A True Sense of Accompaniment

As part of our year-end giving campaign this year, we’re looking at ways that NBA brings justice to life every day, through clarity, courage, and creativity. Between now and the end of the year, we will offer a deeper dive into the justice work being done through the work of NBA’s program areas and the faces of people involved with these programs. You can learn more and make a donation to NBA by clicking here.

In 2016, NBA’s Community Engagement Program launched a new and transformative peer-to-peer learning model that cultivated practices of radical care in order to fuel the soul, ignite the spirit, and inspire leadership. Called Peer Learning & Wellness Groups, they were comprised of cohorts of individuals from similar disciplines such as those working in prisons and jails, chaplaincy, or running a health & social service organizations that would work through a two-year journey where they are provided educational resources, spiritual renewal, community support, and mental health and wellness practices.

“Our vision of a future where no leader walks alone but is upheld by the compassionate presence of peers drives our efforts every day,” says Rev. Héctor Josué Hernández Marcial, NBA’s Director of Community Engagement. “By transforming isolation into belonging, we are empowering prophetic voices to lead with wisdom, courage, and hope.” 

One of the peer groups that has been developed is the Young Adult in Social Services (YASS) Peer Learning & Wellness Group. Started in 2023, the YASS peer group is for Young Adults aged 21-30 years old who work in or are interested in social service ministries or organizations.

The group is made up of seven young adults and led by two co-conveners:

• Brenda Juarez
• Breona Hawkins
• Christina Lampley
• Grace Dearhaamer
• Leah Duff
• Teila Creekmore
• Najara Varela
• Rev. Bere Gil Soto (Co-Convener)
• Tania Diaz (Co-Convener)

Through monthly virtual meetings and three in-person retreats, these cohort members have created a community of support and development by focusing on identity, vocation and discernment, leadership, and transformation of our communities. The cohort will end in November 2025, but the cohort members have grown close with one another and developed a bond that will last long past their last meeting together.