01/03/2026
It is with heavy hearts that we write this letter in the wake of ongoing tragedies, both here at home and globally, over the past weeks and throughout this year, particularly two deeply tragic events that shocked communities locally and around the world. On December 13, 2025, a mass shooting occurred on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where two students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, were killed, and nine others were wounded during an exam study session. One day later, a terrorist assault during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, claimed many lives and wounded dozens of members from the Jewish community, including the loss of Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife, Sofia, 61, who attempted to stop the assailant. These acts of violence go beyond those who are directly involved and affect all communities. For those whose holidays will now be marked by grief, the sadness is unimaginably deep. For many, the trauma of these events compounds a year already saturated with incidents of unrest and loss.
As an organization committed to mitigating mental health distress and promoting healing, we stand in solidarity with all those who are suffering. We recognize that trauma impacts not only the individuals directly harmed, but also ripples through families and communities.
