Culture of Safety April 2026 Newsletter
Dear Culture of Safety friends and supporters,
March has been intense! Fozhi and Kyren successfully hosted No-School Day camps for Election Day and PT conference Day in March (17-18) while Amy worked the polls for the Illinois primary election. Additionally, Kyren and Amy taught Self-Defense to a group of girl scouts Friday March 20th. And of course, Kyren has been getting ready for their medical leave, preparing our new Shiatsu practitioner Christopher for the gap when they’ll be recovering. This is all on top of our ‘usual’ load of teaching 20 karate classes per week, many hours of admin/marketing and Kyren seeing as many Shiatsu clients as they can before their leave. Phew!
April is proving to be an exciting and busy time as well. We’ll be closed Thursday 4/2 through Saturday 4/4 — for Kyren’s surgery and immediate recovery. Classes will resume Tues 4/7 (not taught by Kyren!)
Here are some highlights of what’s to come for Culture of Safety in April onward !
- NEW Summer Camps!
- Empowerment & Self-Defense workshop schedule is live
- Kyren’s medical leave
- Upcoming workshops & events
Summer Camps 2026
We are so excited to be able to now offer 3 Summer Camp weeks in 2026! Register your child now!
We previously announced that we are again offering our ever-popular Ninja Turtle Basics Camp (6/15-6/19) and Karate Basics Board Breaking Camp (8/3-8/7), both of which are open to kids ages 6-14).
We didn’t think we’d be able to offer a third week, but with the extra-long summer break before CPS resumes end of August, we decided to add back our third week. We’re excited to announce our second annual Youth and Teen Empowerment Camp (for ages 10-16). We offered this camp for older youth and teens for the first time last year to great success.
So many camps focus on supporting younger kids, which is necessary and important. But as we have learned, this means that older kids and teens who attend multi-age camps are often ignored and long for a space of their own to process experiences with kids closer to their age. Our Youth and Teen Empowerment Camp takes this to a whole new level. We design activities with youth and teen empowerment in mind. As an example, last year all the participants took turns sharing emotional regulation strategies in one session. In another session, we focused on developing self-confidence. In another, we focused on team-building skills. As a queer/trans/non-binary run business, we openly encourage trans, gender-questioning, gender-nonconforming kids (and kids with queer or trans parents) to register. Allies are always welcome!
Empowerment & Self-Defense Schedule for 2026
We are excited to announce that we finally have our Empowerment and Self-Defense workshop schedule and registration open for the rest of 2026! Register now!
- Empowerment & Sexual Assault Prevention for Teens and Young Adults: Saturday, April 18, 4:30 – 6:30
- Empowerment & Self-Defense for Older Teens and Adults : Saturday, July 18th 4:30 – 6:30
- Back-to-School Safety for Kids: Saturday, September 12th, 4:30 – 6:00
- De-Escalation and Bystander Intervention: Saturday, October 17th, 4:30 – 6:30
Kyren’s gender-affirming top surgery
Gender-affirming top surgery has become a medical necessity for Kyren. It is unfortunately quite expensive, and the recovery is even more expensive.
Unlike people with desk jobs, who can often return to work fully after just 1-2 weeks of recovery, Kyren is told they won’t be able to see Shiatsu/massage clients for a minimum of 6 weeks. They may be able to return to teaching karate slowly and carefully and with a lot of support after just 2 weeks, but won’t be back at full capacity until 6-8 weeks. For a small business run by the two of us (with Amy being Kyren’s primary medical team), this means we’ll need to cancel classes for a few days (Thurs 4/2-Sat 4/4), be short-staffed in classes for a few additional weeks, and will suffer loss of Shiatsu/massage client income for up to 2 months.
Here’s how you can help:
Write a Google Review for Culture of Safety. We’re so not kidding! Every bit of support for the business means greater security for us before and after surgery.
Donate to Kyren’s GoFundMe
Sign up to bring food to Kyren after surgery (via MealTrain)
Upcoming workshops & events
Summer camps
Looking for interactive and empowering day care for the upcoming CPS closures? We have 3 weeks of summer camps. Looking to fill that gap before or after Chicago Park District camps with interactive, empowering, and engaging activities? We’ve got you covered!
Merry Music Makers – Registration is OPEN for Spring quarter music classes held at Culture of Safety. Classes are Wednesdays 9:30am April 1 – June 30 and are are open to kids age 5 and under and their caregivers. Classes are taught by our very own community member Megan Edwards (mother of Senpai Jay).
Meditation classes – Join our ongoing Beginners Meditation series (in the samatha tradition). We meet Sundays 10am-11:30. The class is currently drop-in and meets weekly (Beginners welcome). Spring session starts April 5th. The practice is freely given and open to all. There is no charge for the practice and teachers are not remunerated for their time. Learn more or register online.
Tai Chi Classes – Sifu Rodrigo’s Tai Chi classes meet Mondays at 7pm, All classes are drop-in, open to beginners. Suggested donation $15 per class. Learn more online or register to receive email reminders.
Empowerment & Sexual Assault Prevention Self-Defense Workshop (for Teens and Young Adults)
Join us April 18, 4:30 – 6:30 for our next Self-Defense workshop. Learn how to feel and be safer, stronger, and more self-confident through our empowerment-based workshop. This workshop is for Teens and Young adults (ages 14-29) and offers both physical resistance skills to slow down an attacker and get away to safety, as well as communication strategies to deter violence before it starts. Our workshops are always interactive, engaging, accessible for all bodies and abilities, and trauma-informed. Open to adults of all genders and gender identities. Register here.