"POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO CARE: A Warrior Mama's Manifesto," 2016 Newberry Library
Welcome to this ever-changing site.
I have worked as a single mama, bilingual special education teacher, circle keeper, developmental therapist in home and clinical settings, community ESL teacher, mentor, coach, caring economy advocate, activist, intergenerational community organizer, domestic worker providing disability care, eldercare, and childcare, writer, interviewer, editor and public speaker - and I've had to self-exile from many wonderful callings due to a lack of funding, resources, or regard for public health...
but I continue to write, create, and live my passion - working with people. I love people. I'm seeking more opportunities to learn, teach, create, facilitate and collaborate, all while working towards my north star: funding, creating and proliferating sanctuary spaces for caregivers and the people they love.
Caregivers are society's peacemakers, our antidotes to a culture of violence and extraction. Imagine a world where everyone - especially those who do the reproductive labor of caring for others - has....
Land trusts & affordable housing
Safe spaces to connect, build networks, heal from harm, and practice restorative & transformative justice
Resources to build social enterprises and worker co-ops
Financial support to pay for or provide quality care for children, elders, & disabled loved ones
Tools for popular education, horizontal leadership & collective decision-making
Intergenerational, multilingual gathering spaces for support, community, creativity, & fun 🎵
Let's work together to build that world.
Kate Duva (aka O'Rourke), M.Ed, DT, CEIM
MFA in Creative Writing, Columbia College
Certified Teacher: MEd in Special Education
UIC Bilingual Education Endorsement expected 2023 (Spanish/English; ASL learner)
Developmental Therapist & specialist in DIR / Floortime & Sensory Integration
Restorative Justice Circle Keeper trained at CJYI, TRHT, and Amplify RJ
Certified Educator of Infant Massage
Certified Caring Economy Advocate
additional experience & training in:
Theater of the Oppressed, The Work That Reconnects, White Folks & Racial Justice / PIC Abolition, Social Permaculture, AAC (augmentative & alternative communication), virtual education, collaboration & event facilitation, curriculum design, group processes, popular education, antidotes to white supremacy culture, & LGBTQIA+ affirming practices
a few of my published stories, interviews
& essays:
Domestic Workers Save Lives
El Amor de la Comunidad: Loving Community with LSNA Ambassadors
From Self-Defense to Self-Determination: Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative
Come for the Fun, Stay for the Revolution
Demeter in Kansas (excerpt from novel-in-progress, Inside the Wow)
POPULAR EDUCATION:
How to facilitate meetings, classes & events that build community and empower people to speak up, lead & take action
