Breathing Into Community
Before the fires, Zakiya led us in a personal wellness check and intention-setting for the new year, which included a breathing exercise called the Silva Breathing Method. Many times since, I’ve used the technique I learned that morning to calm and energize myself.
That day, in the sunshine of the Colorado Center, we didn’t know what was coming, as we rarely do. All we can do to prepare for the unknown—besides new batteries in our flashlights and essentials packed by the door—is to be as healthy, discerning, and compassionate as we can be. So when the unexpected arrives, we are able to dig deeply into the solid ground we’ve cultivated and help those more vulnerable than ourselves.
In other words, education and wellness.
Her “wheelhouse,” as Zakiya puts it—education and wellness— are what propels us toward the most successful and inclusive version of our communities. “I stay in my two lanes,” she says. “Where my passion and efficiency live.”
At the heart of our community’s wellness is affordable housing. It’s the bedrock of any neighborhood’s health, but in Santa Monica it’s writ in flashing, sirened neon.
Zakiya works with all populations affected by high housing costs—seniors, veterans, young families, women—but she has a special affinity with families and students with IEPs aged 18-22. In supporting young adults with various abilities, she reminds them that their caregivers aren’t going to live forever. If something happens and they’ve never lived on their own, there might not be someone willing to take them in. Her goal is to help avoid crash courses. To that end, she teaches independent living strategies to those who want to live alone but aren’t yet prepared for the responsibilities of this version of self care.
To complement her work with individuals, she seeks to improve systemic housing inequities through serving on the board for Community Corps of Santa Monica, whose mission of inclusivity stretches to protect and ideally expand laws and policies to house more families. The organization is trying to correct inconsistencies and incongruities in the affordable housing space, which can be maddeningly illogical. For instance, there is a proportionally large amount of money available for single people with addiction, but not at all enough support for families, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+community. Seniors have to be basically penniless to qualify for a program in Santa Monica. CCSM is doing their best in a political climate whose priorities don’t seem aligned with the needs of the most vulnerable populations.
“Make it make sense for everyone,” Zakiya says, echoing our communal call.
She defines her overall intention as “always, always sitting at the table in the educational world of our district to make sure everyone’s voice is being heard.” She has trained herself to notice not only if a group is left out of a conversation around rights, but to prevent even the well-intentioned from speaking for unhoused populations and basing policies off conjecture. “My goal is to banish haughtiness.” She chuckles. “It’s haughty to assume what people need.”
For one example of many, Zakiya has observed an unhoused mother and her daughter, a high school senior. “It’s delicate,” she admits. “I don’t want to cause any trouble for them, but I want to find out how I can help, but also can’t assume they want help.” She plans to ask the woman for coffee.
Respectful, gradual approaches are best for most changes in life. If folks have been unhoused for a while, they might be out of practice in terms of socialization, and giving people continuant housing right off the bat might set them up for failure. Permanent housing requires “wraparound services,” which include managing strict curfews and daily on-site mandatory meetings. “Research and experience shows that starting unhoused people with 6-12 months in transitional housing leads to more success.”
By focusing both on the specific nature of individual stories while fighting for collective policies, Zakiya fuses the micro and macro so they buttress each other. “Elevator pitches don’t sell people on affordable housing,” she said. “Putting a face and a story of families and children dismantles the subconscious assumption that people who are unhoused want to be unhoused.”
In addition to all of this and more, Zakiya recently ran a workshop series on “power, privilege and otherness” with a therapist friend. Revelations abounded, and she has plans to hold it again soon, as well as more education, workouts, and supported food cleanses. “We need to be sober-minded this time around.” she said. “Less Netflix for us, no Teletubbies for our kids.” Instead she suggests getting off social media. “Edify your spirit with something. Pick up an inspiring book. Move to unstick what’s been stuck.”
Zakiya can be reached at FitFlyFreeForever@gmail.com and 310-893-3461.