About the village
Welcome
The village: a place of healing, peace & unity
history
The village: a place of healing, peace & unity
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, we looked for a solution with a lasting impact. We are building communities – gathering spaces – where people of African Descent experience a strong sense of belonging. Regardless of skin colour, economic and social status, culture and religion, civil and political orientation, every member of The Village will experience true peace – a true, lasting, and sustainable progression towards justice, compassion, and full participation of all members of the community in every aspect of society.
The Village of Peace is an independent, not-for-profit that promotes the mental health and well-being of people of African descent with services that create gathering spaces, design trauma-informed, anti-racism curricula; certify community healers, health coaches, and psychotherapists as Trauma Recovery Specialists; and support the success of Black entrepreneurs.
God said to Abram, “Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
- Genesis 15:13
Our Mission
What makes us different
The Village of Peace is an independent, not-for-profit founded to create a culturally safe healing environment for people of African descent, where generational harm can be shared and healed with our Truth, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation process, as we engage members of the community in defining the changes needed to end racism and oppression in all its forms.
To empower people of African Descent to unify and transform our environments to be inclusive and culturally safe.
To unite, educate and mobilize people of African Descent across generations to heal and become the collective transforming voice ending historical racial oppression and garner sustainable change for current and future generations.
We serve students, community members, Black entrepreneurs and individuals in healing professions such as; nursing, psychotherapy, social work, and teaching in Canada.
We're Creating An Army of Peacemakers
An 18-month certificate program to certify community healers, health coaches, and psychotherapists as Trauma Recovery Specialists.
We're Doing Forgiveness
We believe forgiveness is very much an action that we must engage in before we can experience true healing and breakthrough.
We're Building Black Businesses
Our goal is to help position black business owners as servant leaders in the African diaspora to ensure prosperity in our community.
We're Creating An Army of Peacemakers
An 18-month certificate program to certify community healers, health coaches, and psychotherapists as Trauma Recovery Specialists.
We're Doing Forgiveness
We believe forgiveness is very much an action that we must engage in before we can experience true healing and breakthrough.
We're Building Black Businesses
Our goal is to help position black business owners as servant leaders in the African diaspora to ensure prosperity in our community.
New Program!
Smashing The Mirror
We're passionate about helping a generation overcome their traumas and fearlessly pursue a happy, healthy, purpose-filled life!
Smashing The Mirror is a 22-week trauma-informed, anti-racism, secondary school curriculum that contributes to the elimination of racism and racial discrimination in Canadian public schools. The program aims to address systemic racial barriers, conduct research to support the integration of health in education, and foster cultural and intercultural community building.
Message from our Founder
The Village of Peace was founded with a great sense of hope at one of the most dramatic moments in the 21st century. The murder of George Floyd sent every person of African descent a devastating message. “Until you choose to empower and protect yourself, you will not be safe.”
We are purposefully creating a gathering space and calling people of African Descent to come in. We’re responding to our Nation’s need for safety and protection, a strong sense of belonging, and esteem in our community.
We’re healing the traumatic wounds connected to the enslavement experience and ending the traumatic responses that hinder our full participation in all aspects of Canadian life. We are providing mental health care delivered by people who look like us and who value our spiritual ways of being. We’re creating economic independence as we support black entrepreneurs by bringing to life their creative business ideas!
I’m excited about what the next 30 years will bring for our Nation. We are building a village that will allow us to return to ourselves and from the center of that village, we will erect a monument and send a message to the world “We forgive you, but this will never happen again!”
Welcome to the village of peace!
Dr. Joan Samuels-Dennis
Founder, CEO
Meet Our Board
Cynthia Dorrington
Harriet Obodo
Peter Akarakiri
Kimone Gustav
Soniel Gordon
Gathering Spaces
Building Capacity To Serve Black Canadians
Uniting people across healing professions to bring truth, forgiveness, and reconciliation to a generation.
