In addition to acting as a Neighbourhood Facilitator for Clissold Park and Hackney Downs, Aisha founded Damali Beautiful Vision CIC – an organisation that provides psychotherapy and support workshops to the Global Majority community navigating the sudden bereavement of a child or young adult.
Tell us about your organisation and how you support the Hackney community.
Damali Beautiful Vision CIC was founded on 23 September 2022 by myself, Aisha Peters, CEO & Founder. I founded the organisation in honour of Damali Peters, my youngest belated daughter, due to my personal journey of navigating bereavement, and feeling and experiencing the lack of cultural and heritage support in relation to mental and emotional health and wellbeing services in Hackney.
I wanted to create a safe space for Global Majority families to improve their mental and emotional health, to reduce loneliness and isolation, and to increase wellbeing services for under-resourced and underrepresented communities.
What are some of the reasons people might be reluctant to approach you and how do you help them overcome it?
We know from our lived experiences how difficult it can be to ask for help. Also, in response to an Open Day Consultation in 2023, potential beneficiaries shared some of the barriers that they face that mean they may be reluctant to engage with services like ours.
These included feeling judged, being in denial about poor mental and emotional health, lack of trust, lack of trust in the community, potential issues with language barriers, additional needs, and being judged as the angry Black man/woman.
Damali Beautiful Vision CIC supports community members in approaching us by doing our best to connect with our beneficiaries in person, by way of using non-complicated communications, being sure to promote compassion, empathy and unconditional positive regard, and by the sharing of my journey as a woman of colour living in Hackney.
If you’re comfortable, could you share a memory of Damali?
A few memories I can share of my daughter Damali is that she had one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen on this planet and her laugh was contagious. Damali was a lover of all animals great and small, l too.
What made you join the Community Health Champions programme and how do you see it helping your community?
I and Damali Beautiful Vision CIC joined the Community Health Champions programme because we felt and could see that Champions were all welcomed to join and be their authentic self. It is a trusted space and Champions are encouraged to share their own personal truths, journeys and perspectives which in turn supports understanding and energy for authentic positive change.
How could other Champions encourage their service users to get in touch with Damali Beautiful Vision?
We really wish that more Global Majority families reach out to us. If you are a single Mum or Dad and you have had a sudden loss of a young child or young adult, we are here to support you too.
Also, when we say we are a service to the Global Majority community we are speaking about people with African, Caribbean, Asian, South East Asian, Afro- Latino and People of Mixed Heritage.
Website: Damali Beautiful Vision
Phone: 07511 340396
Email: [email protected]