Meet Benu Amun-Ra | Non-Profit Co-Founder & Seed Keeper

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benu Amun-Ra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benu, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

During the pandemic, I was forced to dissolve my home health care business. While adjusting to the new ‘norm’, witnessing the tremendous losses of people in the health care business and essential workforce made an incredible impact on me. I did NOT want to go back to ‘business as usual’. I wanted to create a lasting career that was going to make a difference in the world because there was so much uncertainty for the future and life at this point should not be taken for granted. As a caregiver with over 32 years of experience, I wanted to advocate for a ‘brave’ healing space for the many marginalized communities that I served in those years, especially BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Two Spirit and people living with disabilities. They had been unseen and unheard all of their lives and I wanted to provide a healing space for them to feel safe and to use their voices for positive change. At that time, I was going through a graduate program at Naropa University in Resilient Leadership to create a non-profit that focused on addressing intergenerational trauma by composting the root cause of our pain and suffering from colonialism. This involved using Indigenous ways of connecting to nature and additionally embodying ways to fight social injustices like the ongoing violence, inequities and unsustainability perpetuated by the oppressive systems we continue to exist in.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today business-wise. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

My non-profit is called S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-center. It stands for Seeding Ancestral Community Relationships Education. We wanted to create a brave space for marginalized communities to use their voice for positive change. We believe that we are all seeds and that has inspired us to build a seed project called Sacred Ancestors Seed Initiative. We have all noticed how the planet is fighting back. The current climate crisis with flooding, droughts, heat waves, species extinction and the lack of pollinators has brought more awareness to the importance of biodiversity, sustainability, and growing food in the right ways. We encourage Indigenous ways of learning and being, like growing food in a regenerative way as opposed to a destructive production model. We engage in healing ancestral trauma through ceremonies and rituals that connect us to each other and something bigger than ourselves. I am most proud of having our first Healing Ancestral Trauma retreat, where we travelled to New Mexico and collaborated with the Jaguar Clan Grandmothers, healing the land and ourselves during a 5 day spiritual intensive. I am currently excited about creating the Podcast for Advocacy pilot program for our community leaders and youth. We have a relationship with the Denver Community Media group, and they are helping us provide a platform for marginalized communities to use their voice to inform the world of the many struggles and challenges they are facing right now. It is my hope to bring more awareness to these issues and further promote community building. It is our goal to help those, who have fallen through the ‘cracks’ in the local government systems to provide access to much needed services like mental health. 

Getting to this point was not easy, after losing my mother in April, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over her loss, but I hope I can cherish her memory and continue to do the work of healing generational trauma. I had to learn to stop being a ‘human doing’ and be more present with my pain and suffering in order to be a ‘human being’. I learned in the process that all of us are more than we believe. That was important for me to acknowledge in order to get at the root of my grief. As was told to me, “Hurt people hurt people”. It taught me that every one of us is human and we deal with trauma constantly, most of which is passed down to us through our ancestors. Learning how our ancestors were resilient during difficult times, I wanted to make sure we embodied that in our practices so that we created strong minded agents of change. These were the lessons I learned along the way. 

I would like the world to know that no matter how bad your suffering may be, that you are not alone. Your ancestors hold you and want you to know love, peace, and happiness. They would want you to thrive. We at S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center want to give hope to others and help to continue the mission of healing ourselves and the land, providing brave spaces for community building, educating through nature, honoring our elders, and producing effective community leaders. We are all seeds…

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week-long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc. In your view what are some of the most fun, interesting, exciting people, places, or things to check out?

To make the most of the time in Denver for a week-long trip, I would start by taking them to the surrounding areas to check out the nature spots or outdoor venues first when the weather is nice. I usually take my friends to the Red Rocks amphitheater and the surrounding trails for a morning hike. The beautiful red rock formations take your breath away even before you get inside and see the panoramic views of the entire cityscape of Denver. Next would be a fun time at Central City and Blackhawk for some gambling and taking advantage of the all-you-can-eat crab legs at Isle Casino. Another alternative during the fall, is travelling on the Peak to Peak highway to see the Aspens change which is a gorgeous drive in late September, early October. This would be an amazing road trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park through Estes Park and stopping for the day at the infamous Stanley Hotel. The next place to visit for the day would be to experience the healing waters at one of the many hot springs spots like Strawberry Park in Steamboat Springs or the Yampah caves in Glenwood Springs. Once we were back in Denver, another day’s activities would be spent checking out the art culture downtown like the Meow Wolf installations, the Immersive Van Gogh or Frida Kahlo exhibits or the Contemporary Museum. Speaking of art, the Santa Fe Art District is a fun place to see up and coming local artists at the many galleries that cover 6 blocks near the downtown area. Afterwards, going to eat at some of the most authentic places with a diverse amount of flavors like Thai restaurant, Anise in Denver or Korean cuisine at Seoul BBQ and Hot Pot in Aurora is a good start. Our next two days would be to visit Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas, where the Garden of the Gods, The Seven Falls or the Cave of the Winds would make an enjoyable day trip. A side trip to the Paint Mines Interpretive Park in Calhan would be a wonderful trip for hiking and taking in the beautiful landscape. We would stop at the Broadmoor to have lunch or dinner where they have several restaurants to choose from like Ristorante Del Largo, The Summit, La Taverne or Golden Bee. Back to Denver for the last days of the trip, the Museum of Nature and Science has engaging exhibits and isn’t far from the Denver Zoo if you need to get your cute factor ‘fix’ in. Close by, the Denver Botanic Gardens is one of my favorite places to take a stroll right after a busy day and walking through the greenhouse can make anyone feel relaxed by appreciating the natural beauty of all the plants there. Hitting the famous 16th Street Mall for some ‘shopping therapy’ would make an active afternoon to buy some trinkets, souvenirs, and gifts to take home before the trip ended and a spa experience at the luxurious Brown Palace hotel to wind down before heading back home. 

Alright, so let’s jump right in! The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love, and encouragement of others. So, is there a person, group, organization, book, etc. that you want to dedicate your shoutout to? Who else deserves a little credit and recognition in your story?
My shoutout goes out to my ancestors, the elders who came before me, but I want to especially acknowledge my son and my parents, who are the inspirations behind why I created my non-profit. As I had mentioned before, I have been a caregiver most of my life. Due to unique circumstances, my son has lived with a traumatic brain injury since he was two years old, my mother had lived with a terminal illness and my father had lived with PTSD and dementia. It was witnessing their struggles that I realized how ‘invisible’ they were in society and how amazing they were at being resilient. Advocating for them through my caregiving taught me to be kind, patient and compassionate. My loved ones continue to be the motivation of why I do what I do and to be true to who I am today.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benubius/

Other: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SACREDEcoCenter/membership