June 2019 Newsletter

Jun 11, 2019 | Uncategorized

Dear Friends of The Sunny Center,

Here’s looking at you, kid!
 
It’s all about perspective and from our point of view, our supporters and friends around the globe are an important and integral part of a worldwide movement for human rights and social justice! It is through their support that we are able to offer healing, help and a home away from home for those who have been wrongfully convicted of a crime they never committed. It is hard to imagine an injustice that could be more grievous. So we want to acknowledge all of you who have been part of the Sunny Center network of friends, family and supporters. We thank you every day for making our work possible.
 
And if you would like to see our healing work with exonerees at the Sunny Center continue so that we can help exonerees to help themselves, please consider a donation now. It is a very simple act that can have the most profound impact on someone’s life – someone who has suffered in ways no one deserves.
 

OUR EXONEREE GUESTS AND VISITORS

An exoneree in Pakistan whose justice organization is planning to launch a Sunny Center there.
 
The Sunny Center in Ireland was first launched in 2014 and since then we are so proud of the many significant ways our non-profit has grown and evolved. We have welcomed into our home in Connemara scores of exonerees from places between California and Taiwan. We’ve had both male and female exonerees, a pair of brothers, and married exonerees cross our threshold. And last fall, we opened the first permanent community residence for exonerees in Tampa, FL, which continues to flourish in ways we could never have predicted. We have been richly and warmly welcomed into the community of Tampa by locals, who have offered donations of money, time, furniture, appliances and, most especially, acceptance.
 
And now as the Sunny Center continues to grow, we are looking to other exonerees to use our approach as a template for other Sunny Centers around the globe, like the one that is in the process of being planned in Pakistan by an exoneree there. We hope that the Sunny Center will serve as a model of hope and healing throughout the world for the wrongly-convicted everywhere. 

OUR VOLUNTEERS 

Tress and Sunny
 
Behind the scenes and on the ground are the many members of a corps of volunteers who keep the Sunny Center running smoothly, both when we are here and when we are not. Our veteran four-time-visitor is Tress, who spent some time with us this past month and whom we miss dearly. Thank you Tress for all that you do for us! 
Amy and her partner at her graduation. 

And our very first volunteer Amy Fly is also now our very first volunteer with a newly-minted law degree! We hope that the experience she has had with the Sunny Center was rewarding and will help inform her work as she follows her legal dreams! Congratulations Amy! We are so proud of you!!!


OUR FURRY AND FEATHERED FRIENDS

Relaxing with the kitties.
 
We are always really busy at the Sunny Center because the need for justice never rests. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to relax every now and again. We take lessons from the kitties! 
Woody, RIP
 
Our furry and feathered friends are all part of our extensive Sunny Center family and one guy that was at the heart of it all was Woody. Trained as a service dog for Sunny, but also the love bug that required no training in the heart department, we are sad to share the news of his passing this month. He will be very much missed. 

OUR ACTIVISM 

Peter beneath a monument to the struggle for freedom. 

This past month we spent some time in Italy where Sunny’s book Stolen Time was published in Italian! The country warmly welcomed us and the book was well-received. Our book tour included stops in Turin and Carigna where we met with volunteers who work with the Red Cross and refugees. We were hosted by the community of Sant Egidio.

Sunny and a volunteer for the Red Cross and refugee center. 

STAY CONNECTED 

The grass is greener.
 
Freedom gives you the ability to stop and smell the roses, and the buttercups, clover and bluebells! We are grateful for every day of our freedom and we are also grateful for all you faithful readers who keep tabs on our work. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your interest and your support. The donations you give are the gifts that keep on giving to exonerees from near to far. Thank you! 

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.