October is Children's Resilience Month in Walla Walla. So proclaimed Mayor Jim Barrow, with unanimous approval of the City Council.
Following the lead of Tarpon Springs, FL, Walla Walla worked with its Children's Resilience Initiative (CRI) team members to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Each partner described an intent to broaden the application of principles and practices of a trauma-informed lens in their organization's daily work. This MOU was submitted to the City Council during a work session dedicate to reviewing the four years of work by CRI.
The Proclamation was then formally announced at a regular City Council session on September 11th.
We are very proud of our community's efforts to become trauma-informed, and to integrate the ACE Study concepts, information on brain development, and -- most importantly -- resilience into everyday work and practice.
We are celebrating the Proclamation by hosting the first "Community Resilience Festival" to play the pirate-themed Resilience Treasure Hunt game, and to feature 12 resilience games created by local high school students. In the Resilience Treasure Hunt, a parent and child "sail" to 10 stations to uncover the treasure of meaning in a specific resilience building block.
Check out our online store (www.resiliencetrumpsaces.org) for the Treasure Hunt Kit.
The Walla Walla Public Library hosted a Treasure Hunt game last week for families to promote the language of resilience. CRI, which co-hosted the event, received funding that allowed us to buy children's books about resilience strategies. Both parents and children enjoyed the event.
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