportunities for reform based on evidence-based best practices.

The Equitas Foundation launched Diversion Power out of the recognition that Colorado rural communities face particular challenges in access to treatment, including vast geographic and transportation challenges, a lack of resources, and being underserved by community mental and behavioral health centers, hospitals, and the state-wide crisis stabilization system. The Equitas Foundation is committed to partnering with communities to promote diversion out of the criminal justice system and increasing access to treatment.

About Equitas

Equitas was founded in 2013 by the David & Laura Merage Foundation. Equitas promotes collaboration, innovation, and systems change to benefit people with mental disorders and brain challenges in the criminal justice system. Through the exploration and dissemination of best practices, Equitas ensures that law enforcement and the justice system are fully informed, empowered, and engaged to address the needs of people with mental disorders and hidden brain challenges. For more information, visit http://www.merage-equitas.org.

About the David & Laura Merage Foundation

The David & Laura Merage Foundation promotes self-sufficiency through education and community development. The foundation supports programs that are focused on social change and result in children, families and communities improving the quality and circumstances of their lives. David & Laura Merage believe that education is the gateway to optimal life outcomes. For more information, please visit http://www.merage.org.

Yoga Gives Back to bestow author with inaugural Namaste Award in Malibu

Yoga Gives Back proudly announces that Mallika Chopra, author of “Living with Intent,” will receive the first-ever Yoga Gives Back Namaste Award at the foundation’s fourth-annual Thank You Mother India fundraiser on Sept. 26, in Malibu.

The Thank You Mother India fundraiser is an evening when 200 members of the Southern California yoga community come together for an altruistic cause and express gratitude to Mother India for the gift of yoga.

“The Namaste Award was established in 2015 to recognize special people who have gone beyond the practice and teaching of yoga to incorporate noble humanitarian service, which elevates humankind and helps make the world a better place,” said Kayoko Mitsumatsu, a Tokyo-born documentary film producer and practicing yogi, who founded the LA-based non rofit Yoga Gives Back in 2007. “I am thrilled to present our first Namaste Award to Mallika Chopra, who is passionate about the power of meditation and will lead a special meditation at the event.

While it’s common for many to perceive yoga as a mere physical exercise, through deeper study, we learn that the ultimate goal of yoga is to unite with the Divine Self—where meditation plays an important role in achieving this. Namaste, which means “the divinity in me salutes divinity in you” in Sanskrit, symbolizes Yoga Gives Back’s mission, which is to help others, and is the inspiration for the award.

Mitsumatsu founded YGB because she was deeply moved by the degree of poverty experienced by people in India.

“While benefiting so much from regular yoga practice and teachings, it hit me hard that 75 percent of India’s population still live on under $2 a day,” she said. “It became very clear to me that if everyone worldwide who enjoys yoga donates the cost of one yoga class to help those less fortunate, we can effect real change in the birthplace of yoga.”

The fundraiser will take place at the home of philanthropist Amarjit Marwah at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26, at 29057 Pacific Coast Highway.

Following a welcome reception, there will be a seated three-course dinner featuring the Namaste Award ceremony, followed by a short YGB FILMS presentation, silent and live auction, raffle and live performance by the Odissi dancers.

Each event attendee will receive a generous gift bag from the event sponsors.

This local Malibu fundraiser serves as the launch for YGB’s annual five-month, global fundraising campaign.

From September 2015 through January 2016, more than 150 YGB events will take place in over 15 countries heightening awareness of the realities faced by the poor, especially women and children India. “In 2014-2015, nearly $70,000 was raised globally through this annual global campaign. Yoga studios and communities hosted special yoga classes or fundraiser events whose proceeds raised the majority of funding for YGB’s programs,” says Mitsumatsu. “Including the proceeds of this year’s Malibu event, our end goal this year is to arrive at $100,000.”

“For the cost of one yoga class, you can change a life” is the organization’s mantra, which has grown 35 percent every year since 2009, and now funds nearly 700 mothers and children in Karnataka and West Bengal, India.

YGB’s micro-loans and educational scholarships offer a minimum five-year commitment to each recipient.

Tickets for the event are $180 or $125 if purchased with a new membership. Complimentary valet is provided.

For more informtion, email info@yogagivesback.org,
call (310) 991-9599 or visit www.yogagivesback.org/tymi/malibu

Reposted from Malibu Surfside News

Beautiful Evening at Mitsumatsu Nagano log cabin.. Tateshina Lake

Toyoko - July, 2015

Mucago okra a la Izumi Mitsumatsu-hiroe

With Castaic obsessed Takeshina soba chef

Beef Carpaccio at the port

Papa's Breakfast with Ken

Father's Day, San Francisco

Meggie and Teddy

Colorado Camping 2015

Camping along the Platte

Jefe and Eliot

Eliot Stomping the Puddles!

HOME !!!!

First trip outside in almost a month. Go Kevin!!!

Georgetown 50 Year Reunion

with Head Librarian Artemis Kirk — at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

After receiving the Magis Medallion, Georgetown University

Georgetown University 50th Reuniion

With Special Collections Librarian John Buchtel looking at Atchity Aguillard Collection. — with John R. Buchtel at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

With Bob Shrum after breakfast. — with Robert Shrum at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

With Class honcho George Thibault — at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Opening cocktail party, Bulldog Tavern — with Robert Shrum and Susan Hamilton at Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Kevin Calhoun and Pam Atchity Daugherty at Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City.

Having a great visit with Kevin at the hospital - happy to report he's looking fantastic! —

Charlotte and Carla Hormel

Gorgeous Sunday in London!!

Game Day! Two of my favorites- my nephew and Sporting KC — with Kevin Calhoun at Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City. [via Laurie Atchity Dressman]

Kayoko's Fascinating Ebola Project for NHK!

Finally we finished filming in London yesterday!!!

This is the British volunteer nurse who contracted with Ebola and recovered…he talked very honestly how he got saved with the first class treatment where thousands of Africans just die because of the lack of such support and medical system,,,fascinating person, who returned to Sierra Leone as soon as he recovered from Ebola as he knew he had gained some immunity from his contraction to Ebola and recovery! Unknown heroes are everywhere in this story, especially in West Africa where so many medical staff died by caring patients. Protagonist of this documentary is Dr Khan who died of Ebola in Sierra Leone last year.

We were lucky to visit him in Suffolk, 2.5 hours out of London, really beautiful British country side, peaceful and people are so nice!!

Kevin Looking Good!!!

Salio nuestra pizzeria en la tele! [via Ivonne!!!]

CTV Victoria news interviewed Ivonne's nephew Adrian about his authentic pizzeria "900 Degree Pizza!"

Check out the video here: http://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=615313

Touch Down!!!

Kevin Just Before Surgery with Katie and Mary

Kevin "GOT" his heart today!!!

Team KC!!!!

Campaign To Help India's Poor

Yoga Gives Back

Written by Kayoko Mitsumatsu

From Posture To Power: Microcredit Changes Lives On Both Sides of the Ocean

We can talk about making change. But affecting real change in the world comes from impacting the lives of individuals. It comes from empowering people to be independent and able to make a living on their own while at the same time being fully integrated in our interdependent global community. Sometimes it takes something that seems to be radical to make this change, but these shifts can be deceptively small. They can be even as small (or as large) as the cost of a Los Angeles Yoga class.

How could this be? In the practice of microcredit, lending seemingly small amounts of money to small-scale entrepreneurs allows them to succeed and change their circumstances. This is the fundamental basis of microcredit’s transformative power; it’s a revolutionary concept in finance. This practice shifts the emphasis from financial transactions being focused only about large loans and large scale businesses, which are out of reach of many one-person operations, institutions and organizations – to lending practices that actually make a positive difference in a person’s life. Microcredit practices based on social justice and empowerment operate through a combination of small-scale loans based on trust and community support, with structured repayment plans and programs that encourage savings. In these situations, people actually have the opportunity to solidify long-term change in their lives.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Yoga Gives Back Team: Joel Bender, Leslie Hendry, Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Kayoko Mitsumatsu (left-right)

In 2006, economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the institution he founded, the Grameen Bank, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award was in recognition of their revolutionary efforts to create this micro-credit model, support sustainable economic practices, and provide an alternative to what were exploitive norms. When a person is caught in a cycle of poverty, they may become trapped in the system, particularly since large banking institutions have historically ignored people without assets or credit histories, who are just starting out and who may not have already proven themselves. Most banks prefer to lend large sums of money that represent a greater profit margin and are set up only for large loans in order to make a profit themselves. And even making it more challenging, people at the bottom of the economic scale worldwide have had to rely on moneylenders charging usurious terms and interest rates to obtain funds to plant the next crop, buy inventory of new equipment, or upgrade a business in any way. Institutions such as the Grameen Bank and their affiliates are offering another approach. It’s one that has significantly impacted millions of people.

As Dr. Yunus described in an exclusive interview with Yoga Gives Back in May, 2009, “We started in 1976, and today within Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, eight million people borrow micro loans, ninety-seven percent of them women.” This represents an enormous potential for change and empowerment that just did not exist on a large scale in this form prior to 1976.

There is a social cycle in economics, and Dr. Yunus explained this: “Poverty is not inside the person. Poverty is forced from outside. Poor people are as capable [a] human being as anybody else. They have the same power and energy, same potential. But they are denied such facilities. They cannot express themselves. Money is one of the most important items missing in their lives. You need a dollar to catch a dollar. You cannot catch a dollar with an empty hand. So, that first dollar, nobody has given to her. So she remains dependent on someone else. She has to be hired, to slave; she has to work to make food available on the table. What we have done, we have put that first dollar into her hands as a banking proposition. Conventional banks never come to the poor people. They go to rich people to make more money. The person who does not have a dollar – she cannot get it. So we did it. We did it in a way that is affordable to her. Because we do not insist on collateral. There is no collateral.”

While that may seem like a radical concept, the Grameen Bank has proven that their success is much more than ideological. Dr Yunus cited statistics for us, “The repayment rate is almost 100%, without collateral or anything. This is the strength of microcredit which is now spread all over the world. There are by now at least 150 million borrowers in the world today. Bu it is still very small comparing to the need. We need more microcredit organizations in the world so that more people can be reached.”

Yoga Gives Back is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization begun in LA, with the goal to provide a way for Western Yoga practitioners to give back to India, the birthplace of Yoga, which has given us so much. We’re heeding Dr. Yunus’ call to reach more people through expanded opportunities for and awareness of microcredit and have targeted India and Indian families, women, and would-be entrepreneurs, who would be otherwise stuck in the cycle of poverty that Dr. Yunus described. Yoga Gives Back supports microfinancing operations in India, through the Grameen Foundation, headquartered in Washington, DC. Donations go directly to Grameen Koota, Bangalore, South India and our YGB awareness campaign focuses on the real stories of how poor women are changing their lives with small loans from Grameen Koota.

Ms. Vinatha M Reddy

Grameen Koota was started by visionary teacher and philanthropist, Ms. Vinatha M Reddy (pictured, above) in 1999, who learned about Nobel Peace Recipient Dr Muhammad Yunus’ microfinancing and immediately began exploring ways of replicating his work in her hometown. In 2000, she started providing small microcredit loans, averaging $25.00 a month, to fifty local women. Today, Grameen Koota’s work is reaching out to over 280,000 women in Bangalore, Mysore and many areas of Karnataka state, in South India, making real impact on these women’s lives as well as on the local economy.

Yoga Gives Back

The Los Angeles-based Yoga Gives Back has a worldwide reach and began out of the inspiration and dedication of my Yoga mentor Joel Bender and me. Our group has suddenly started growing almost daily and our mission is shared by a quickly expanding and loving Yoga community.

When I was growing up in Japan, which is a very middle-class society, I had never experienced or seen any real poverty, especially growing up in Tokyo in 1960s and 1970s, when Japan's post-war economic miracle was taking place. Then, I had a chance to live in Brazil in the late 1970s for two years, where as a teenager, I saw the divide between poverty and wealth, the reality of the real slums, kids on the streets begging every time you stopped the car at the traffic light, all very much like India. Social injustice hit me hard.

Once I started Yoga practice and feeling my life being so enriched by it , I felt a need to use my resources to help others. I was producing a documentary on Social Entrepreneurship and learned about microfinancing. I shared this information with Joel [featured in the teacher profile in this month’s issue of LA YOGA] who had been looking for the way he could give back to India since his first visit there – so we teamed up.

When I think about the growth of Yoga Gives Back thus far, I give a lot of credit to the entrepreneurship and volunteer spirit of Americans, willing to embrace and support a new grass roots campaign like ours.

Kayoko Mitsumatsu, co-founder of Yoga Gives Back, is a documentary filmmaker whose films deal with social justice issues, including First They Killed My Father a memoir of a Cambodia’s Killing Fields’ survivor.

A Life Changing Story of Microcredit: Jayashree

Jayashree

Jayashree lives in the suburbs of Bangalore and is married and the mother of two children. We visited her at her humble dirt floor one room home for the first time in 2007. We were touched by her warm smile and most generous hospitality, serving us hot tea and cookies.

Jayashree was born into a very poor family in Bangalore. When she was a child, her family’s financial situation became so severe that she had to drop out of school and work at a garment factory. She toiled throughout her childhood and after she got married at fifteen, her meager earnings had to support her ailing in-laws. She had two children. Her husband’s rickshaw business was not enough to pay her sons’ education or secure food for the family.

In 2007, Jayashree learned from her neighbors about Grameen Koota’s microcredit program and applied for her first loan. She was granted a first loan of 7,000 rupees ($175), and immediately bought her husband’s auto rickshaw. Owning their own rickshaw business increased their income significantly.

Jayashree was able to pay back her entire loan in one year and became eligible for her second loan in 2008. Having proven her diligence, her second loan amount doubled to 15,000 rupees ($375). This time, she bought a sewing machine and started stitching bags. The family’s earnings have now tripled and she is earning 150 rupees ($3.75) a day. In addition, she opened a small shop next to her house to sell her products which is earning her an additional 100 rupees ($2.50) a day.

She is sending her elder son to a medical school. Her son dreams of becoming a doctor and thanks his mother’s business for providing his education, their own home and daily food.

To participate in a Yoga practice where the proceeds support Yoga Gives Back and directly impact the transformation of not only your own life, but that of someone in India, start your Thanksgiving week at Yogaglo, Sunday, November 22, 10:00 A.M. - 12 noon. Some of the teachers include John Sahakian, Felicia Tomasko, Alexandra Aiken and Ally Hamilton; more to be announced. Yogaglo.com; yogagivesback.com.

For more information on Yoga Gives Back or to host a Yoga Gives Back class at your own studio or location, visit: yogagivesback.org or contact yogagivesback@earthlink.net.