Recently, Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence partnered with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) to host a community screening of the film Resilience in our Cleveland County-Partners Behavioral Health Management partnership. The screening provided the opportunity for the community to come together to learn not only about the impact trauma has on developing youth and their families but also on the importance of building resilient communities to support them.
To introduce the film, Benchmarks’ PFE Director, Jenny Cooper explained the spirit behind the mission of “doing trauma-informed work” and why community screenings of films like Resilience are key to guiding trauma-informed community approaches.
Willing participants were asked to complete ACE questionnaires which were later tallied to reveal the ACE score distribution of the audience. Since PFE partnered with PCANC during our conference last year, this was an activity we had done before. What I found fascinating was how this audience became so grounded after simply completing the ACEs questionnaire. It was evident from that point forward that the activity truly made them realize—in a literal sense—how close trauma was to their own homes.
Following the film was a panel discussion with experts ranging from Mental Health and Child Welfare to the Schools and local Health Department. During the panel much of the discussion was around, “How do we as a collective of professionals and citizens work together to provide trauma informed care to our clients, neighbors, family, and friends?”
Discussion also provided suggestions for ways we can continue to improve upon existing efforts through the expansion of partnerships. One question that contributed to this part of the discussion was, “Who else needs to be at the table?”, where the group discussed the importance of looping in businesses. Explaining the financial impact research has shown trauma to have on industry through money spent on medical/sick leave as well as revenue lost due to loss of productivity for staff impacted by trauma.
Commissioner Allen closed the discussion with a thought provoking Call-to-Action congratulating those in attendance for their efforts thus far but also challenging the community to be innovative and collaborative in its practices and approaches to create a trauma informed, aware, and responsive community.
-Jasmine Mickle
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