The Village Revival Project

The Village Revival Project A Transformative Justice initiative reviving the collective heartbeat of community through art.

Been creating safe space in community for almost 30 years and yes, nerves still come every time but NOTHING compares to ...
08/10/2026

Been creating safe space in community for almost 30 years and yes, nerves still come every time but NOTHING compares to the nerves that you feel when sharing your ART with others 😳 That is by far the most vulnerable, brave act but apparently I can do hard things and we DID IT!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

The Village Revival Project has officially launched a theatrical storytelling-based healing movement ‘round my way.

And with this, a Revival is definitely in motion— places, spaces, methods and audiences I didn’t expect in our inception 💭

Footage, reels, recap videos are on the way with more formal acknowledgments but for now, tonight….

Am TRULY TRULY thanking the +70 community members, stakeholders, partners, supporters and friends for walking into “Unseen in Plain Sight” … more than a play written by Alia Berry for entertainment but a tool for community mobilization, collective storytelling, emotional liberation and a Call to Action!!!

We honor those who were there in spirit, both your words and legacy were in the building 🕊️🔐

Am humbled, inspired and very motivated.

Onward.

📸: The Play’s Props— Bible in the prayer scene with flowers, candles and RIP signs from the story’s candle light vigil in the neighborhood.

🎊🎁 Celebrating our 3rd Birthday: The DAY OF (501c3) BIRTH for The Village Revival Project today!!! .2023As we raise thi...
07/24/2026

🎊🎁 Celebrating our 3rd Birthday: The DAY OF (501c3) BIRTH for The Village Revival Project today!!! .2023

As we raise this movement day by day, week by week, year by year— we have refined the model, thoroughly discussed language, built a team, created infrastructure and continue to build out strategy for local, statewide and even national implementation.

In fact, I was just on the West Coast today having a few conversations!! 🌿😎🌿

In case you’re new to The Revival— we workto create safer neighborhoods by using Art Therapy to build social cohesion between those found on both sides of violence.

We believe humanizing our neighbors and finding mutual empathy cures violence.

And in YEAR THREE, I’m proud to say we are currently providing…

🔹 Transformative Justice Programming
🔹 Art Therapy Curriculum & Fee for Service
🔹 Trauma Education Classes
🔹 Tabling Events
🔹 Healing Circles
🔹 Community-based Participatory Research
🔹 Theatrical Workshops (we wrote a play!)
🔹 Keynote Speaking on our Approach across the country
🔹 (2027) A Training Program for Ecosystem Providers

Passing a big slice of cake to the dynamic Board of Directors, our small but mighty team and our host of Revivalists building people-power out here ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 VRP wouldn’t exist without folks who truly believe in this vision to “revive the collective heartbeat of our Village”

by featuring at the NACCP’s 117th National Convention in Chicago 🌾 ….when “seeds” blaze trails of “fruit” for a ...
07/13/2026

by featuring at the NACCP’s 117th National Convention in Chicago 🌾

….when “seeds” blaze trails of “fruit” for a movement!!

✍🏼 Villages across the country are gasping for air as their Villagers hide out in silos, duck a public health crisis steeped in interpersonal gun violence while crying silent tears of anxiety, loss and powerlessness.

A Revival is in order.

A resuscitation of sorts.

An urgency to restore the collective heartbeat.

….yet to breathe together, we must love each other better.

We can love each other better.

But do you SEE ME? HEAR ME? FEEL ME?

The Village Revival Project believes that humanizing our neighbors (on both sides of harm) using trauma-informed empathy and accountability creates the social cohesion necessary to cure community violence

Simply put, interconnected humanity is the vaccine to our collective illness.

That said, as a community-based social worker and leader with 25 years experience, I am truly humbled to have the opportunity to share about this healing-centered revolution alongside super dope panelists from across the country. Counting down to this robust conversation about Building Hope & Breaking the Cycle of Trauma & Violence!!!

➡️ Conference Summary: We The People: A Nation Rooted in Health is not just another conference—it is a rallying cry to dismantle a fractured system. This summit brings together the architects of change—community leaders, innovative clinicians, policymakers, and everyday citizens—to demand a new paradigm. We are shifting the focus from treating sickness to cultivating health from the ground up, empowering communities, and redefining what it means to be a healthy nation. Join us to move beyond broken systems and build a sustainable and equitable foundation for health that truly serves all people. The time for incremental change is over. The time to root our nation in health is now.

Looking for creative ways to fund your work? 😳 Federal line items are getting cut. 🫠 Philanthropy can’t hold everything....
07/07/2026

Looking for creative ways to fund your work?
😳 Federal line items are getting cut.
🫠 Philanthropy can’t hold everything.
🥴 Grants are super competitive.

Over the course of the last year, we’ve been taking our Public Safety experience over to the ARTS side of the playground…eager to dissolve the silo between these 2 ecosystems. In our travels, we have learned about an amazing international model of impact and stream of income— called ArtsRx!!!

ArtsRx is an arts-on-prescription program that connects people to arts and cultural activities— such as music, visual arts, dance, and theater— to support mental, emotional, and social well-being through referrals from healthcare or community partners.

Like getting “prescribed” BY A DOCTOR to engage in 6 “music therapy” classes at X org for your anxiety because science proves that

That said, SHARING IS CARING and we care about our folks enough to teach you about how this concept works so you can apply it ‘round your way.

Presented by the Village Revival Project, Seeds & Berries, NJPAC and the NJVIP Coalition….

In this virtual session, you’ll:
Learn how arts and health initiatives are transforming communities across New Jersey while exploring how Arts in Health and Arts Prescribing create pathways to healing. Hear how NJPAC has built sustainable funding and partnerships, discover practical strategies for your own organization and participate in a live Q&A with NJPAC’s subject matter expert.

Who Should Join?
▶️ Community Ecosystem Leaders (across sector)
▶️ Grant Writers
▶️ Arts-Based Healers
▶️ Send a Rep if you can’t come

[Register Here for the ZOOM meeting link or click the QR code] https://lnkd.in/gw9FdKPC

Together, we can fund healing. Transform lives.

At The Village Revival Project, we create safe spaces to humanize the relationship between community members on both sid...
07/03/2026

At The Village Revival Project, we create safe spaces to humanize the relationship between community members on both sides of harm in order to “revive the collective heartbeat” of our Village!! Sometimes that process can be uncomfortable, strange or unfamiliar but with ART— our inner landscape can be expressed past the surface 🖤🩶🤍

by featuring 🔥 You may know my Seeds & Berries’ work across the country— impact strategist, trainer, clinician and...
06/23/2026

by featuring 🔥

You may know my Seeds & Berries’ work across the country— impact strategist, trainer, clinician and Healer of Healers but when you see me outside this summer?

👉🏼 Ask me about my nonprofit— The Village Revival Project— where we use art to build social cohesion between those found on both sides of violence. While we are based in Newark NJ, we are also clear that the Revival is called to Villages far and wide.

That said, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to present at GIFFORDS this year in my capacity of a Revivalist— working to create safe spaces that build humanity, foster empathy and cultivate connection between “neighbors” …. yes, even within a national ecosystem.

We deserve to be well. And whole. Together.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom delayed is freedom denied, and that liberation has never simply arrived because it wa...
06/19/2026

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom delayed is freedom denied, and that liberation has never simply arrived because it was promised. Even after emancipation was declared, people still had to organize, resist, and stand together to make freedom real.

That truth still calls to us today.

At VRP, we believe freedom lives in the collective. It grows when we build trust where harm has existed, when we create spaces for truth and healing, and when we refuse to leave one another behind.

Juneteenth teaches us that no one becomes free alone. Liberation moves through communities willing to imagine more, fight for more, and care for one another along the way.

So we continue the work of building interconnected power—neighbor by neighbor, story by story, relationship by relationship.

Because freedom is not a gift to be received.
It is a home we build together ❤️🖤💚

Going on 3 years (in public) in July. Honored and proud to contribute THIS mission to the community-based healing ecosys...
05/27/2026

Going on 3 years (in public) in July. Honored and proud to contribute THIS mission to the community-based healing ecosystem ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

My name is Alia Berry and as the Founder of VRP, I am a playwright.
05/27/2026

My name is Alia Berry and as the Founder of VRP, I am a playwright.

05/16/2026

Summary about our first PLAY!!! We have a few free tickets if you’re available tomorrow at 3pm 🩷🥳

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Newark, NJ

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