The Uplands Center held a healing retreat for Tracy McCarter, a survivor of domestic violence, and the solidarity committee that mobilized around, and eventually secured, her release from the Rikers Island jail complex. Tracy, a nurse, was incarcerated after she stabbed her estranged husband in self-defense when he attacked her in her apartment in March 2020 and spent nearly seven months in prison as a result. Her experience is, unfortunately, far from unique; in New York, 90% of incarcerated women are survivors of domestic violence.

Tracy’s Place is a grassroots group active in the New York chapter of Survived & Punished which forms part of a national coalition of women who experienced domestic and sexual violence and became incarcerated because of their efforts to survive the abuse. Nationally the group works in Chicago, New York and California “to de-criminalize efforts to survive, support and free criminalized survivors, and abolish gender violence.” 

At the Uplands, the group enjoyed a series of optional activities, many facilitated by the group’s organizers and participants, including workshops on grief, radical rest and boundaries, an art project, sound baths, massage therapy, a nature hike and a garden tour.