January 2019 Newsletter

Jan 17, 2019 | Uncategorized

Dear Friends of The Sunny Center,

The daffodils and bushes are beginning to appear on the last day of 2018.

It’s 2019 and we can hardly believe it! Here has arrived a new year full of promise and hope. As for us, our promise and hope is to help more exonerees achieve happy, hopeful and productive lives. And we are aiming to expand that promise globally. Last year, we opened our home at the Sunny Center to more individual exonerees, more couples and more women exonerees from more countries than ever before. And, we also established the first exoneree community of its kind, Exonerees for Exonerees, in Tampa, Florida. We hope to expand our reach in 2019 even further.
 
Of course, we need your help to reach this goal. In honor of 2019, please consider a donation of $19, $119, $219 or $2019. And also consider a recurring gift of any amount, as that way your donation is a gift that keeps on giving all year long! We have dipped heavily into our resources helping exonerees who need our assistance and we hope you can help us with a donation, especially now. 
 
We appreciate your support and look forward to sharing 2019 with you!


OUR EXONEREE GUESTS AND VISITORS

Chilling at the Sunny Center, waiting for our next visitor.  

 We are still working to smooth out the Visa wrinkles of our expected exoneree guest from Pakistan. And we have a long list of exonerees waiting for a spot to open up for a visit to the Sunny Center in the coming year. Any exoneree who would like to apply and would benefit from coming to the Sunny Center should get in touch as we are preparing the calendar for the year. Or if there is any exoneree who needs to be relocated to a permanent residence, please apply here and tell us about your circumstances so that we can see if we can offer a place at the Sunny Center community Exonerees for Exonerees in Florida. Anyone who wants to visit or volunteer, should also get in touch. 


OUR VOLUNTEERS 

Our volunteer Mary Ellen from Galway..

Sometimes our volunteers become friends and sometimes our friends become volunteers. Mary Ellen has been coming out once a month to help me keep the Sunny Center in good order. She’s a good friend as well as a good volunteer.


OUR FURRY AND FEATHERED FRIENDS

Podge and Rodge, Jillie and Jodi Dodi hanging out together. 
 
This time of year, our furry and feathered friends seem to be in relaxation mode! It’s a good time of year to lay out in front of a sunny window, spread out by the fire or hang out together in the fields. 

OUR ACTIVISM 

Two of our residents, along with a local news reporter and our exoneree support coordinator Dorothy. 

We expect that 2019 will be even busier than 2018! We already have plans to be part of a special screening of the film Fallout and presentation at the United Nations and attend our first Sunny Center board meeting of 2019. We will keep you posted!
 
In the not too distant future, the Sunny Center is going to need to relocate. To date we have been renting our Sunny Center residence in Ireland but it is our goal to establish a permanent residence for the Sunny Center in order to provide continuity and the longterm stability of our work. So please look for more news to come on your social media. 


STAY CONNECTED 

Three of our exonerees who have found freedom and a home at the Sunny Center community residence.

As we enjoy the lengthening of days and the stronger sun, we hope for peace and love and joy in the world in 2019. We also are reassured by our network of dear friends and supporters. We thank you for working together with us to make the Dream of a better life happen for so many and, please rest assured, we ARE making a difference in the world! 
 
Peace and Love, 
 
Sunny and Peter 

Remembering Peter

My dear Peter is gone.
We sang him home on the last day of the year, gathered around his bedside as we had done for so many days before.

‘Send them green.’ A special message from a Sunny Center supporter!

“I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest at the Sunny Center this past July. My first trip to Ireland, it always is a magical moment to visit friends who live overseas…”

Exonerees are succeeding, thanks to you!

Helping people exonerated of crimes they did not commit, setting them back on the path to a fulfilling life, is a monumental task that we depend on the dedication of volunteers, both near and far, to achieve.

Even in summer, the work doesn’t stop

We’re in midsummer now, with its long days that stretch until 11 in the evening here in Ireland. It’s a busy time for everyone and everything.

The power of art to heal and renew

Did you know that Peter was a woodworker and an artist? He created so many things. But more importantly, he taught those skills to other Exonerees when they visited the Center.

Looking for green shoots

Photo by Samantha Bookman. Peter and I chose to situate the Sunny Healing Center here in this beautiful location in the west of Ireland. A newcomer may at first see only a barren, rocky, windswept landscape. But, put your hand on the earth here, and you can feel the...

A message from Sunny about Peter

The time has come to say farewell to our dear Peter, who is in the process of transitioning from this body and this plane.

Finding Peace, Joy and Hope

The events in Ukraine over the past several days have been ever-present in all of our lives through the daily news and constant social media. These times can be especially difficult for Exonerees because of the traumas they are working to overcome.

Love Is Always the Answer

Winter is always a little bit quieter than the rest of the year. After a long day spent maintaining the Sunny Healing Center and getting it ready for visitors, it’s time for us to cuddle up with the kittens and, of course, Barney, on chilly winter evenings with a warm fire in the hearth.

A Happy, Healthy and Healing New Year to All

Love has no barriers and no limits. And neither does our gratitude for your continuing support and friendship. Know that you are never alone, because you are part of our family.

Happy Holidays to Our Friends Near and Far!

These are extraordinary times. And you’ve all been extraordinary supporters. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to keep helping Exonerees in the midst of a global emergency.