Laini Golden always wanted to help people.
As a high school student in San Antonio, she joined every service club she could find. Her youth group helped blind people shop for groceries. She played with kids at orphanages.
“I knew I wanted to help people in the community,” Golden says. “I’ve always had this desire to try to connect on whatever level.”
Golden has given back for decades. As a licensed clinical social worker in Sacramento, she’s done therapy with children in schools, hospitals and outpatient facilities. Now she works with adults to help them reconnect with their inner voice.
As a volunteer, Golden has donated time to Boys & Girls Clubs, Women’s Empowerment, WEAVE, Reading Partners and Dec My Rooms, a nonprofit that decorates hospital rooms for pediatric and young adult patients.
She’s been part of National Charity League, which allows her to volunteer with her two daughters. She appreciates how the league gives participants access to many causes. The philanthropic organization nationally supports more than 6,000 charities.
This impressive reach makes it easier for Golden to practice “mishpat,” the Jewish concept of providing loving-kindness to the world by giving back to others. She and her family do this by fostering more than 30 dogs or giving food to people on the street at Thanksgiving.
“If we have the time and energy, we put it out into the world,” she says. “That’s the true meaning of showing up. It’s part of who we are.”
Golden recently found another way to connect. She and friend Lena Fuentes released a children’s book, “Sloane Understands,” in February. The book pulls together a lifelong dream and decades of work for Golden.
“Through my practice, I see so many adults who are disembodied and don’t know what their inner voice sounds like. Other people’s voices have replaced their own,” Golden says. “I felt like if I could help a child really listen to their body, they won’t be an adult who is disembodied.
“It’s about learning that they are not their feelings. I am not sad or lazy—I feel sad or lazy. Our brain believes what we tell it. Feelings are just showing up to tell us to pay attention to something.”
Golden mentioned her book idea during a walk with Fuentes, who offered to help write and illustrate. The result is a sweet, insightful book that teaches children and adults the language of emotional literacy.
“We sat every Wednesday for three years working to get the language right so every child and parent could identify with some piece of this story,” Golden says. “Sloane is in every one of us. We can feel confused or angry, but we can learn to identify that we are not our feelings—they come and go like waves.”
Golden has ideas for a second book, but she’ll need to find time to write when she’s not busy running her practice or helping others.
“Volunteering changes your lenses, who you are and how you show up in the world,” she says.
“Sloane Understands” is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and bookshop.org. Learn more on social media @sloaneunderstands and @lainigolden.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
