Speakers: Meg Stone and Josh Alba, IMPACT Boston
In 2020, activists in Cambridge, Massachusetts began envisioning an alternative to policing that centers the most marginalized residents of a city with great wealth disparities. They created Cambridge HEART (Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team), a team of community responders who work to break cycles of harm through healing, community-building, and transformative accountability. As HEART began addressing sexual & intimate violence, they realized the need to build skills to safely intervene in volatile situations in ways that didn’t replicate carceral models. HEART partnered with IMPACT Boston, an organization that teaches practical safety and de-escalation skills. This session will present a “De-Escalation Lab” co-created by HEART and IMPACT.