Compassionate USA, A Collaborate Effort Between The City of San Antonio and Alamo Colleges District
Life in the modern world was fast-paced and stressful even before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our economy and changed work life for many people.
In addition to the pandemic, gun violence, civil discord, and extreme political polarization add to the discomfort so many are feeling.
The tragic school shooting last year just 80 miles away in Uvalde, exacerbated the need for both urgent and drastic change. The horrors painfully colored our world.
Local conversations with my friends, family, and colleagues resulted in a collaborative effort between the City of San Antonio, the Alamo Colleges District, and our greater community to build a true foundation for compassion.
And this week, we launched Compassionate USA locally, following a national unveiling earlier in the month. The program will continue our spirit of collaboration to build and demand a brighter future.
The concept of compassion is rooted in the Golden Rule — treat all others in the ways we wish to be treated.
It is an ethic that has existed in some way, shape, or form in every tradition or culture that humanity has created — a testament to our collective understanding that compassion is the basis to healing our suffering.
Our nation has faced more than 263 mass shootings in 2023, and we aren’t even halfway through the year.
Think about that for a second. We are currently averaging more than one mass shooting a day in this nation. If more guns, more weapons, and more violence were the appropriate responses to such a gruesome plague, the United States would have been the safest country on this planet a long, long time ago.
Exhibiting compassion and care in the face of such atrocities is the epitome of strength. We can stand strong against this needlessly protracted suffering by simply learning how to better care for one another.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic unequivocally worsened our collective mental health, isolation, loneliness, job loss, financial instability, illness and grief, have taken their toll.
Today, 90 percent of American adults believe our country is facing a mental health crisis. Though it may seem basic, a systemic foundation of compassion is desperately needed to physically and emotionally heal as a nation.
And we know that the educational system continues to experience significant disruptions – hundreds of thousands of students never returned to school. These young minds and lives are unaccounted for and tragically at-risk. It’s incumbent upon us to leave a legacy of compassion. It is in our DNA.
There is truly no argument against exuding compassion throughout our communities.
Compassionate USA features a six-part curriculum focused on self-regulation and emotional awareness, self-compassion, gratitude and interdependence, compassion for others, collective trauma/collective healing, and compassion in systems.
On the Compassionate USA website – CompassionateUSA.ORG — you can find free videos, micro-courses, toolkits and resources to share and implement this no-cost catalyst for change.
A short reflective exercise is provided with each video so you can practice the skills that you have learned.
The curriculum was developed by the Alamo Colleges District in partnership with the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Peace Center.
And the Compassionate USA courses are available to everyone – a gift from San Antonio to the nation.
Together, I’m confident that we possess the power to fundamentally reshape the trajectory of our nation.
Ron Nirenberg is mayor of San Antonio.
