"We know that early brain development is the foundation for the rest of a person's life," said Toni Detherage, a Lawrence social worker who provides the training, which is sponsored by Douglas County Success by Six. "And we know that trauma changes the way the brain works and develops. Chronologically someone can be 32, but developmentally, socially, emotionally, they might be 5 or 6."
...This year, nearly 1,000 volunteers with Family Promise, which uses churches and their volunteers to house homeless families, took part in the training.
"The general public is pretty aware now of post-traumatic stress disorder because of our military veterans â and that's pretty much where the awareness stops," said Dana Ortiz, executive director of Lawrence Family Promise. "This is post-traumatic stress disorder."
Family Promise recently made other trauma-informed changes to the way it cares for families. It remodeled the basement of its day house from a "dank, dark, scary, yucky place," as Ortiz said, to one that's more inviting and less intimidating to guests. It enhanced the lighting in the day house. It started asking guests what would make them feel safer; that might just mean putting a nightlight in the room they're sleeping in. "The littlest thing can make a huge difference," Ortiz said.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/dec/05/training-helps-volunteers-provide-more-compassiona/
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