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Essential

Living Nonviolence: Practical Tools for Daily Life

Avatar: Dennis Redmond Dennis Redmond
Idea Submission for The People's Money:
This project will offer scalable 2-hour “Living Nonviolence” workshops across Queens, providing hundreds of residents with simple, everyday tools they can use to improve their relationships, manage internal conflict, reduce reactivity, and strengthen their sense of agency and meaning. These workshops can be delivered at community centers, libraries, NYCHA sites, schools, and other neighborhood spaces throughout the borough. Each session gives participants three practical, take-home nonviolence tools they can begin using immediately. The workshops are experiential, accessible, and designed to work across cultures, languages, and life experiences—making nonviolence a practical skill that anyone can apply in daily life.
What is the problem your idea aims to address?
Despite living in one of the most diverse and dynamic cities in the world, many New Yorkers struggle with rising stress, interpersonal conflict, isolation, and a sense of disconnection from themselves and others. Daily pressures—financial strain, caregiving responsibilities, discrimination, trauma, neighborhood tensions, and the constant pace of city life—often leave people reactive, overwhelmed, or disconnected from their own well-being. These internal conditions make it harder to resolve conflicts peacefully, maintain healthy relationships, participate in community life, or act with compassion during moments of pressure. At the same time, most residents have never been taught practical, accessible tools for managing internal conflict, reducing reactivity, transforming resentment, or making choices that lead to greater coherence and well-being. Schools rarely teach these skills. Workplaces and community programs often focus on crisis response rather than prevention. And many traditional “conflict resolution” resources are too technical, too clinical, or too time-intensive to reach the general public. The result is a growing, citywide gap: people want to live peacefully and build stronger communities, but lack simple, everyday tools to do so. This initiative addresses that gap by making nonviolence a practical, learnable skill—one that any person can use to improve their inner life, de-escalate conflict, and strengthen their daily interactions.
Which groups does your idea focus on? Select all that apply
Youth (under 24)
Older Adults (65 +)
Public Housing Residents
Justice Impacted People
People with Disabilities
Limited English Speakers
Immigrants / Migrants
Veterans
LGBTQIA+ People
Parents
Unhoused People
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