The JoyCore Project

The JoyCore Project

Welcome to

Hey, I’m Jade,

I’m community-rooted social worker, doula, educator, creative, and survivor. I created The JoyCore Project as an act of reclamation—of joy, creativity, and collective healing. I believe healing doesn’t happen in isolation or in sterile spaces; it happens in community, through art, through story, through building something new together.

My work is shaped by lived experience, including complex trauma and years of personal healing. I’ve spent the last decade weaving together frameworks from disability justice, reproductive justice, abolitionist care, and expressive arts therapy to build something that feels radically whole. I hold a deep commitment to people of the global majority and believe joy is not just medicine—it’s our birthright.

This belief is the heart of my framework of Joy Access, which recognizes joy as both a vital sign of well-being and a strategy for liberation.

Joy Access is a healing justice framework that treats joy as an embodied need—especially for those impacted by systemic harm. It centers cultural and creative practices not just as complementary, but as core interventions in building thriving communities. It asks: what becomes possible when joy is prioritized in policy, care, and design?

For many years, I considered myself a “closet creative,” unsure if I had the right to claim space as an artist. But art—especially poetry, storytelling, and expressive practices—became the most powerful tools in my healing. Over time, they became my method, my offering, and my map.

Through JoyCore, we’re reclaiming an arts-in-health model rooted in social prescribing, cross-sector collaboration, and economic justice for culture-bearers. We work at the intersection of public health, abolition, and creative placemaking—bringing together artists, youth, healers, and system-impacted communities to co-create long-term pathways toward joy access and recovery. We don’t believe healing happens in silos—it happens in vibrant, messy, art-filled, justice-rooted community.

We’re building a world where joy is accessible, where artists and culture-bearers are supported, and where care is creative, consent-driven, and community-centered. I’m currently completing my MSW and expressive arts therapy training, and my happiest moments are when I’m dreaming with others, painting big visions, and laughing loudly in rooms filled with possibility.

Let’s build something joyful, together.

Our Mission

The JoyCore Project exists to advance Joy Access for people of the global majority through creative, embodied, and justice-centered offerings. We design experiences, spaces, and systems that support healing, rest, expression, and collective power — reclaiming joy as a vital resource for survival, recovery, and liberation.

Our Values

Joy is a Birthright, and Access Matters.

We believe that joy is not a luxury — it’s a vital resource. Our work is rooted in advancing Joy Access as a tool for survival, healing, connection, and liberation.

Artists are Public Health Workers.

Culture bearers, creatives, and storytellers are essential to the health of our communities. We honor artists as frontline workers of collective care, wellness, and transformation.

Centering the Most Vulnerable Heals Us All.

When we center the wisdom, needs, and leadership of those most impacted by oppression, we build systems that are more just, accessible, and life-affirming for everyone.

Embodied, Ancestral, and Internal Ways of Knowing Matter.

We uplift cultural, spiritual, and embodied knowledge alongside evidence-based practices — honoring ways of knowing that have long been dismissed or devalued by dominant systems.

Liberation is Designed.

We design joyful, justice-rooted systems and spaces that are intentional, strategic, and deeply human. We believe that everything — from rest practices to program structure — can be an act of resistance and redesign.

The JoyCore Project Components

Social Prescription Models

Cultivating ecosystems of care.

Joy Access for Design

Leveraging the Joy Access Framework for solutions, systems design and strategy.

Artist’s Guild

Building power. Thriving artists have always been an indicator of a thriving society.

Cross-training Artists as Public Health Workers

Expanding impact. Deepening the intersection between arts and health.

Our Partnership

The JoyCore Project is partnered with and fiscally sponsored by Mighty Community Advocacy, a collaboration that allows us to amplify our efforts and expand the reach of our programs. We started our journey by launching our first program, the Perinatal Health Cohort, which was sponsored by The Biz Stoop. This cohort focused on supporting young BIPOC parents, offering a blend of education, creative expression, and emotional support during the perinatal period. Through this program, we empowered parents to recover joy during the transformative and often challenging time: becoming parents.

Since then, we’ve gone on to write grants and design new programs in collaboration with Mighty Community Advocacy, focusing on creating healing and joy-centered spaces for marginalized communities.


  • November 2024 - May 2025

    Empowering young BIPOC parents by providing support, education, and a creative space to reconnect with joy and confidence during their parenting journey.

    Photos below.

  • The Family Outdoors Access Cohort is designed to increase outdoor access, enhance water safety, and strengthen community ties. We hope to provide space for family fun and wellness over this 6 month cohort program.

    Families are invited to apply for the opportunity to engage in this offering through their commitment to attend the scheduled events throughout the cohort experience.

    Free infant-toddler swim lessons in June & July.

    4 Outdoors , weekend Summer Outings from June - August.

    Gear, food, and transportation provided! And more!

    1 Fall outdoor excursion day

    1 winter snow day

    The whole family is invited to participate!

    REGISTER HERE

1807 Broadway

Are you an artist with a dream that centers community, connection, care or healing?

Are you looking for space to activate your vision?

Are you interested in better working conditions and experiences for artists?

Our space at 1807 Broadway is collectively operated by our Artist Guild.

Join us.

We believe thriving artists are an indicator of a thriving society.

Join a collective of artists shaping Fresno into a place where artists thrive and contribute directly to community health.

Follow Us on Instagram: @thejoycoreproject