BRIDGE and San Francisco State University’s Health Equity Institute recently published a white paper, “Trauma-Informed Community Building,” (TICB) which articulates how BRIDGE is engaging residents at Potrero Hill Terrace and Annex, a large-scale public housing development in the heart of San Francisco. In short, the approach calls for strategies that de-escalate chaos and stress, promote social cohesion, and foster community resiliency over time.
This paper is one of several recently-published pieces on the cumulative impact of stress, violence, and poverty – all forms of trauma – on brain development and functioning. As noted by the Crittenton Women’s Union, persistent trauma impacts executive function which, in turn, affects individuals’ “executive function” abilities such as setting goals, managing impulsiveness, or negotiating tasks that require planning.
This applied brain research may hold the key to understanding why programs and services alone may not always be enough to help residents achieve stability and self-sufficiency. In fact, many community developers are frequently perplexed by poor program attendance in communities that, based on data, could most benefit from programs and services. In short, just because we’ve built it, doesn’t mean that they will necessarily come.
[For more of this story, written by Susan Neufeld, go to http://www.whatworksforamerica...nities/#.VC3JZfldW5W]
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