Held Together

FROM ISOLATION TO INTERDEPENDENCE

Mobilizing the transformative power of care webs.

Through intimate conversations, storytelling, retreats, webinars, community gatherings, and one big care web, Held Together helps people practice strengthening the muscles of interdependence so that care becomes something we create together rather than something we struggle to access alone.

Care webs, as articulated by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, are networks of interdependence where care is shared across communities. We recognize that no one person can meet all needs and care webs tap into the power of community. They are rooted in disability justice, mutual aid, and the understanding that giving and receiving support is fluid, collective, and deeply relational.

About Us â–¸

The future is interdependent.

Four people, all wearing masks, are sitting on a bed in a cozy room. They are posing for a photo, some making peace signs. There are framed pictures and a lamp on the nightstand, and a dog is lying on the bed.
Group of people in a caregiving setting, with one individual lying on a bed receiving assistance from others, including a woman tending to the person and others observing, in a room with shelves and decorative items.
A group of four people are gathered closely together on a carpeted floor, sleeping and resting. They are lying in a circle, with some resting their heads on each other or holding hands, appearing peaceful and comfortable.

❊ Held Together

Some of Our Offerings

Line drawing of two hands clasped together, with the word 'Peer' above and the partial word 'Support' below on a dark purple background.

Disability Peer Support Group Facilitation

Through Yarrow Collective, Xander facilitates peer support spaces for chronically ill and disabled people rooted in mutual aid, vulnerability, and collective care.

Their work helps participants move beyond isolation by creating spaces where people can share honestly, build reciprocal relationships, and explore what it means to survive and heal in community.

Peer support

Collective care

A space for disabled people to come together

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Interactive Workshops

Honest, behind-the-scenes conversations about disability, care, and the systems that shape our lives.

Blending storytelling, lived experience, and critical insight, they explore interdependence, challenge dominant narratives, and offer new ways of understanding what it means to survive and build together.

Illuminating past and present ableism

Lessons from disability theory and lived practice

Recordings available through sliding scale subscription platform, Held Together Plus

Start Exploring â–¸
The image features the phrase "Held Together" with a line drawing of two hands holding each other, representing connection and support.

Held Together Podcast

Held Together is an exploration of disabled life, care work, and the everyday magic of interdependence.

Each episode, Xander brings a guest who is a part of their care web to expose the inner workings of their relationships.

Platforming disabled voices

Exploring inter-abled relationships

Changing the narrative about disabled life

Listen on Apple Podcasts â–¸
Watch on YouTube â–¸

❊ FAQs

Learn more about Held Together

  • Held Together is a community-centered project exploring care webs, disability, interdependence, and the relationships that help us survive and thrive. Through conversations, storytelling, workshops, retreats, and peer support spaces, we create opportunities for people to build deeper connection across difference.

  • Held Together is rooted in disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, and queer experiences, but welcomes anyone interested in building more reciprocal and interconnected ways of living and relating.

  • A care web, articulated by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, is a network of relationships where care, support, and responsibility are shared collectively rather than placed on one person alone. Care webs recognize that we all both give and receive support throughout our lives.

  • We host podcasts, workshops, webinars, peer support spaces, retreats, storytelling events, and conversations focused on disability, care, interdependence, mental health, and community building.

  • No. While Held Together centers disabled experiences and disability wisdom, many of our spaces include inter-abled relationships and people from a wide range of backgrounds who are committed to practicing collective care and connection.

  • The name reflects the belief that none of us survive alone. We are shaped, sustained, and carried by the relationships, communities, and care webs that hold us through difficult and transformative moments.

Our partners in this work
Logo for the 'Chronicly Undertouched Project' with stylized letters and brown text.
Sunset over a landscape with trees and mountains, with the words "Holistic Resistance" and "Staying Creative While Taking On the Impossible" on a dark blue background.