Love is in the air and we are feeling it. Hyde Park Refugee Project was thrilled to learn that Om on the Range, a yoga studio located on Chicago’s north side, will hold a Partner Yoga Workshop fundraiser in which all the proceeds will benefit HPRP and one other charity. The annual event, led by owners Beth Range Kiely and her husband Terry Kiely, marks the seventeenth anniversary of the studio that first opened its doors on Valentine’s Day, 2002.
“My husband Terry and I mark the anniversary of Om on the Range with an annual Partner’s Yoga Workshop with all funds supporting local charities,” explains Beth. “This special event is always held around Valentine’s Day and includes practicing yoga together and assisting your partner in collaborative ways. It ends with relaxing Thai Yoga Massage.”
Beth explains that Jeanne Century, Refugee Project volunteer and yoga instructor at ‘Om’, inspired their choice of charities this year.
“We love Jeanne Century and that is why we are supporting HPRP,” says Beth. “She is a teacher and assistant at our yoga studio and we admire her in many ways. It’s a small way for us to recognize her active volunteerism, to highlight her commitment to helping refugees and to spread the word of your organization’s efforts.”
Jeanne and her husband Michael Weisman have been involved with HPRP since its earliest days. Both helped pull things together for the apartments when the first two Syrian families arrived. Later, Michael became a mentor and Jeanne volunteered to organize medical care support for one of the largest family’s supported by the Refugee Project.
“After a difficult start up related to permissions, Medicaid, and a whole range of medical needs, things are more stable, but I continue to help with the family’s appointments because they are our friends, and they need our help,” says Century. “As the mother of two, I am filled with admiration and empathy for Rasha* who has six children, two with particular needs. I can’t imagine.”
Jeanne’s love for yoga started at an early age.
“My mother was a yogini before her time. When I was a kid, my mom used to watch “Lilias Yoga and You” and her time behind her bedroom door doing yoga was not to be interrupted,” says Jeanne. “So, I was always aware of yoga. I started practicing in earnest around 2004 when I started to go to a yoga class at my health club.”
She completed her training at the Baptiste studio.
“I saw a sign on the wall in that studio that said ‘come three days a week to change your body; come five days a week to change your life.’ So, I decided to come five days a week and change my life,” she says.
“Yoga is a path toward greater physical, mental and spiritual health,” says Beth.
Om on the Range’s classes are primarily an active, alignment-oriented and strong vinyasa-yoga style for people of all ages. The studio’s weekly Sunday Basics class at 10:00 a.m. provides a good introduction. For those who are looking for something a bit more restorative, she recommends coming to their weekly Saturday Yin class at 2:00 p.m.
The Partner Yoga Workshop benefiting HPRP will be held on Friday, February 15, 2019 at 751 West Grace Street, Chicago, 6-8:00 p.m. The fee is $65. All proceeds will go to Hyde Park Refugee Project and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. To learn more or to register, please click here.
*Names are changed to protect our families’ privacy.
