Calmer Choice Closing After 15 Years

Many nonprofit organizations are facing resource cutbacks, budget uncertainties and layoffs. And with threats against public education escalating and DEI initiatives rolled back, the Calmer Choice board of directors no longer has the tools needed to continue its work.

In an official statement, the board of directors said Calmer Choice will close its doors effective May 31. Executive Director Sarah Manion said funding was a huge factor in the decision to close. 

“We simply did not have enough money to be able to continue,” she said. “The climate of uncertainty and heightened anxiety that we’re experiencing really affected our ability to secure program commitments, both in the schools and in the community. And then on the other side, it was affecting our ability to secure funding.”

Calmer Choice is a local nonprofit providing evidence-based mindfulness education, training and mentorship. The program, primarily used in public elementary schools, features an eight-week curriculum with 20-minute lessons on specific skills like attention, focus and emotional awareness of self and others. The organization also offers full-time staff resources to help encourage a mindful culture in the classroom and opportunities for educators and support staff to gain their own understanding of the curriculum.

Fiona Jensen founded Calmer Choice in 2010 as a solution to a crisis. At the time, her daughter and her peers were struggling to navigate the effects of the opioid crisis, having a front-row seat to addiction, depression, anxiety, overdoses and suicides. 

With years of experience owning her own mindfulness practice, Jensen decided to create a curriculum that could be utilized in classrooms, where children were spending the majority of their time. She worked with experts from MIT, Tufts, Yale and Harvard to produce an all-encompassing program that included cognitive science, social-emotional learning methodologies, a trauma-informed instructional approach and a suite of educator resources.

“The whole purpose is to help kids with the foundation skillsets and practices they need to connect to themselves and build a sense of awareness, and also self regulation, so that instead of reacting to everything that’s going on in the world around them, they have an opportunity to pause and respond in a way that’s kind to themselves and compassionate to others,” said Manion, a Brewster resident. 

The program has served about 45,000 children since its inception, working with an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 students each year. 

Calmer Choice is currently used in the Nauset School District, with programs at Eastham Elementary and Orleans Elementary. This year, it is in 11 schools and five school districts including Barnstable, Plymouth, Nauset, Middleborough and Dennis-Yarmouth.

“Calmer Choice has provided schools with the opportunity to teach children mindfulness and enhance their understanding of emotions,” said Elaine Pender, principal at OES. “They have been leaders in helping students develop emotional awareness and have worked closely with communities and schools to ensure that all children have equal access to develop effective strategies for emotional regulation that they can use independently. I truly appreciate the valuable impact they have had on so many children on the Cape.”

The program is predominantly supported through fundraising. Schools pay 25 percent while the organization secures the remaining 75 percent in donations and grants. 

 On top of the uncertainty surrounding their own funding, Manion said the organization didn’t know if schools could afford their percentage. As an established organization, Calmer Choice employs trained professionals to run the curriculums, which also increases the program cost. But their goal has always been to make it accessible for everyone. 

 “I want to be really fair to public schools right now, they are being asked to do everything,” said Manion. “No longer are public schools just places where kids go to get an education. Schools are required to care for kids in all the ways that they are not resourced to do.” 

 Manion said if the doors actually close on May 31, they will be forfeiting their current commitments. Currently, the program is expected to help 400 students through the end of the school year, which goes until late June. 

 To help, officials at the organization are conducting one last fundraising effort to keep the programs running through June. An online donation link is available at their website calmerchoice.org. They are also asking if their previous funders would be willing to make one last disbursement to the organization.

 “It’s very difficult,” said Manion. “There’s over 2,700 nonprofits on Cape right now and so the need is huge.”

 In addition, Calmer Choice will be hosting one last spring retreat on May 30 through June 1. The three-day event, held at the Craigville Retreat Center, will consist of mindfulness practices and shared experiences with other members of the community. Registration is required and limited to adults over 18 and older. To learn more or register for the event, a link is provided in their closing announcement on their website. 

 “The decision to close was a very, very difficult one,” Manion  said. “And one that was not taken lightly. It’s an organization that’s established and been around for so long. This was not what we wanted to do.” 

Direct Links:
Fundraising Effort: https://calmerchoi.app.neoncrm.com/forms/fy25-celebrating-15-years-1
Retreat Registration: https://calmerchoice.org/news/a-silent-mindfulness-retreat