Jennifer Tehani Sarreal

She/Her | Independent Contractor

Employer: Owner at Spirit Dancer Productions

Moved Here from: San Diego, CA on August 2022

Why did you move here?

I have moved to Oregon several years ago for graduate school, but have moved back to California after the pandemic. Now I'm back again to be closer to my specialists/doctors and stay connected with the communities of support/collaboration I have grown to know and love over the past year or so. I believe there is a lot of wonderful work being done here... and now that I'm managing my physical disabilities much more efficiently, I'm ready to be more actively involved in the world and with these great organizations and communities again.

What is one thing that you need/want from a community right now?

I want to connect with others looking to directly address the mental health needs of our communities through the arts in an evidence-based and culturally-specific way. I have been doing this work with CBO's over the years before my diagnoses, but now that I'm back in Oregon longer-term and I've made my programming more accessible for both myself as facilitator and those with disabilities, I want to reach a larger community to collaborate and do more good through social emotional arts together.

What kind of civic connection are you interested in making?

I will work with anyone and everyone who sees the value in culturally/community-specific and culturally competent evidence-based trauma-informed social emotional performance arts (SEPA) programming to address the wellness needs of the BIPOC community. We do more good together; I am feeling very hopeful about the potential we have as a BIPOC community here in Oregon, which has its own unique challenges and strengths that we experientially understand in solidarity together.