Welcome to the Kiva Centers

Kiva Centers is a nationally recognized indigenous-led, peer-run, and trauma-informed organization that offers training, technical assistance, and networking opportunities. The Kiva Centers are your connection to the Massachusetts Certified Peer Specialist Training, the Massachusetts Statewide Peer Network, Karaya, Juniper, and La Paz Peer-Run Respites, the Recovery Learning Community (CMRLC), and more. The Kiva Centers’ focus is the development and promotion of healing communities for people experiencing different social class impacts like trauma, mental health, and substance use.

TRAINING

We offer trainings and materials to develop trauma-informed and peer-run supports for the Commonwealth.

PEER SUPPORT

We develop, promote, and run a variety of peer-run supports that validate individuals’ emotions, and identities, and facilitate a self-healing process.

ADVOCACY

We prioritize personal autonomy and self-advocacy. We offer trainings and platforms for people to advocate with each other for the causes they care about.

Kiva Center

About Kiva

“Kiva” is a term deeply rooted in the indigenous cultures of the Southwest United States, embraced by tribes such as the Hopi, Zuni, Taos, Acoma, and others. It embodies the concept of enlightenment through communal support and the journey inward for healing, emerging stronger and revitalized. Symbolically, the feather, with its ties to birds, represents not just physical freedom but also spiritual liberation, an ascent to higher realms.

At Kiva Centers, we hold firm to the belief that healing is fostered through meaningful connections with others who have traversed similar paths. Through shared experiences, individuals find acceptance, understanding, and ultimately, liberation from the social and systemic impacts of trauma, mental health, and substance use recovery.

Situated in Massachusetts, on lands with ancestral ties to the Nipmuc, Wampanoag, Massachusett, Pocumtuc, and Agawam tribes, Kiva Centers proudly offer support across five main spaces: The Kiva Center in Worcester, Kiva Southbridge (RCC), Karaya Peer-Run Respite, Juniper Peer-Run Respite, and La Paz Peer-Run Respite. These centers provide mobile peer-run respite services statewide, alongside round-the-clock support for individuals facing emotional distress.