Join us At Compassionate Houston’s Programs

In addition to special programs and events, organized by Compassionate Houston or co-sponsored in collaboration with our partner organizations, we feature several reoccurring programs as showcased on this page. Join us throughout the year at one of our events, dedicated to growing the compassionate culture of Greater Houston through awareness, education, community, and service.

Compassion Week

Called to compassionate action, our annual week in Fall is dedicated to cultivating compassion in Houston. In collaboration with our partners, we offer a variety of unique experiences. Here’s a taste of past Compassion Weeks:

  • The Power of Kindness: learn practice engage, with various offerings, from intercultural music, meditation, sound healing, kindness retreat, to interactive presentations on forgiveness, love in action and the power of kindness, and hands on gratitude project to name a few.

  • Faith Leaders and Wisdom Teachers on Compassion: we could all use the world's wisdom now. 30-minutes Zoom presentations with Q&A on a wisdom or faith leader who inspired our partners.

  • The Power of Empathy and Compassion: weeklong live virtual Charter Readings by 24 diverse compassionate community leaders.“Healing Doses of Compassion:” Daily mindful activities, poetry, contemplations and reflections. Keynote conversation between James Doty, M.D., Founder of Stanford University’s CCARE, and Sean Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Executive Director of Jung Center of Houston on “The Revolutionary Power of Empathy and Compassion.”

  • The Nurtured Community - Well-Being Through Connecting: 19 programs offered by our partners and extended network friends to experience hope, nurture, and community. The 2023 Compassion Week included two events organized by Compassionate Houston to shine a light on the impacts of compassionate art as well as celebrating Houston’s 10th anniversary as a designated Compassionate City. Attended by over 500 people, enjoy a reflection of the marvelous week with a photo gallery > here.

  • We All Belong. Practicing Welcome and Inclusion: a line-up of impactful programs to promote compassion, understanding, and inclusivity within our community, including our own network-wide contribution on November 13, celebrating World Kindness Day with ‘The Spirt of Ubuntu’ - a special showing of the documentary film The Spirit of Ubuntu (I Am Because We Are) followed by a musical performance by the film producer, co-sponsored by Compassionate Houston, Gethsemane Church, a ministry of St Luke's UMC, The Garden, Connect Community, and The Alta Arts.

  • Small Acts. Big Change. Tools for Compassionate Living in 2025 was our largest Compassion Week yet, offering an abundant nourishment through care, creativity, hope and connection. With twenty events and countless acts of kindness, our theme became a lived reality. Explore our Photo Gallery > here and relive the joy, reflection, and community spirit of Compassion Week.

Compassionate Integrity Training Houston

A 20-hour interactive training course (12 CEs), facilitated by our Board members and CIT facilitators, Pam Lewis and Barbara Homann.

The training imparts 10 skills and tools to cultivate compassion at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational/systems levels based on cutting-edge developments in many fields relevant to compassion (e.g. psychology, conflict resolution, peace studies).

The program effectively uses interactive exercises, contemplative practices, large- and small-group discussions, mindful dialogues, reflective journaling, knowledge sharing, and a big portion of self-discovery.

Learn more about the curriculum, watch testimonials, and follow 10 teaser images for an initial introduction to CIT’s 10 modules.

Enter here to CIT’s landing page
“CIT is endorsed and used by Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion and UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainability.”

Project Kindness

 

Project Kindness

Click below for a thorough view of the science behind kindness.

The science of Kindness
 

Beginning with a small pilot in 2020, pairing Houston Community College (HCC) freshman Honors students with 10 senior citizens (aged 65- plus), the project expanded in 2021 with more than double of participating pairs across several HCC campuses and has continued annually ever since. The intergenerational pairs meet weekly over 10 weeks to explore kindness, benefiting both elders and students attending their first semester of college. Compassionate Houston originated the Project Kindness (PK) Survey, recruits project elders, and provides a virtual training session on kindness and compassion to honors students participating.

Are you interested in joining us? Head over to our PK page to learn more and reach out to us.

Enter Here to visit our Project Kindness Page

Annual Luncheon

Compassionate Houston’s annual fundraiser luncheon recognizes innovative, compassion-focused individuals and group projects by inviting diverse local compassionate visionaries who share their stories to a large audience.

The annual event provides opportunities for individuals and our partners to network, thereby building bridges and expanding compassion in our city.

We regularly bring internationally known speakers to keynote our annual luncheon, alternating those educational programs with the highlighting of local compassionate innovators.

Seasonal Book Studies

Meet people of our rich community once a week over a 4-week period, bringing together a multitude of perspectives on topics aimed to foster a greater understanding of compassion, kindness, respect and identify personal and public ways to practice it regularly. Offered four times a year.

> Current and past Book studies