Care with, not care for.
THE TRAMPOLINE PROJECT is for people who have dreams of building something different - independent businesses aligned with their values and access needs, mutual aid networks or other anti-capitalist entrepreneurial ideas. Folks who are seeking support, shared wisdom, and collaborative problem solving in their process of radically reimagining. People orientated toward an intentional sharing of resources and building of community.
Those who believe that autonomy and mutuality are not exclusive of one another, that caring with one another is both possible, and necessary.
Why is this called “The Trampoline Project?”
We thought about calling our project an incubator but that felt too corporate/agricultural. We thought about calling it a training program, but that didn't fit our value of mutuality. In the meantime we were having experiences of our knowledge and work being appropriated by others without credit, or without the respect for the revolutionary core of our work, which made us feel like "stepping stones" for other people. So we didn't want to be an incubator, a training program, or a stepping stone. "Project Trampoline" started as a joke about our collective energy being both silly and subversive, with variable levels of intensity and chaos and sometimes unpredictable directionality. Eventually we realized that it was also the name that felt most reflective of our intentions, which is to help others launch their projects or take them to a higher level and to develop a community for finding joy, resilience, and sustainability in the world of care work.
Current Employment + Partnership Possibilities
We accept and review applications on a rolling basis. We will reach out if/when we feel one of our openings might be a good fit for you based on the information you share here and schedule a time to chat further!
We are currently open to the following possibilities for partnership:
Collaborative partnership agreement: Independently licensed provider in private practice.
A great fit for independently licensed providers who are ready to build their own private practice, or those already in private practice who are seeking the benefits of community, while maintaining full autonomy in their practice.
You determine your own hours, caseload, rates - you do your thing! We offer use of our resources - comfortable office space, therapy materials, lending library, forms/templates, referrals, peer support - as well as provide weekly individual consultation/support meetings. These individual meetings can provide support and compassionate accountability to help you build your something, opportunities to lean deeper into neuro and LGBTQIA+ affirming practices, and/or develop new offerings within your practice like assessment, groups, or other community offerings. *Independently licensed providers of all kinds who feel we might be a good fit are encouraged to apply (including psychiatrists, psychologists, LCSWs, LPCs, and LMFTs, as well as Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, and more!).
Independent Assessment Provider - Consultation Package
A great fit for independently licensed providers who are ready to build autism assessment or consultation services into their practice, and/or those who are already offering assessment services but would like opportunities for feedback and collaboration in building neuro+queer affirming practices in assessment for people of all ages and their loved ones.
Click here to complete our Assessment Consultation Application - we will reach out when we have our next opening!
Got another great idea for collaboration? Share with us! We are people with dynamic, and often limited capacity so can’t make any promises; but we invite you to complete a proposal form if you would like to offer your thoughts on possibilities!
This project is a work in progress...as are we.
A very brief history:
August 2011: The last two people to slip through the classroom door at 7:59 for the first 8:00 am class of their graduate program, Camille (now of Camille Rudney, LCSW) and Rachel (now of The Properties of Light) filled the final seats the universe had to offer that morning. Instinctively rejecting the norms of introductory ice breakers, we moved almost directly from sharing our names to a discussion of the depths of hope, grief, and rage in caring for others, and the feelings of alienation in the helping professions we each/both experienced.
August 2021: A decade of life and a pattern of chaotic + all-encompassing + life-sustaining walk-and-talks later, with a little help from the multiverse, we found ourselves sitting next to one another again, this time on new individual journeys rooted in values of community, interdependence, and mutual aid. Sharing the wisdom generously offered to each of us along the way, as well as all we had individually and collectively (un)learned, survived, dreamed, and gathered over the last decade, we set out to build something fundamentally different for ourselves, and an intentional practice of caring with others. Something that would allow us the autonomy to simply exist as we are and still experience belonging - something that would allow us the space, support, and accountability to grow/heal/evolve in hope + rage + joy + resistance…individually, and in community, as providers, and as people.
Trampoline Projects & Collaborators
Kimberly Embe, LCSW
Sage Way Therapy
Kimberly offers individual counseling services in her private practice, Sage Way Therapy, and is currently accepting new clients!
Kimberly will begin sharing space with the folks at The Properties of Light for in-person appointments beginning in December 2024.
In Kimberly’s words: “ I began my social work career in 2018 as a youth housing advocate working to address youth homelessness in the Richmond area. I have been fortunate enough to present my housing research on national and local levels and in 2022 created a free shared housing program for pregnant, parenting, and/or queer youth experiencing housing insecurity.
I am deeply passionate about addressing and dismantling systemic harm and oppression, and aspire to use my clinical practice to destigmatize mental health care and create equitable, trauma-informed for historically underserved populations.
I recognize that clients have a medley of identities, experience, and expertise they bring to this work. I offer specialized, trauma informed care that recognizes and uplifts the value and courage it takes to do this work, while identifying the systemic and individual factors that may impact one's mental health.”
To learn more about Kimberly and/or schedule an appointment visit Kimberly’s website: https://www.sagewaytherapy.com
Kasha Mustin Herek, M.A., CCC-SLP, Amazing Brains Therapy
Amazing Brains Therapy provides telehealth speech and language services throughout Virginia, and will begin offering in-person sessions at the offices of The Properties of Light on Fridays starting June 21st! And best of all, they are currently accepting new clients!!
Kasha (they/them or she/her) has been working in outpatient and early intervention settings since 2009, and is particularly passionate about working with young people with complex communication needs and sensory processing differences to increase communication access. Kasha believes strongly that communication is a human right, and understands the importance of autonomy, self-advocacy, and presuming competence in clients of all ages and abilities.
Kasha has focused experience in helping young people and families access Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices, and integrate multi-modal communication in daily family life. Kasha is also interested in supporting Natural Language Acquisition (NLA), or Gestalt Language Processing - an innate language processing pattern that is natural and part of the typical language development for many autistic and multiply neurodivergent young people!
Kasha is a certified member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. (ASHA) and is licensed to practice in Virginia. Kasha was also a founding organizer for Family Connections: Hampton Roads, a playgroup for families with trans, nonbinary and gender expansive kids, administered by the LGBT Life Center, PFLAG Hampton Roads and He She Ze and We, and continues to share that spirit of inclusion at Amazing Brains Therapy.
Visit their website to learn more about Kasha, Amazing Brains Therapy, and to schedule a 15 minute no-cost consultation appointment!
Angelica Gehlich, MSW, LCSW
Prince Kitty Co.
Angelica Gehlich (she/they), LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker/ LGBTQIA+ / gender / neurodivergence identity -affirming therapist who specializes in working with people who have experienced traumatic events throughout their lives.
Their professional background includes working at non-profit and private agencies local and internationally. They have worked with adults and youth in individual and group formats who have experienced trauma, gender violence, cult and manipulative involvement groups, challenging life transitions, general day to day stressors with a goal of developing a renewed sense of self. They value everyone's individual and collective experience and will honor each person at exactly where they are in their journey.
Prince Kitty Co is the overarching birth place of the idea behind the collective Q-CECI (queer affirming community engagement & collaboration initiative).
It serves as a non-capitalist avenue for embracing connection, collaboration, and support in our local communities while working towards making mental and physical health services accessible to all. Our overarching mission is improving accessibility for everyone to have access to resources/basic needs and to promote sharing/exchange over capitalism. At this time the focus surrounds accessibility to resources, community work, meow merch, and pay-what-you-can gender affirming trainings/workshops/consultations for your company or organization.
Links: www.princekittyco.com / https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/angelica-gehlich-midlothian-va/857830 / Instagram: princekittycollc / www.tinyurl.com/AngelicasSelfCareSpace
