For our last offering in the JQT Mental Health Support Series, we are offering an introductory workshop on how to discover your roots! Perhaps news to some folx, JQT’s founder and executive director, Carmel Tanaka, is also an avid genealogy nut. 

REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/wbUm9jba533b63vV9

The goal of this workshop is to create a safe space for JQTs to talk about their family history, share some of the challenges in accessing this information, brainstorm solutions, help identify starting points or next steps for those further along the journey, and inspire folx to do their roots trips. Carmel’s experience is limited to the Jewish (Ashkenazi) and Japanese (Canadian and American) worlds; however, many issues that come up when digging through family history can be similar. 

So what does family genealogy have to do with mental health anyway? In The Science of Happiness podcast, “How Thinking About Your Ancestors Can Help You Thrive,” the episode discussed the mental health benefits of family history research—particularly, for one’s sense of belonging and identity. Listen to the 19-min episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-thinking-about-your-ancestors-can-help-you-thrive

We also know that ancestral roots digging can be a messy business. Carmel has certainly uncovered a few skeletons in her family, and has experienced a number of barriers, but that has only given her more drive to find out the truth! So whether you are curious about your ancestors and don’t know where to start, or are being gate-kept from information by relatives/community, or want to find ancestral info about chosen family members, or want to embark on an epic roots trip, this workshop is for you.

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This is the final event in our JQT Mental Health Support Series, which was developed in partnership with JFS Vancouver, following the Twice Blessed 2.0: The Jewish LGBTQ2SIA+ Initiative’s community needs assessment, which identified a critical service gap: Call to Action #6 - Develop and provide funding for LGBTQ2SIA+ friendly Jewish mental health support. Learn more here: https://www.jqtvancouver.ca/jqt-mental-health

Accessibility info - This workshop is free and is a Jewish queer and trans program as part of JQT’s mental health support series, so the focus will be on those looking to explore their Jewish and/or queer genealogies. The workshop will be held online on Zoom. Closed captioning on Zoom will be enabled.

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MEET YOUR HOST

Carmel Tanaka is the founder and executive director of JQT Vancouver. She is also the “genealogy nut” in her family. She has been researching both her Jewish and Japanese ancestral  history for the past handful of years. She has interrogated family members, read all the family memoirs, dug through archives (physical and virtual) and left no stone unturned to piece together her family history. After her life-changing roots trips to Japan (2024) and Poland (2025), Carmel can finally say that she knows where she comes from and has never felt more calm in her life! Learn more here: https://www.carmeltanaka.ca/family-genealogy