Empowering through healing.
Support women of color to heal their mind, body, and soul.
How do your donations help?
Women of color are often blocked from getting the rest they need by money, time, family, work, and societal expectations. We are shamed for taking care of ourselves when we are beholden to being mothers, wives, and employees first.
JL Soul Camp needs approximately $65,000 to run smoothly. Room and board alone for 26 womyn for 5 days at OAEC costs $32,500. Below are the different areas we benefit from your contribution. Anything helps!
Why should you help?
Finances, family, work, lack of time, and societal pressures often hinder women of color from obtaining necessary rest.
There's a stigma attached to prioritizing self-care when societal roles dictate that we should primarily be mothers, wives, and employees first.
Help make healing happen.
Rest is fundamentally essential.
JL Soul Camp provides a well-rounded healing framework for women of color to find their rest and rejuvenation.
Physical
Our soul camp allows us to immerse ourselves amongst wildlands preserves, beautiful gardens, and water features that are instrumental in providing therapeutic relaxation to redefine wellness.
Emotional
Each day, we gather together and revel in a variety of shared experiences to reconnect us with ourselves, one another, and nature. We also set aside solo time for those who feel safe facilitating their own needs alone.
Mental
We have carefully curated workshops and exercises that focus on different areas of our wellness including our inner-child and sensuality. These workshops use body movement and art to help explore, heal, and venerate.
Taking care of your health increases happiness by 71%
This is how we heal.
Rest, Reflection, and Connection
We help our women escape the roles of motherhood, wifeliness, and constant service. This program provides a sanctuary to rest, reconnect with oneself, and foster connections with a community of like-minded women.
Getting Back to Nature
They say nature heals and they’re not wrong. Our soul camp takes place at The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, a beautiful retreat center located in Sonoma County, CA. Nestled among 80+ acres of natural wildlands, participants eat directly from the land, promoting sustainable and mindful eating.
Artful Exploration
Unleash healing through unique art experiences, allowing self-expression and personal growth. Explore and introspect on inner-child, familial, and community relations to go back into the world with a renewed sense of self.
Our Mission
Open expression, community, and the freedom to be yourself are inherent privileges of being human, but denied to Black and First Nation peoples. Black women are continually expected to set themselves aside and prioritize everyone else around them.
Our mission is to right this imbalance and help our women of color feel human again by providing an outlet for physical, emotional, and mental healing.
A note from our founder
I’ve been many things. Poet. Storyteller. Educator. Now? Nurturer.
Like many of the women I aim to serve, I have felt the crushing weight of oppression, exhaustion, and unachievable expectation. It wasn’t until I put myself first that I realized that I could better help and serve those around me.
I founded JL Soul Camp in 2023 during the pandemic with the gracious help of OAEC and the generous donations of allies and community members. I thank you for your time in exploring this cause, and for any contribution you can make to help making it come to life. I hope to change hundreds of Black and First Nation womyn/non-men lives for years to come.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Joyce Lee, Founder and Director of Soul Camp
