A Carebook for Caregivers in East Harlem

What happens when caregivers are given space to focus on themselves?

This spring, Moving Rasa partnered with caregivers in East Harlem to explore that question through two four-session cohorts—one Spanish-speaking and one English-speaking. Together, caregivers reflected on stress, calm, boundaries, movement, storytelling, and the wisdom already living in their own experiences. What emerged was not simply a workshop series, but a co-created resource: the East Harlem Carebook.

Rather than beginning with advice, we began with listening.

Through movement, drawing, writing, conversation, and playful exploration, caregivers investigated what stress felt like in their bodies, how they recognized moments of calm, and what helped them move toward greater ease. As the weeks unfolded, caregivers helped shape many of the Carebook's core ideas, including the Calm Body, Stressed Body, the Monster, and exploring new pathways through everyday challenges.

One participant captured an experience many others echoed:

"I realized I wasn't alone."

That sense of shared experience became one of the project's greatest discoveries. By the final sessions, caregivers were remembering one another's stories, offering encouragement, and helping each other see possibilities they hadn't noticed before. Our co-facilitator, Juan Viveros, reflected that participants arrived cautiously but gradually became more relaxed, playful, and willing to share, creating a space where the methodology itself was shaped by the community.

This project was made possible through the partnership of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, LSA Family Health Service, and Aspen Horizons, whose commitment to caregiver wellbeing created the conditions for this work to happen. We are also deeply grateful to Pastor Jordan Jones, whose outreach, trusted relationships, and presence helped connect the project with caregivers and support the community throughout the process.

Most of all, we are grateful to every caregiver who shared a story, created a drawing, moved with us, asked a difficult question, or offered encouragement to someone sitting beside them.

The East Harlem Carebook is not a book of expert answers. It is a book created with caregivers—one that reminds us that even in the midst of responsibility, there is space to pause, to listen to the body, and to discover that we do not have to carry everything alone.