- Thursday June 18, 2026
- The Drip Community CoffeeHouse - 3615 Potomac Ave., St. Louis, 63116
- 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Held & Healing is a gripping, truth-telling documentary that chronicles the extraordinary life of Kristie Puckett, a mother, survivor, and strategist whose journey moves from intimate partner violence and crack addiction to incarceration while pregnant, and ultimately to recovery, leadership, and policy change. Held & Healing places one woman’s lived experience at the center of a larger American story about how institutions respond to trauma, addiction, and Black motherhood. Through Kristie’s eyes, viewers witness the lived reality of being criminalized while trying to survive: repeated arrests tied to addiction, the dangers and contradictions of help shaped by punishment, and the dehumanizing conditions of jail pregnancy, where basic prenatal care is treated as optional and dignity is treated as negotiable. But this is not only a story of harm. It is a story of turning points: of accountability without shame, of healing that goes beyond abstinence, and of the people who made space for transformation when the system would not. As Kristie rebuilds her life, reuniting with her children and becoming a public advocate, Held & Healing becomes a guide for what real public safety looks like: culturally responsive care, family preservation, and change rooted in the leadership of those most impacted.
Upcoming Events

Commemorating the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot – July 2, 2026
Join the East St. Louis Historical Society, Metro East Organizing Coalition (MEOC) and Heritage Programs, Inc. as we remember the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot – Honoring the black lives lost, the families who survived, and the community that continues to rise.

Screening of Held & Healing – June 18, 2026
Held & Healing is a gripping, truth-telling documentary that chronicles the extraordinary life of Kristie Puckett, a mother, survivor, and strategist whose journey moves from intimate partner violence and crack addiction to incarceration while pregnant, and ultimately to recovery, leadership, and policy change.

The struggle to harvest olives in Palestine – Jun 22, 2026
Hear from Jacqueline Duaria, Center for Jewish Nonviolence.
Sponsored by Green Party of St. Louis and Veterans for Peace Chapter 61
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