Project Heirloom Annual Report

Annual Report — 2029 Project Heirloom Rhode Island Chapter — Compiled by Amy Qu

Ivan Barron Project Heirloom Rhode Island Chapter Founder

To my beloved Rhode Island family, Thank you. Thank you for an incredibly fulfilling year of stewardship and advocacy. Our work to halt cycles of intergenerational trauma, promote community resilience, and advance policy creation would not be possible without your support. Your contributions to Project Heirloom’s research have made Rhode Island a more equitable, safer, and healthier place for all people to live, work, and play. As I look back on our fifth year as an organization, I am stunned by how much we’ve been able to achieve. Just in the past year, Project Heirloom has defended funding for local public schools, supported the creation of vocational training programs, halted the construction of housing developments that would push out local working class families, and much more. I am excited to continue this work, and honored to bear witness to the fruit of our collective efforts. In the oncoming year, not only do I hope to advance our social campaigns, but I also hope to advance our research efforts. Our longstanding partnership with Brown University has allowed us access to some of the brightest minds and most innovative technologies in the country. We’re working hard to research more efficient methods of DNA processing and uncover previously unaddressed geographic inequalities. Our partnerships with local organizations, such as Project WEBER/RENEW and the Rhode Island Foundation, have also been immensely successful. Without our local partners, Project Heirloom’s DNA testing efforts wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. While we’ve made progress, it’s important to remember that our work is far from over. The events of the last year have shown troubling indicators of eroding trust in institutions, eroding interpersonal trust, and inadequate government responses to rampant health and wealth disparity. Yet, we do not give up hope. Project Heirloom is committed to building a better world for generations to come. Each DNA contribution that we process is just another small step towards the future that we all desperately need and deserve. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for aiding us in this mission, and I hope that our efforts from the past year make you proud. Sincerely,



Project Heirloom is dedicated to breaking cycles of intergenerational harm through citizen data collection, population monitoring, community engagement, and policy change.

Unaddressed intergenerational trauma threatens: Aboriginal children in a Canadian residential school, 1932 (United Church of Canada). our collective health,

Indigenous performer Danielle Migwans on Canada Day, 2011 (Osorio, REUTERS). trust in institutions,

and our

futures.

Objective 1 Facilitate community-wide DNA testing to detect epigenetic markers associated with trauma.



Objective 2 Use geographic distribution of test results as an indicator of inequitable resource distribution.



Objective 3 Catalyze the creation of trauma- preventive policies and social programs.



Objective 4 Reframe trauma as a solvable public health issue rather than an individual burden.



Be a part of som

mething bigger.

Thank you!