Twin Cities nonprofit aims to curb gun violence through connections with nature

INTERVIEWER: We all know that outdoor activities, like hiking, biking, bird-watching, can soothe the soul. Our next guest says awareness of the natural environment around us is key to healing from and preventing the gun violence that plagues the US. Farji Shaheer is the founder and director of the new non-profit Innovative Soulutions. It partners with Three Rivers Park District in the Twin Cities to bring individuals and families affected by gun violence into nature as a way to connect and heal.

Farji joins us right now to talk about his work. Thanks for being here. Welcome.

FARJI SHAHEER: Well, thank you for having me.

INTERVIEWER: You have many, many years of experience helping folks heal from gun violence, as I understand it, and some personal experience dealing with that trauma as well. Tell us a little bit about that.

FARJI SHAHEER: So I've been in behavioral health for the last 20-25--- well, at ACMC for the last 23 years, primarily working in behavioral health, acute psychiatric services, where I earn 4,000 hours of committed services to individuals who have been exhibiting crisis. And then in 2016, I was part of the beginning team at the Next Step Program, which was at a hospital based violence intervention program designed to assist people from gunshot wounds. In 2020, we went through some setbacks and barriers. And during that year is when I created Innovative Soulutions.

Innovative Soulutions was a community based organization, which I'm the CEO and founder of. And pretty much we were offering alternative solutions for individuals who were facing trauma during the COVID, post George Floyd uprising, and just community violence in general. So a lot of the individuals that I was following throughout the community ran into multiple barriers. And one of those barriers was just being subjected into the environment, which was toxic and causing a lot of distress and trauma that the individuals that I work with deal with and live with on a daily basis.

So with my past trauma and understanding some of the root causes to violence, I've been able to connect with individuals who are highly, most likely of either being a perpetrator or a victim of violence. With mentoring and one-on-one counseling and trauma informed care, along with healing circles, me and my team have been able to develop bonds with these individuals to allow them the space to just be themselves, free from violence, free from the silence of the silence. Yeah.

INTERVIEWER: Tell me a little bit about getting folks out into nature specifically to connect with what's going on in the natural world. How is that healing?

FARJI SHAHEER: So pretty much being able to be somewhere where you can be safe, for one. Year round individuals there are supported. And then you're in environments that you normally wouldn't frequent.

Unfortunately, the parks and playgrounds in Minneapolis have been plagued by violence. So multiple families do not feel comfortable spending amounts of time in those areas due to the violence. So with the partnership with Three Rivers, we have been able to connect individuals with the resources of being outside, and ultimately giving them a chance to just be themselves.

What happens in these areas is if you remove a lot of the existing factors and barriers, people tend to be a little more caring, a little more nurturing, a little more open to building relationships with individuals that they may not have built relationships in the city due to all of the fears and unconscious bias that the individuals in these communities have towards one another. So it allows them to be free.

INTERVIEWER: How did you experience that personally? Have you experienced that sense of freedom?

FARJI SHAHEER: Oh, well, you know, I went camping back when I was a child. And I had an experience with being able to provide assistance with individuals on a campground. Some things happened, and unfortunately, I was not allowed to complete my camping session due to individuals unconscious biases towards me being a kid from an inner city Chicago Housing Project.

One thing that I noticed is that while in nature I was able to get in tune with my natural skills. Unfortunately, nowadays kids kind of just keep their faces and cell phones and tablets. And they're not really aware of the birds chirping, or the bees humming, or the maple trees that may have fresh sap coming in, in the spring, or being able to get on a kayak and just enjoy being out in open water, and having that natural connection with other kids and individuals that have went through something the same and similar.

So by providing that opportunity for the kids, or the families that I work with, it gives them a chance to experience what I experienced as a camper. And it's just that feeling of being free and kind of knowing the environment, and getting to know the environment that I'm in, and knowing that there are alternatives for me to exert my energy in regards to what we normally would do inside the city if we did not have that environment.

INTERVIEWER: Mm-hmm. So can you give me an example here of maybe somebody who has gone out through your program and what they've experienced, what they've said to you about it?

FARJI SHAHEER: So there's a young man that I worked with, him and his family. I've been really close to them since the young man sustained a gunshot wound to the head. The survival rates for him leaving the hospital were extremely slim. This young man pulled through and has been able to participate in multiple events throughout the city.

Once we created that partnership with Three Rivers, just being able to be in that open space allowed him to gain more momentum of his body. He actually learned how to re-ride a bike again. His family watched that progress and was amazed that the young man was able to get on a bike, of course, with some support from the Three Rivers staff, and the equipment that they have there that was accessible for him to be able to ride the bike. Seeing the joy on that kid's face after sustaining that gunshot wound is something that I hadn't seen until we were able to get him on the bike, and actually see him ride the bike at his own pace, and him being surrounded by those that support him and want him to do better with his life, to become a productive citizen.

This kid has been able to be an influence on the individuals that are from his community that were still involved in gun violence. And he has been able to, as I would say, influence some of these young men and young ladies in his community to follow the same path that he is on. Currently, by getting him out into nature, his want and his desire to learn more has increased. So after working with Three Rivers, we were able to form a partnership with the crew of the urban equestrians, and now the young man is actually an intern on a horse farm, training horses this summer.

So just seeing the progression of individuals that come from the city. Getting them, first of all, comfortable enough to where they want to come outside, and reducing what I call communal anxiety, and getting them into a space where they can naturally tap into who they want to be, without being influenced by all the negativity in their immediate environment. This young man is a prime example of what can happen if these children or young adults, and some families, the whole families, are able to get away, build that relationship with one another, figure out things that make them happy, and bring them joy. And then they actually pursue the things that bring them joy.

Seeing the kid go from riding a bike to training horses, all while recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, has been miraculous. And he is an outstanding citizen, and a good representative of what it looks like when we take the time to encourage the young adults and children in our community that do something different outside of their environment that they currently live in.

INTERVIEWER: That's amazing. That is amazing. So I want to ask you a little bit. I got a couple of minutes left. You mentioned "communal anxiety."

FARJI SHAHEER: Yes, ma'am.

INTERVIEWER: And I'm going to assume that means when traumatic events like shootings or stabbings happen in a community, is that what you're talking about? A heightened sense of communal anxiety?

FARJI SHAHEER: Yes, ma'am. So inside of these areas, imagine being someone who suffers a gunshot wound, and then goes into the hospital to be physically repaired. Once you're discharged, you go right back into the same environment. So a lot of the survivors of gunshot wounds, a lot of the survivors of the homicides in the Twin Cities area have a heightened sense of anxiety once they're back in the community.

And there's really nothing right now at this current moment to be done to address that communal anxiety, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to develop and cultivate the relationship with Three Rivers Park just so we can introduce these families and get them encouraged to being back outside, and then reinforcing their safety, while they're at these events. And then what ends up happening is when all these families get together, we have families that may have been feuding inside of our city, and they see each other recovering. And then they're able to build bonds with each other to the point where we wouldn't even know that they were feuding in the city streets.

INTERVIEWER: Hmm. Wow. Farji, thank you for your work. And thank you for the conversation today. Best of luck.

FARJI SHAHEER: No problem at all. Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your time.

INTERVIEWER: We've been talking to Farji Shaheer, founder and executive director of Innovative Soulutions in the Twin Cities. Their next family community building event is this Sunday, as a matter of fact, 1:00 in the afternoon, Raspberry Island in downtown Saint Paul.

By the way, this conversation was made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendments Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.