Wild Ivy Social Justice Network

Celeste (she/her)

Nacida en La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Celeste llegó a los Estados Unidos a los 10 años hablando solo Español. Impactada por  las diferencias en oportunidad y redes de apoyo entre estadunidenses y personas inmigrantes, Celeste a dedicado casi una década a la lucha por los derechos de la comunidad Latina, ya sean documentadas o no, hispanohablantes o no, en áreas de la ley, la educación, derechos laborales, acceso a representación legal, e inclusión en el discurso público. 
 
Ahora, como parte de el Wild Ivy Social Justice Network, incluye en su práctica el derecho al bienestar mental. Ella entiende que el bienestar no se limita al acceso médico, que es a la ves síntoma y cura contra la relación discriminatoria y difícil entre los Estados Unidos y nuestra comunidad. El derecho al bienestar— a la vida, la libertad, y la paz — es derecho humano.

Born in La Paz, Baja California South, Mexico, Celeste moved to the United States when she was 10 years old and spoke only Spanish. Impacted by the differences in opportunity and support networks between citizens and immigrants, Celeste has dedicated almost a decade to advocating and organizing for access to resources and rights for her Latinx community, whether documented or not, Spanish speaking or not, in the areas of education, workers rights, access to legal representation, and inclusion in policy discourse.

Now, as part of the Wild Ivy Social Justice Network, she includes in her practice the right to mental and emotional well-being. She understands that well-being is not limited to healthcare access, that it is both symptom of and cure for the effects of the discriminatory relationship between the US and our communities. The right to well-being— to a sense of life, liberty, and peace— is a human right.

Caroline Mazel Carlton (she/her)

Caroline Mazel-Carlton has laid her head in a number of places, from Indiana jail cells to Texas psychiatric units, but now enjoys a freer existence as Director of Training for the Wildflower Alliance and the Hearing Voices Research and Development Project. Since moving out of a staffed psychiatric residential facility in 2009, Caroline has worked tirelessly to create change in the mental health system and has developed and re-defined peer roles in a number of settings across the globe from North Carolina to Western Australia.

Caroline’s passion is centering and exploring the experiences that are often the most silenced, such as suicide, trauma and non-consensus reality states. Her work with “Alternatives to Suicide” and the Hearing Voices Network has been featured in popular media outlets such as the New York Times, Foreign Policy and O magazine. Caroline has contributed to multiple academic publications on the topic of suicide and one book on her experience skating on a roller derby team as #18 “Mazel Tov Cocktail”. Caroline is also passionate about re-claiming cultural and spiritual wisdom traditions for navigating extreme states and is now preparing to become a rabbi as a Kesher fellow in the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal.

Micah (he/him)

Micah is a white queer and transgender trauma survivor who grew up as a fundamentalist Christian in the southeastern US. He’s had experience working in peer support, working with young people in and outside of the traditional mental health system, and doing LGBTQ community organizing. Micah has been spending his pandemic time figuring out distanced kindergarten with his five year old, facilitating virtual support spaces while sitting next to his 2 cats, hitting the streets with a mask and a sign and a hope for a better world, and appreciating the beauty and abundance of rural New England.

Cora (she/her)

Cora is the Cross-Disability Community Connector for the Wild Ivy Social Justice Network. She is a multiply-disabled white queer woman who has navigated poverty, ableism, and medical bias. She has been a devoted organizer and activist for the past 10 years and is specifically passionate and experienced around causes such as disability justice, prison abolition, mutual aid, and anti-militarism/anti-war activism. She has been a devoted organizer and volunteer for various projects around Western Massachusetts, such as the Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network and the Massachusetts Bail Fund. Outside of activism, she enjoys fashion and cat videos.

Zoe (she/her)

Zoe is the Benefits Connector for the Wild Ivy Social Justice Network and co-facilitates the Wildflower Alliance Psych Meds Support group. Since a young age, Zoe has experienced extreme states that have impacted her life and relationships. Seeking support through traditional mental health resulted in further alienation, an identity based on being in need of fixing, and a dependence on psychiatric medication. Her involvement in this work comes from the realization that what brings us to our deepest selves is connection to other humans, meaningful activity, and focusing on strengths. She holds to the value that we all have something to contribute to our communities and all deserve the chance to create the life we want.

Her current passions are tap dancing, boogie boarding, anything to do with honeybees and exploring urban agriculture.

Natan Cohen (they/them, she/her)

Natan is a trans and autistic team member who grew up here in Western Mass. Natan is someone who has experienced bullying, addiction, emotional and spiritual abuse, homelessness, and many extreme and unusual states. They spent years seeking answers from alternative and mainstream medicine and spiritual communities, only to find healing and belonging in communities of peer support with people who had been through similar struggles. Natan is a lover of compassionate truth-telling, comedy, science, and sharing the potential of peer support. As a former drug dealer, Natan’s work has included a focus on holding space for people who are currently and formerly incarcerated. Natan spends much of her time focused on our Discord server and supporting other online work.

In her free time Natan is passionate about cats, video games, genre tv, and spending time near moving water.