It's been said that tornadoes are like a giant knife coming through a community, leaving one side of a street pristine, while the other side is demolished. Tornadoes can remove the entire front facade of a home, while leaving the rest of the structure intact – as if it were a giant dolls house. It is not uncommon to find survivors gazing at paths of destruction, reaching out for miles, almost in awe of all that has happened – so quickly, so particularly, so difficult to process. Like any disaster, the heartache that unfurls in the aftermath does not discriminate. It can cross every socioeconomic and cultural boundary. Still, those who already were vulnerable, can be especially hard put by the damage and repercussions. In the first days and weeks of responding to a tornado, there are important things to keep in mind for community care and resiliency:
If your organization is looking for additional resources for how to respond to tornado damage in the days and weeks ahead, we encourage you to explore the training materials we offer online or to reach out for a personal consultation. We are glad to hear from you!
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The spread of a pandemic virus can happen rapidly and its far-reaching impact can take many by surprise. Organizations, including schools, businesses, congregations, and community groups, especially can find themselves frustrated by how their missions can be halted by wide-spread illness. Here are several important things to keep in mind when facing the potential of a pandemic outbreak:
For example, in terms of healthy practices, you might consider updating or adding signage around your facility that provides access to trustworthy information (maybe dedicating a bulletin board to CDC or other reliable information, or including CDC or local government or hospital recommendations in your newsletter, etc.) and posting signs about healthy hygiene (washing hands, having tissues & trash cans readily available). Remember, it's not just about washing hands Washing hands is one of the number one ways to help stop the spread of viruses. That said, there are many ways to spread germs, and washing hands may not prevent illnesses from spreading. In the case where your community does become impacted, you may need to consider how your organization exercises its mission, especially whether you provide services, education, worship, or other forms of connection to your members or constituents who may become home-bound for some time. Throughout our website you will find many resources for ways to support your constituents and we encourage you to explore them. Also, reach out if you have questions or would like additional guidance on getting prepared or responding.
In her evocative 2018 essay Why Do We Turn to Stories in the Midst of a Disaster? writer/researcher Madeleine Wattenbarger penned these universal words while sharing her own experience in the 2017 Mexico City earthquake: “…after surviving a natural disaster, storytelling becomes a way to situate one’s self in time and space. It allows communities to locate themselves in relationship to devastation outside of immediate human control, and it can provide a powerful counter to media narratives that obscure their lived reality.” PHOTO: REBECCA BLACKWELL / AP Personal storytelling is gaining recognition as a powerful healing pathway for communities reeling from natural disaster, episodes of violence, or other grievous situations. In certain settings, the approach has demonstrated the ability to foster healing via a potent blend of compassion, connection, creativity, and the immeasurable human capacity for love and hope. The Umpqua Story Project: 10,000 Acts of Love On October 1, 2015, a mass shooting incident at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon (population just under 25,000), took the lives of nine people. In its wake, the Umpqua Story Project was born — supported by The Ford Family Foundation and the Douglas County (OR) Museum, and conducted by staff of Ashland-based nonprofit The Hearth. Since The Hearth’s founding by now-Director Mark Yaconelli in early 2010, the organization has worked with traumatized communities to encourage healing, small towns to foster connection, and marginalized populations to increase awareness and respect. Along the way, they have trained myriad community leaders, nonprofits, pastors, teachers, and professional groups in the art of community storytelling. The mission of The Hearth is straightforward: Transformational Storytelling - Healing Communities One Story At A Time. As per their website,( thehearthcommunity.com ), the group “has developed a variety of tested, transformative, accessible storytelling methods inviting people to write down, audio record, sing, photograph, upload, gather in circles, or stand in front of a microphone to share what they have lived. By providing safe and welcoming spaces, The Hearth transforms residents into neighbors, enemies into friends, and towns into communities.” PHOTO: UMPQUA STORY PROJECT By providing safe and welcoming spaces, The Hearth transforms residents into neighbors, enemies into friends, and towns into communities. The Umpqua Story Project was created “…to help facilitate healing through personal storytelling…with the purpose of providing compassionate settings where people across the Umpqua Valley could share their experiences of kindness and generosity…” Volunteers were trained in compassionate listening, and tables were set up in coffee shops, libraries, schools and other public spaces across the county. Locals were invited to share their experiences around the shooting via writing, audio, video, photos, or other creative avenues. The project website paints a vivid picture of the healing process. “For a small moment, there was only the pain, and the loss, and the empty silence. And then people began to act. A welder made some signs. Two women began to bake cookies. Restaurants brought food…a high school student set up a car wash. A harp player went down to the hospital. Businesses posted signs of prayer and encouragement…Churches and counseling centers and places of care were opened all hours. Little by little, the healing began. In response to one person’s act of violence, a community offered ten thousand acts of love.” PHOTO: MAIL TRIBUNE // PHOTO: NEWS REVIEW In response to one person’s act of violence, a community offered ten thousand acts of love. For a closer look at the continuing Umpqua Story Project: Read personal writings from local students and community members here. Listen to audio recordings of community members voicing their experiences here. View photos of Acts of Kindness and Local Support here. Thousand Oaks Remembers: ‘The Way We Truly Connect’ On November 8, 2019, a deeply moving event was created to mark the one-year anniversary of the 2018 back-to-back tragedies in the southern California city of Thousand Oaks (population 130,000). First, the community lost 12 people in a shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill. The next day, weary first responders moved from a massacre scene to firefighting duty as the Hill and Woolsey fires swept through the area, bringing forced evacuations and the ultimate destruction of more than 1,000 homes. Guided in part by advisory support by ICTG and assistance from a facilitator trained by The Hearth, the community marked the anniversary by gathering for a night of storytelling from within. “This is not a performance,” declared one of the emcees in opening remarks. “We are gathered here as a community. We are here to share some stories. Story connects us. Story brings us to the root of our humanity…takes us back to who we truly are and the way we truly connect.” Carpenters from a Thousand Oaks local union built seven writing posts to facilitate sharing of stories by community residents. PHOTO: TO REMEMBERS Personal stories poured out through songs sweetly sung and memories shared with trembling voices, and ethereal dances danced on a bare stage. A woman recounted the chaos of evacuation against the smoke and ash above her house. When the crush of media left, “we were the old story,” she said. “We’re safe, but safe in a completely different way.” A burly firefighter among the first responders called to the shooting location, voiced his full story for the first time, barely holding back tears. “Our job was to look for life. To save people. We looked for life but didn’t find any…” One brave teller shared words he had heard the Sheriff’s Department chaplain speak in a prayer service. “We can never replace those we lost…we must never stop telling their stories.” We can never replace those we lost…we must never stop telling their stories. An Assistant Police Chief ended his story with timeless, inspiring words. “No matter the duty, always tell everybody you love them. Go home, hug your loved ones and tell them, ‘I Love you and I will always be there to support you.’” Courage, vulnerability and compassion hung in the air throughout the event. In closing, the emcee noted, “We longed for hope and then we saw hope work itself out.” He spoke of listening groups all over town, led by 25 trained facilitators where anyone can share a piece of their story and hear another’s story and find the human connection they share. “This will go on,” he gently reassured the gathered. “We all want to end with hope.” Remember… Storytelling is not a “One Size Fits All” proposition. Not everyone relishes speaking in front of others or behind a microphone. Storytelling can encompass the written or spoken word, the song that rises up from the depths of loss, the home-baked pie, the T-shirts, the scrawled note from a child, the dance, the sculpture honoring the fallen, the comment on a website or window, or the commemorative event. More Art Than Science Like many restorative efforts, storytelling cannot be scheduled in advance. Some community members may need weeks, months, or years before they feel the desire or ability to speak of what they have lived. Some may never wish to take this step in this way. The Phases of Disaster Response, along with the wisdom of community leadership, can serve as general guidelines. Reach Out For Support In advance, before you need them, explore how The Hearth and other nonprofit organizations may be able to support and assist your community in facilitating a storytelling-based project. Training and certification are available as well. Learn more about The Hearth, including their trainings leading to The Certificate in Community Storytelling as well as their consulting, facilitation, and story-based program services.
This post, written by Kate Wiebe, originally was published on March 3, 2016, on the ICTG blog. As our hearts ache, again, following another terrorist attack, many of us feel that restlessness that forms in the aftermath of atrocity. What can we do? How can we help? Many of us are far away and feel so much sorrow. We are challenged, again, to know how best to encourage, support, and enact care. Here's a few practices that ICTG staff, directors, advisors, and colleagues have found most useful following human-caused disasters that occur far away: Spread love locally
Spread love throughout the country and the world
With these acts you get involved in countering terror locally and globally. These acts make a difference. Be a blessing this week. This post, written by Kate Wiebe, originally was published on September 17, 2019, on the ICTG blog. Here's how a common conversation I have with an organizational leader who has just been through a natural disaster, mass casualty, or technological disaster tends to go: Me: "Tell me about how the last couple days have been going." Leader: describes chaos, endless decisions needing to be made, experiences of shock and disorientation, feelings of heartache and exhaustion, and experiences of adrenaline rushes Me: Expressions of appreciation, and then, a few questions about how basic daily habits are going, including eating, sleeping, movement, and fellowship with housemates or close friends Leader, many times: expression about how things have been far too chaotic or their have been far too many decisions to make to do any of that. Me: Expressions of appreciation, then, gently: "So, when is the next time you will be having a meal with your family (or housemates, or friends)?" The leader, at this point, often blinks at me, as reality registers: if they keep going at the same pace they have been going for the last few days, they honestly have no idea when they will spend regular time with their loved ones again. Or, exercise regularly. Or, sleep regularly. Or, eat regularly. Or, engage in hobbies again. I sometimes ask, "Does it feel like it might be six months or a year before you do that again?" The leader often nods, as they consider all the work and enormity of needs surrounding them. This moment of recognition is when the difference between the stress of long term recovery and other types of stressors begins to dawn on a survivor, if it hasn't already, and especially a survivor who has responsibilities for leading an organization through the aftermath of disaster. Though doing so may feel counter intuitive, we have found that one of the most essential practices for becoming restored after disaster is to begin to implement nourishing routines, even if only in very little ways, as soon as possible. Without forcing or rushing, but rather incorporating them a step at a time sooner than later. Here are some of the tips that we encourage our leaders to consider resuming, even within the first days after disaster:
These practices will not magically make things better. But you will notice, incrementally, that they help you feel some relief and take another step forward in a healthy way. At the Institute, we often equate Long Term Recovery with training for a marathon or an extreme sport event. We consider the tips above to be like the water or supplement packets you would take along with you or would stop at a station to receive while you are training or completing the event. Long Term Recovery is a long haul. You will do well to consider what truly nourishes you along the way.
This post, written by Kate Wiebe, originally was published on January 23, 2017, on the ICTG blog. How is your congregation generating goodness in the world today? A lot of people in the world, and particularly in the United States, feel distraught. They worry about having a job, having a home or shelter, getting a good education, having health care, and being safe – let alone being happy, feeling free, or having wealth to share. We witnessed this weekend how millions of people voted for the current administration and how millions of people marched against the current administration. Interestingly, many congregations today have members from both of these groups. They are struggling to bring reconciliation within their own walls, as well as in their communities. Loving a neighbor as yourself is a primary commandment. Perhaps what's most striking about the command to love one's neighbor is how it requires crossing so many arbitrary human-made lines . . . lines of faith, economic status, ethnicity, politics, and education. Learning how to love the person most different from you – to provide for them – stretches our capacities greatly. How is your congregation doing that now, in light of so much division? What's working best for you? When these things are developed, crises, trauma, and disasters are far less likely to occur. When they do occur, groups practicing these things are far more resilient. As a Christian pastor, I also see how the story of the Good Samaritan inherently is about responding to trauma as well. Being a good neighbor means responding to the wounds my neighbor has with effective care. This weekend, as a country, we were presented with a lot of wounds in front of us. People who voted for the current administration, who have long felt forgotten and ignored. People who voted against the current administration, who have long felt forgotten and ignored and now fear it even more. And people who feel a wide range of other experiences, much of which is based on pain from the past. There are many people hurting. Many who have been hurting for a long time. The State of the Union is beleaguered, at best, and there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to stabilize it. Hope in joining together with people of like-mindedness. Hope in hearing a neighbor's story and thinking about their perspective in new light. Hope in deciding to fight for the rights and benefits of a neighbor, more than just one's own. Story after story keeps emerging across the country of a people who seek out liberty and justice for all. And, through all the pain expressed this weekend, millions of people witnessed glimmers of hope. Hope in joining together with people of like-mindedness. Hope in hearing a neighbor's story and thinking about their perspective in new light. Hope in deciding to fight for the rights and benefits of a neighbor, more than just one's own. Story after story keeps emerging across the country of a people who seek out liberty and justice for all. What is your congregation doing to participate in building up your community and the nation? It what ways are you making a difference for greater health and well-being? At ICTG, we’ve found, in part, the work of health and well-being gets done most often through individual or small group efforts that add up to great collective movements. They include:
When these things are developed, crises, trauma, and disasters are far less likely to occur. When they do occur, groups practicing these things are far more resilient. In the days ahead, may we all work toward building more healthy, vibrant communities. We all know the world could use a lot more them.
The following is an adapted excerpt from our training materials, which provide useful information for leaders to learn how to respond well to trauma.
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What Are Panic Attacks?
Panic attacks (abrupt periods of intense anxiety, fear, discomfort) can occur at any age and any stage of life. They occur when a person’s body temporarily is overloaded with stressful communication. Faith leaders may experience them, personally, in the aftermath of trauma, or may encounter them among people to whom they are ministering. Panic attacks usually last for 1-10 minutes, though some have been known to last for a few hours. Panic attacks can be scary. At the same time, they are common responses to trauma and usually are not life-threatening. Persons suffering from a panic attack often report feeling as though they are having a heart attack, “going crazy,” having a “melt down,” etc. Panic attacks are linked to “fight or flight” biological responses to threats, and they involve spontaneous flooding of the body with adrenalin and cortisol hormones. They are momentary chemical imbalances in persons’ bodies, which usually are attributed to external stresses or anticipatory anxiety and fear. What Can Contribute to Panic Attacks? However, a range of substances are known to overload a body’s communication and limit responsiveness when combined with heightened stressful environments. These substances include:
Keeping these in mind when you personally are under duress, or are working with individuals experiencing great stressors, may save you value time and energy in response. Any of these substances, or intense temperature changes, can initiate an internal biological shift. When combined with emotional strain and excessively stressful environments, they can overload bodily systems and induce panic attacks. Frequently, practicing methods of self-regulation and calming can help a person’s body begin to communicate well within itself and bring about overall senses of well-being.
Tips for Responding to Panic Attacks
When someone is having a panic attack, it's important to regulating the body as soon as possible. For example, you may have a person sit in a comfortable seat, in a mild climate, either indoors or outdoors. You may have them sip a cool glass of water, and steady her or his breathing. Use a gentle voice, reminding the person you are with them. Speak to them about how safe they are, here and now. You might ask them if they can feel physical things around them – the sturdiness of the ground and their seat. You may ask them to tell you what their throat, stomach, hands, or feet feel like. If any of these feel clenched, you may ask them if they feel they can relax them. Frequently, practicing methods of self-regulation and calming can help a person’s body begin to communicate well within itself and bring about overall senses of well-being. If calming is not possible, further medical or psychological professional assistance may be necessary. Share your Best Practices What's worked well in your community for caring for people suffering from panic attacks? Have you encountered these experiences? What's been most helpful? Share in the comments below.
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This post, written by Kate Wiebe, originally was published on November 10, 2015, on the ICTG blog.
ACEs stands for the Adverse Childhood Experience Study. If you've been following this blog, you know we talk about them frequently. To learn more about them, you might try visiting the list resources below that explain why ACEs matter to communities and how medical professionals are beginning to address the massive problem. You also can find out more about the ACE study origins, as well as learn about an ever-expanding network of professionals who utilize this study in their own settings.
Perhaps most profound thing about the ACE study – besides the significant fact that it demonstrated trauma does not discriminate and exists in every community in the country – is the strong correlation it demonstrated between childhood experiences and adult onset illnesses.
The ACE study found that survivors of childhood trauma are nearly 5000% (yes, you read all those zeros correctly) more likely to attempt suicide, have eating disorders, or become IV drug users. Dr. Vincent Felitti, the study's founder and co-conductor, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details this remarkable and powerful connection. "With an ACE score of six – experiencing any six of the ten categories that we studied – that person was 4,600% more likely to become an IV drug user than a person who experienced none of those six categories. Now you read in the newspaper the latest cancer cure of the week – prostate cancer or breast cancer increases 30% and everyone goes nuts – I'm talking 4,600% increase. The same ACE score of six produces a likelihood of attempting suicide between 3,100% and 5,000% greater than the likelihood of suicide attempts in someone with none of those life experiences. So the power of this relationship is enormous."
The magnitude of this correlation, and the complexity of dealing with the problem of severe stress in childhood after the fact is so huge, Dr. Felitti, says, realistically the only serious and effective approach is going to have to involve primary prevention. He admits, "No one knows how to do that, but it's the right question to focus on."
The only serious and effective approach is going to have to involve primary prevention.
At ICTG, we recognize how community groups, schools, after-school programs, and congregations are prime locations for not only putting that question at the forefront but also for providing primary prevention.
Trauma Informed Community Practices for Prevention
Ideally, our community's organizations are safe havens from life's storms. They are the place where play, education, worship, and mission derive from true restoration of body, mind, and spirit in community. Every day, you, as a leader or volunteer, are invited into making it so. Share your stories in the comments below about how you see healing from ACEs happening in your congregation.
Recommended Resources:
TED TALK by Nadine Burke Harris ACE STUDY ORIGINS by the CDC Center for Youth Wellness website ACES TOO HIGH website VIDEO by Vincent Felitti
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This post, written by Institute intern Libby Baker, originally was published on March 7, 2017, on the ICTG blog. Rev. Dr. Kate Wiebe and Doug Ranck, along with the many other ICTG blog contributors, have already noted that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are widespread across all racial groups and socioeconomic strata. The ACE study's concluding results, executed by CDC- Kaiser Permanente in 1997, presents staggering research that pessimistically foreshadows the future for youth experiencing abuse, neglect, or other household challenges. The CDC describes ACEs more broadly as traumas relating to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, emotional or physical neglect, and household challenges such as violence, substance abuse, mental illness, incarcerated family member, or divorce in the home. ACEs follow a dose-response pattern, which means that the symptoms are directly correlated to the frequency of exposure to the stressor. Therefore if a child experiences multiple ACEs, they are at a higher risk for an exhaustive list of physical and emotional health issues such as substance or alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and heart disease to name a few. With the prevalence of ACEs and their unavoidable consequences, it begs the response of grace and compassion rather than one of punishment from educators, Sunday school teachers, and youth ministers. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, doctor and research advocate for childhood adverse experiences, states that "toxic stress is the changes that happen in the body as a result of being exposed to high doses of adversity in childhood." Both children and adults are exposed to stress each day in which our fight or flight hormones are activated regularly. These hormones are innately good because they instigate our reactions to possible threats or dangerous situations. In the unfortunate circumstance in which a child experiences chronic stress on a daily basis, the fight or flight hormones become fixated in a continuous loop and fail to be appropriately metabolized. Dr. Harris suggests that the frequency of stress leads to a physical reshaping of the brain. When students encounter high amounts of stress, the neocortex of the brain, the part responsible for impulse control, is impacted. Children begin to lose control of their emotions and behaviors because what was once stabilizing their various feelings is now under acute toxic pressure. Children will react to both minor and major threats with vigilance, disrupting a child's daily rhythm. The ACE study demands an educated response to how we interact and engage with the youth in our communities. As a future educator and past student participant in church youth group, I have been interested in researching how schools are responding to the trauma in children. Schools around the nation are adjusting their programs and systems to cater to their youth who are survivors of trauma. Crocker College Preparatory School in New Orleans is one such school recognizing the effects of trauma. Crocker Prep understands the unique consequences of ACEs and intentionally seeks to help traumatized youth in classroom settings. The teachers are more informed about ACEs and seek to understand students who misbehave or have outbursts as "sad, not bad." School administrators and teachers at Crocker Prep have altered their disciplinary system in order to uproot the true problem rather than offering punitive measures to an event or instance they could not control. They found that detentions and suspensions for behavioral violations were not effective because the misbehavior was not the problem, but rather the trauma at its origin. The number of detentions and suspensions dramatically decreased over the school year in which the new rules took enactment and grades significantly increased among the students. Teachers and parents noticed students complaining less frequently about physical pains or trouble sleeping when their trauma was more directly attended to and teachers took note that students were more present in class and were not withdrawing from class activities. Like schools, congregations looking to become more trauma-sensitive must adopt the similar measures to meet the emotional needs of their youth. Re-framing the way we view and understand troubled youth calls for a gracious and compassionate response. While working with troubled youth may be frustrating and discouraging, grace and compassion can help us reconstruct the ways we address, process, and talk about bad behavior. Compassion shifts questions like, “What is wrong with this kid?” to “What happened to this kid?” The different language transforms how we understand our youths' stories and marks the desire to express compassion before pressing judgment. “What happened to this kid” is a question that demonstrates that the trauma is responsible for the misbehavior and is not an identifier of character. Trauma has the physiological power to dictate emotion and physical action and it is our responsibility as educators, youth pastors, and Sunday school leaders to teach students, with grace and compassion, how to regain control over their behavior. Sources: 1. cdc.gov 2. Katy Reckdahl, "A new movement to treat troubled children as ‘sad, not bad.'" The Hechinger Report 3. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, "Stress Factor" Video, and "How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime" Ted Talk 4. Melissa Hellmann, "This Town Adopted Trauma-Informed Care—And Saw a Decrease in Crime and Suspension Rates," Yes! Magazine 5. Bruce Perry, "The Brain Science Behind Student Trauma," Education Weekly
This post, written by Kate Wiebe, originally was published on July 23, 2017, on the ICTG blog.
How do life experiences in childhood end up with disease states half a century later?
More community and faith-based leaders need to be engaging this question. For example, if you're a church or ministry leader reading this post, are you familiar with the ACE Study? Do you know how many of your members or visitors have experienced ACEs and what kind of ACEs they've experienced? How are those experienced impacting your mission? Put another way, to what extent does your mission interface with ACEs? How does your congregation or ministry group actively counter the effects of ACEs?
Have I lost you? If so, please allow me to explain. Your health, your organization's health, and the health of your greater community depend on your understanding ACEs and their far-reaching impacts. ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. If you've been following this blog, you know we talk about them frequently. If you're new to the topic, learn more about them in the following ways:
Perhaps most profound about the ACE study – besides the significant fact that it demonstrated trauma does not discriminate and exists in every community in the country – is the strong correlation it demonstrated between childhood experiences and adult onset illnesses. The ACE study found that survivors of childhood trauma are nearly 5000% (yes, you read all those zeros correctly) more likely to attempt suicide, have eating disorders, or become IV drug users. In the video below, Dr. Vincent Felitti, the study's founder and co-conductor, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details this remarkable and powerful connection. "With an ACE score of six – experiencing any six of the ten categories that were studied – that person was 4,600% more likely to become an IV drug user than a person who experienced none of those six categories. Now you read in the newspaper the latest cancer cure of the week – prostate cancer or breast cancer increases 30% and everyone goes nuts – I'm talking 4,600% increase. The same ACE score of six produces a likelihood of attempting suicide between 3,100% and 5,000% greater than the likelihood of suicide attempts in someone with none of those life experiences. So the power of this relationship is enormous." - Dr. Vincent Felitti The magnitude of this correlation, and the complexity of dealing with the problem of severe stress in childhood after the fact is so huge, Dr. Felitti, says, realistically the only serious and effective approach is going to have to involve primary prevention. He admits, "No one knows how to do that, but it's the right question to focus on." At ICTG, we recognize how many community-based and faith-based organizations are prime locations for not only putting that question at the forefront but also for providing primary prevention. At ICTG, given the evidence, we recommend organizational leaders consider to what extent their agencies, youth members, or volunteers have experienced ACEs. For faith-based leaders, we provide assessment tools to discern ACEs within your group and to gauge your organization's resiliency and response capacities in our General and Youth Ministry Resource Guides. Also, while becoming a trauma-informed congregation by creating a culture marked by specific traits, trauma-informed congregations can incorporate preventative measures into their common practices. Trauma Informed Practices for Prevention
Ideally, schools, after-school groups, and congregations are safe havens – healing sanctuaries – from life's storms. They are the place where learning, play, worship, confession, prayer and mission derive from true restoration of body, mind, and spirit in community. Every day, you are invited into making it so. Share your stories in the comments below about how you see healing from ACEs happening in your community. Find further education for leaders by browsing our services and training materials.
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