North America: United States & Canada

Center to BE, Milwaukee Wisconsin

United States

Capacitar has offered workshops in collaboration with grassroots centers, women's groups, schools, Head Start programs, holistic centers, recovery programs, religious congregations, universities and health systems in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Workshops have been offered in the following states:

Arizona

In 2003, Capacitar was sponsored by Border Links in Tucson to train health care promoters and leaders working with local communities at the border between Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.

Arkansas

In 1999 and 2000 Capacitar offered workshops to empower grassroots women in collaboration with Sophia Center and the Sisters of Mercy in Little Rock.

Connecticut

Workshops and an in depth training in 2008-2009 have been offered in Madison, Connecticut sponsored by Mercy Retreat Center/Good Works.

California

In Central California, Capacitar started work with women farm workers in Watsonville labor camps in 1992 in collaboration with the Holy Names Sisters. It has also offered trainings for Head Start parents, staffs, and family advocates in Santa Cruz County since 1994. In 2002, Capacitar began a pilot Program in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The University funded an intern position. Capacitar trained the intern who offers a workshop program on campus teaching Capacitar practices to students.

In Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, Capacitar trainers have worked with retreat centers, homeless shelters, recovery programs, schools, women and men in prison, youth at risk, refugees and the Women's Health Leadership program. Retreat days and programs are offered at Presentation Center, Los Gatos; Sophia Center, and Holy Names College, Oakland. Ongoing workshops and depth trainings are sponsored at St. Boniface/St. Anthony’s Foundation in San Francisco.

In Southern California and the border area, Capacitar workshops have been offered to grassroots groups and outreach centers by the Capacitar San Diego team. The first National Capacitar Gathering was held in July 2004 in San Diego at the University of San Diego. Since 2003 Capacitar has collaborated on workshops and in depth trainings with La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara.

La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara, CA

The 20th Anniversary Global Conference was hosted at La Casa de Maria in July 2008, with 85 men and women from 20 countries.
Multicultural Wellness Education and Trauma
Healing trainings have been offered at Mt. Alverno Center in Redwood City (English), San Diego/Tijuana (Spanish), St. Boniface—San Francisco Tenderloin, La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, and Catholic Charities in San Jose, with Continuing Education Units (CEU's) available for most programs.

Colorado

Capacitar workshops have been given by Franciscan Liz Fuhr OSF, in different communities in Colorado since the mid 1990s offering resources and skills to women and families and those dealing with violence and abuse.

Iowa

Capacitar offered workshops in Dubuque in 1999, and again in 2001 at Shalom Center, under the auspices of the Franciscan Sisters. Participants were from many parts of Iowa and five surrounding states.

Kentucky

Catherine Spalding Center in Nazareth, KY has sponsored Capacitar workshops since 1998. In 1999, Capacitar offered workshops for Central American migrants working as farm laborers in Springfield. In 2001, the training in Multicultural Wellness Education was offered with CEUs through Spalding University.

Massachusetts

Since 1998, Capacitar has offered workshops sponsored by the Women's Theological Center and Springfield College in Boston. An in depth training has been sponsored since 2008 in Genesis Center, Westfield.

Mississippi

In 2001-2002, Capacitar workshops were held at Imani Wellness Center in Indianola, Mississippi for grassroots women.

Missouri

Workshops in East Harlem, New York after September 11

Capacitar workshops have been sponsored by Mercy Center in St. Louis since 1995. From 1997-1999, the Capacitar Crones, a support group for women over 50, met bi-monthly at Mercy Center. Many Missouri participants use Capacitar practices at their centers and with clients. Capacitar workshops were also held in collaboration with the Nia Kumba Center in 2003.

New York

Three weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the first New York workshops addressing the healing of trauma were offered in East Harlem for Hispanics and African Americans. 2002 workshops were offered under the auspices of the Little Sisters of the Assumption outreach programs in East Harlem, Interfaith Neighbors Peace of Mind Project for children and families affected by the trauma, the Committee for Hispanic Families and other grassroots groups. A program for the Committee for Hispanic Families was offered in 2003. An in depth training was sponsored in East Harlem in 2007-2008.

Ohio

Capacitar for Kids Teacher training, Cincinnati, OH

Capacitar workshops have been sponsored by Mercy Health-Partners in Cincinnati since 1997, along with trainings for Mercy Wellness Center staffs and outreach nurses in 1998-99. The video Pathways to Self-Healing was developed and funded in collaboration with Mercy Health-Partners. Programs have also been offered in Toledo and in Loveland, Grailville.

In Cleveland Capacitar multicultural bi-lingual workshops for the Hispanic and African American Commissions of the Cleveland Diocese were offered in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

CAPACITAR FOR KIDS—Cincinnati School Program

Under the auspices of Cincinnati parish nurses, a school-based program is being developed and offered in two Catholic elementary schools, St. Joseph's and Holy Family, during 2003-2005. This pilot program, Capacitar for Kids, is led by Mary Duennes, RN. It addresses the needs of children, teachers and families living with domestic and inner-city violence and teaches wellness practices for school and home. A manual and support materials were developed.

Oregon

In 2002, Capacitar gave a presentation at the Familias Unidas Conference sponsored by REDES, a network of counselors and social workers in the Hispanic Community. Because of the interest and enthusiasm of participants, REDES coordinated a 3-day basic Capacitar training in 2003.

South Dakota

Capacitar workshops were held in St. Francis, South Dakota in 2001 and 2002 under the auspices of St. Francis Mission, Icimani ya Waste, the center on tribal lands. Native Americans affected by a history of trauma and violence participated in the trainings.

Tennessee

In 2003 and 2004, Capacitar offered a program of stress management trainings for seniors and medical professionals in Knoxville, TN and surrounding counties under the auspices of St. Mary's Health System and the Sisters of Mercy.  Staff from St. Mary’s Health System participated in the Wisconsin in depth training and continue to offer Capacitar workshops in their area.

Texas

Bienestar Familiar, El Paso, Texas

Capacitar bi-lingual workshops were sponsored by Mercy Sisters and a federal health grant in 1996-1997 for participants and health promoters from Laredo, Laredo, Mexico, and surrounding colonias. The first bi-national workshops were offered for participants from El Paso, Ciudad Juarez and the surrounding border areas in 2000-2001. Denise Sausville, RSM, currently offers Capacitar workshops for women of the colonias near Alamo, TX.

In 2003-2004, Capacitar trainings were offered for border health promoters under the auspices of Imelda Garcia, Director of Familia Bienestar in El Paso, Candlelighters (Families of Children with Cancer) and the Cancer Consortium of El Paso.

Workshops included participants from many colonias and communities around El Paso, women from Chaparral, New Mexico, and Compañeros of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. A Spanish manual addressing the needs of people and families with cancer was developed. Workshops were  again offered in 2006 in El Paso coordinated by Centro Mujeres Esperanza, leading to an in depth training for 2009.

Virginia

Since 1998 Capacitar workshops have been sponsored by Sunrise Center and the Sisters of Mercy in Richlands, Virginia. The Capacitar-Appalachia Team has offered workshops to Head Start, substance abuse groups, women's centers, hospitals and clinics in Richlands and the surrounding area. Since July, 2001, the team has offered workshops as well as weekend retreats, ongoing leadership training programs and community outreach. An in depth training for skills and leadership was held in 2008. 

For more information, contact: Sunrise Center: sunrisecenter04@yahoo.com

Wisconsin

Capacitar workshops in collaboration with the Center to BE have been offered in Wisconsin since 1998 in Fond du Lac, West Bend and Milwaukee. The Center to BE has sponsored since 2000 a one-year program in Healing and Transformation/Multicultural Wellness Education with Continuing Education Units (CEUs) available through Marian College. Women and men from ten states, Canada and Latin America have graduated from the program.  Ongoing workshops for groups and staffs are also offered through the Center to BE.

For information contact: Center to BE, Director Marjorie Wilbur, Mwilbur.centertobe@sbcglobal.net

Canada

Since 2006 Capacitar has offered workshops and trainings in three regions of Canada. 

Toronto

In 2006 John Smith and Joan Smith offered the first workshops in Toronto.  Participants included chaplains, teachers, ministers, and those doing outreach to the underserved in Toronto.

Winnipeg

In 2007 Lorraine Dumont and a coordinating committee sponsored a Capacitar training, in collaboration with the University of Winnipeg Graduate School of Theology.  An in depth training is planned to start in 2009.

Victoria

First Capacitar workshops were coordinated by Heather Ferris and Sandra Tompson in Victoria during 2006 leading to an in depth training in 2007-2008. Pariticpants included: teachers, therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, those working with youth, refugees, First Nations Peoples and the underserved.