Wishing this week is full with new opportunities to grow and be well with community support!
Weekly CHOW Meetings

Khesed Wellness x Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!
We invite you to participate in FREE virtual events focused on ways to care for your mental health that go beyond traditional talk therapy. Event participants will learn new practices, make connections, and be entered to win a Wellness Pack with prizes from our friends at Sexy Pizza, White Lotus Therapeutics, Bonanno Concepts, and more! Reserve your spot and invite a friend (or two). Go to www.khesedwellness.com/mham for more info on our upcoming events.
SAFE (Sober AF) Sober Events
The team at Sober AF are very excited to invite you to our free sober tailgate event at The Phoenix (2233 Champa St, Denver, CO 80205), and Recovery Appreciation Night at the Colorado Rockies game on June 18th, 2022!
We have some killer speakers lined up, delicious food on the menu, lots of fun games and activities, and are thrilled to be hosting a packed sober section at the game afterwards! Tickets to the game are FREE, thanks to our friends at the Rockies- so you won’t want to miss out on an awesome night of sober fun!
Sponsorships are available, and we would love to speak with you about those opportunities if you are interested.

Colorado Artists in Recovery in May
IN-PERSON 6 WEEK ART WORKSHOP
CLASSES BEGIN MAY 11TH!
EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 6:30-7:30PM
FOR SIX WEEKS
@ THE ART GYM DENVER
WITH KENDALL OTIS // EVERY WEDNESDAY EVE. FROM 6:30-7:30PM (MST)
CLASSES START
MAY 11TH
CLASSES WILL BE IN-PERSON ONLY AT
MAX OF 12 PARTICIPANTS FOR THIS CLASS!
***Please only sign up if you can commit to attending in person for most of the classes – we have limited capacity and want to register only those that can attend in person for six weeks (or at least 3 classes).
ONCE 12 PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP WE MUST CLOSE REGISTRATION AND BEGIN A WAITLIST DUE TO COVID PROTOCOLS AT THE ART GYM.
ART SUPPLIES PROVIDED
In this class we will be exploring our emotions and how we process them. We will use creativity as a means to process our achievements, hardships, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and everything else daily life hits us with! You will learn that these heavy emotions aren’t meant to bring us down, they are meant to show us the path and teach us along the way. We will build confidence, grow strength, and find clarity through the creative process. We are innately creative and history has proven to us over many thousands of years that art is an essential part of our humanity. From the oldest cave paintings by Neanderthals 40,000+ years ago of simple hand prints and charcoal buffalo, to the museums of today filled with precious glimpses of our cultures, we have always created art.
We will connect, we will support, we will be vulnerable, and we will grow together for a strong community of artists in recovery. This will be a safe space to share our process and projects we have made in class. Sometimes we need to stop taking ourselves so seriously and just have fun! Other times we will need to face the human looking back in the mirror. No matter the case, we come out the other side feeling lighter and free. Each workshop will have a new project that focuses on sparking your creativity, and using your inherent creative spirit to inspire your courageous heart.
Join us for open studio time, in person, at The Art Gym in Denver on the 2nd Sunday of every month from 4pm to 6pm!
We come together once per month to work on whatever artistic project you would enjoy. Open studio is a space where you can work on a project you have been working on, or start something new! Bring your own art supplies, or we will also have some basic supplies for you to use for free.Come get creative with us, and connect with other sober creatives!
Happier employees, higher profits: Restaurant owners spend more, and it pays off
Cutbacks have defined the pandemic era restaurant—but when owners invest more in their employees, everybody wins.
Like many restaurant operators over the past two years, Greg and Daisy Ryan, co-owners of the French-inspired bistro Bell’s in Los Alamos, California, sweated over how their business would survive a global pandemic. All around them owners were turning to takeout, to retail, or to closing their doors indefinitely.
Read more at: https://thecounter.org/investments-restaurant-employees-benefits-wages-pandemic-profits/
Webinar: Validating Child & Adolescent Thoughts and Feelings
Wednesday, May 11 @ 11am ET
Everyone wants to be seen and heard. Validation, at its core, is a way of letting someone we care for know that we understand them, and in turn, can strengthen our connection with our loved ones. Validating the thoughts and feelings of kids and adolescents is especially important, even if you don’t necessarily agree with them, since it lets them feel seen and heard.
How can we help our kids recognize their feelings? What are some ways that we can validate our children’s thoughts and emotions? Is it ever too late to start validating how others feel?
Join us as Blaise Aguirre, MD, provides examples of what validation looks and feels like in kids and teens, shares ways to support our loved ones’ thoughts and feelings, and answers audience questions about learning how to validate feelings at any age.
Have a great week!