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Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Sam Gil
Camillus House
305-374-1065 ext. 328 (office)
samgil@camillus.org • www.camillus.org
YOGA IN THE PARK BRINGS INNER PEACE BY BENEFITING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HOMELESS
MIAMI – For Hector Alvarez, yoga is a discipline that yields great mental, physical and spiritual benefits for the practitioner, in addition to helping the community.
This vision inspired Hector to start It’s Yoga Miami, a weekly community-based program that introduces new people to the ancient Indian art of unifying the body, the mind, and the spirit through the practice of conscious breathing. The purpose behind It’s Yoga Miami is to generate interest from non-yoga practitioners in the hopes of creating a calmer, healthier, and more balanced community, while contributing to the less fortunate in South Florida.
Held every Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at Kennedy Park, It’s Yoga Miami is led by a variety of instructors and is open to anyone. The instructors and practitioners form all levels, gather at the beautiful bay-front park, where the outdoor practice invigorates their body and enlightens their spirit. After the yoga class, practitioners are welcome to make a voluntary donation, all of which goes to support Camillus Health Concern – a Health Care for the Homeless grantee that provides services to South Florida’s low-income population and includes: adult primary care, pediatric services, women’s preventative services and case management.
The suggested donation is $10 per person, but participants are free to contribute any amount.
The donations from It’s Yoga Miami have been used for a variety of purposes, including printing educational brochures and distributing pillboxes for the patients.
“A pillbox for a person who is homeless is more useful than one may think,” said Gloria Barbier, Camillus House’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “Sometimes, they are not sure what day of the week it is, and their pillboxes help them remember it, keeping them on track with their medicines,” added Barbier.
Hector originally designed It’s Yoga Miami to run from November 2007 to February 2008, but the response from the community as well as the enthusiasm from the over twenty professional yoga teachers involved in this project, has been so positive that it has evolved into a weekly event.
So far, about 800 people have participated, from which over 400 have done yoga for the first time. Their contribution has been not only to themselves but over $5000 dollars have been raised for the CHC.
Hector explained that the Yoga classes have not only inspired a healthier community, but a more supportive community as well. On February 16, a one-day special fundraiser for CHC, 180 students and ten Yoga instructors gathered together for class, making it their biggest class to-date. About $2,000 was raised that day, and an anonymous donor provided a match for the whole amount. Others, like the anonymous donor and her two children also did, have volunteered their time at the Camillus House shelter for the homeless. Hector and his daughter have also volunteered at Camillus House, serving food and spearheading additional efforts to raise funds for the homeless.
Hector ignited the flame of the initiative, but he currently does not teach every Saturday’s class. Other local Yoga instructors have continued with this great initiative and have volunteered their time for It’s Yoga Miami and its noble goals. Some of these local teachers include Veronica Vidal, Luana Hervier, Victor Munoz, Richard Sherman, Pema Losada, Rina Jakubowicz, Beatriz Ozorio, Primo Jones, Valentina Lopez, Sharain Santalla, Carmen Romero and ever growing list of teachers.
Founded in 1984, Camillus Health Concern, Inc. (CHC) is sponsored by the Brothers of the Good Shepherd under the auspices of the United States Catholic Church and offers persons who are homeless, and low-income population the opportunity to receive quality care in a professional and comfortable setting in various locations in the county.
Camillus House has provided humanitarian services to the indigent and homeless populations of Miami-Dade County for 47 years. Established by the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd in 1960, Camillus House has grown steadily over the years from a small overnight shelter into a full-service center for persons who are poor and homeless.
