User:Juliarobinsonshimizu

Catalyst Foundation Trauma-Informed Social Change Movement
Catalyst Foundation Trauma-Informed Social Change Movement was created by Susan Lawrence, M.D., founder and executive director of The Catalyst Foundation. "The cumulative impact of widespread trauma could well result in the destruction of humanity. This movement is dedicated to finding creative and practical solutions to this most serious global threat." Dr. Lawrence, who was the first physician to treat patients with AIDS in rural northern Los Angeles County's Antelope Valley, is author of the award-winning book, "Creating a Healing Society" and several articles on the impact of childhood abuse and other life traumas. Her life's work has evolved from medicine to social activism. "Emotional issues are just a part of the human experience, and we can learn a great deal about ourselves from the suffering of others." Susan Lawrence. Resources: http://www.facebook.com/traumainformedsocialchange

Julia Robinson Shimizu
Julia Robinson Shimizu is a writer and non-profit communications professional serving disadvantaged communities in Los Angeles.

She is the author of a collection of essays on homelessness produced for SRO Housing Corporation, "It All Begins with a Home, Transformations Through Housing." She edited a collection of first-person narratives on living with mental illness for the National Alliance on Mental Illness "Our Stories, Things We Know Now We Wish We Knew Before." Her essays have been included in journals and collections including the Museum of Women's Fearless Motherhood series.

Her only son's diagnosis of schizophrenia fueled a career focus of writing about mental illness and the impact their son's illness had on her and life partner Ichiro Shimizu. Her memoir "Drowning as Fast as I Can," her one woman show, "Blood and Water" and an OpEd published in Los Angeles Times "Breakdown Next Door" were all inspired by the challenges of living with a loved one with severe mental illness. Shimizu served as a volunteer board member of NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, San Fernando Valley, 2008-2013. She has served in a communications capacity for Los Angeles area non-profit organizations since 1998 serving abused teens, homeless youth, formerly incarcerated, substance abusers, inner city children and homeless and low-income adults.