Tagged With "North Carolina"
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Asheville and Buncombe County’s Agenda for People with Disabilities
Asheville and Buncombe County’s Agenda for People with Disabilities
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Birdsong: 'Story we tell about poverty isn't true' [Citizen-Times.com]
Buncombe hosts Mia Birdsong, national speaker on inequality, race, gender and community ASHEVILLE - Mia Birdsong travels the U.S. to challenge assumptions people have about poverty and family. She will speak at the Diana Wortham Theatre at 6 p.m. April 25. The public is invited. Buncombe County Health and Human Services and the Buncombe County Family Justice Center are hosting the event titled, "The Ripple Effect with Mia Birdsong." Birdsong is best known for her TED Talk: "The story we tell...
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Building Resilient Communities by Creating Compassionate Schools
David Thompson, Buncombe County Schools Student Services Director, in Asheville, North Carolina, gives a talk at the Public School Forum of North Carolina about a curriculum that helps students overcome trauma in their lives. Attached is the accompanied article written about the talk and a YouTube video of his talk.
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Buncombe County schools teach strategies, raise awareness about cyberbullying [MountainX.com]
Photo—GET UP AND DANCE: Asheville City School's director of human resources Mark Dickerson, aka "Dr. DJ Mark," dances with students during this year's anti-bullying rally. Photo courtesy of Asheville City Schools Max Weissman , an adolescent counselor in Asheville, says cyberbullying is an issue that comes up all too often — by parents, educators and victims themselves — though often not directly. “Hardly anyone has come to me for therapy for bullying, though I’d say half the people I work...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Byron Hall: A mentor rich with experience counsels teen parents in NC
Byron Hall mentors adolescent parents for the Community Enrichment Organization , a nonprofit in Tarboro, NC, which partners with a program that supports to keep adolescent parents in school. One of the parents he mentors is 13 years old. At the age of 17, Hall was an adolescent parent himself, growing up with a single parent in the Bronx, NY, then an African American community where drug-dealing and prostitution were common. For the counselor, helping these young men and women, who are...
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Community Sessions of the Buncombe ACE Speaker's Bureau
Our Buncombe County/Asheville ACEs Speakers’ Bureau has partnered up with United Way, Green Opportunities, and Asheville City Schools to present community sessions co-occurring with the Homework Diners. The community sessions are open to everyone, regardless of whether you have children or not. By joining with the Homework Diners, a community meal and child enrichment become available to those attending the community sessions. Please invite anyone and everyone you know. The more we connect,...
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Do more cops in schools make them safer? New study looking at NC schools says no. [newsobserver.com]
RALEIGH - A new report looking at security in North Carolina schools is challenging the belief that putting more police officers in schools will make them safer. The study of North Carolina middle schools found no relationship between increased funding for school resource officers and reduction in cases of reported school crimes. Kenneth Alonzo Anderson, the report’s author and an associate professor at Howard University, said legislators across the country should consider the findings...
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Finding Resilience in the Midst of Hurricane Florence
Avis and her brother, Bruce, have seen some hard knocks in their lives. At 60, she's his sole caretaker. She's taught school, worked as a receptionist, always worked, or wanted to work. Since she started caring for her brother, full-time work has seemed hard to find. He was born with autism 51 years ago. They share her little house in Pamlico County, North Carolina, where she now hopes to be called in to substitute teach, and he looks forward to her home cooked meals. Their lives revolve...
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Focusing on "Creating Nurturing Systems"
In just six weeks, stakeholders from across North Carolina will get together to learn about system integration work with youth involved with child welfare. This is the third annual Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Conference and this year, we have decided to really focus on "Creating Nurturing Systems". While the daily work of PFE can be hard and challenges us to think of new ways to meet the needs of the family, the annual conference offers us a way to celebrate our successes and...
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Foster Care Case Numbers Continue to Climb in NC, as Opioid Crisis Affects Families [northcarolicahealthnews.org]
By Sarah Ovaska-Few, North Carolina Health News, September 24, 2019 North Carolina could use more people like Lisa Link, as the state grapples with record numbers of children entering and staying in the already stretched foster care system. Link, an auto broker and owner of a small used-car lot in Charlotte, opted five years ago to become a foster parent after years of helping with family members’ children. She was single, in her early 40s, and wanted to help children coming out of difficult...
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Grassroots resilience: Rural communities tackle ACEs
Rt to left—Adrienne Coopey, DO, Billings Clinic, MT, Lorenzo Lewis, The Confess Project, Little Rock, Ark, and Mendy Spohn, MPH, public health administrator in several counties in Oklahoma ________________________________________________ The three presenters for the “Grassroots Resilience: Rural Communities Tackle ACEs” workshop brought to life the unique challenges of addressing ACEs and trauma in rural communities and shared some valuable lessons for communities of any size. Mendy Spohn, a...
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Hirsch: Candidates should address child abuse and safety this election [Greensboro.com]
This election year, child advocates are challenging candidates for elective office to talk about their proposals for ensuring safe, stable and nurturing environments for our children. Our state only ranks 35th in child well-being: More than 130,000 child-abuse and neglect reports are made annually; our child poverty rate is 25 percent; and 24 percent of North Carolina’s children have experienced two or more Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, to name a few issues that should be...
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Hurricane Florence first responders receive free trauma/resilience training
In a webinar offered this morning by Elaine Miller Karas , executive director of the Trauma Resource Institute in Claremont, CA, leaders from several North Carolina ACEs Connection communities affected by flooding and other damage by Hurricane Florence learned more about trauma response and how to better help their communities find resilience. Karas, who was delivering her Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training at Duke University in Durham, NC, offered the free training and provided...
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Investments in New Hanover County’s Resiliency Paying Off During Time of Pandemic
Cliff Barnett, Wilmington city council member; pastor at Warner Temple AME Zion, and chair of the Family Faith and Community committee for the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (RTF), shares experience in using sign language during a regularly scheduled RTF meeting. (Other photos are from recent monthly RTF meetings). With training, community’s front lines are proving resilient to and aware of trauma’s impact WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA April 7, 2020 Two years ago, the Resiliency Task Force...
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New Study Examines State Lawmaker Perspectives on Adverse Childhood Experiences
New Study Examines State Lawmaker Perspectives on Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences Released by Children's Trust of South Carolina
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One Way to Cut Child Poverty? Community Support, N.C. Families Say [EqualVoiceForFamilies.org]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – When a tree fell in July 2016 and destroyed her family’s mobile home in Leicester, Kwana Bailey considered giving up. Perhaps it was time to throw in the towel, the mother of six wondered. Maybe she should take her kids and camp out in front of social services until someone came to their aid. Her landlord was refusing to fix the property, and being homeless for the second time was a setback she wasn’t sure she could handle. Then, Bailey remembered why she cleaned up her act...
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People Are Buying Houses Unaware of 'Forever Chemicals' in Their Well Water [northcarolinahealthnews.org]
By Greg Barnes, North Carolina Health News, January 6, 2020 No one told Army veteran Carter Bryant about groundwater contamination near the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant when he bought a home there in July. Bryant said he knew almost nothing about GenX and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” — before he and his family moved in. About two months later, Bryant said, he received a notice from Chemours stating that contaminants in his...
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Personal stories the set tone of hearing in U.S. Senate HELP Committee on Opioid Crisis Response Act
Jennifer Donahue, Delaware Office of the Child Advocate, testifies before the HELP Committee (Jennifer Perry to her right) ____________________________________________________________ Some seasoned advocates say legislators are influenced by stories while their staffs are swayed by data. There was some of both at the April 11 hearing on the draft Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 of the U.S. Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee but it was the personal stories that...
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Resilience
On the 27th of April 2018, Rowan-Salisbury School System hosted a showing of the movie Resilience at the Norvell Theater in Salisbury, North Carolina. Upon entering the lobby of the Novell Theater, shortly after 6pm that evening, the amount of enthusiasm and partnership surrounding the showing of Resilience and the trauma work being done within the community was breathtaking. The lobby was filled with teachers and social workers and many key community stakeholders, all working together to...
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Resilience Week [resilienceweek.co]
By UNC TV, November 6, 2019 UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina presents the statewide broadcast premiere of the special documentary feature Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, Tuesday, November 19, at 8 PM, as part of Resilience Week—a statewide initiative to build awareness of childhood trauma, prevention and resilience. The hour-long film focuses on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), what Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter of ACE Interface have termed, “the...
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Resilience Week [resilienceweek.co]
By UNC TV, November 6, 2019 UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina presents the statewide broadcast premiere of the special documentary feature Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, Tuesday, November 19, at 8 PM, as part of Resilience Week—a statewide initiative to build awareness of childhood trauma, prevention and resilience. The hour-long film focuses on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), what Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter of ACE Interface have termed, “the...
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Welcome, Forsyth County (North Carolina) ACEs Connection!
Introducing Forsyth County (North Carolina) ACEs Connection , one of the newest communities in Southeastern U.S. region , the geographic area I support for ACEs Connection. Forsyth County ACEs Connection is a team of community partners from all sectors working towards collaborative, intentional and integrated trauma informed care in our county. The new site manager for Forsyth County ACEs Connection is is Laneita Williamson, who is an inpatient rehabilitation compliance coordinator and a...
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Help Navigating the Road to Community Resiliency
The first time I ever heard the words trauma-informed care and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study was in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was working for the local Police Department as the Director of a grant-funded Crime Reduction Project aimed at reducing drug-related and violent crime. Of the many program goals, one was to develop a rehabilitative corrections program for felony offenders with addictions in order to reduce recidivism. Though I’ve lived in this region for...
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Do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships work? New research has important findings for responding to ACEs
While we know that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can cause risk behaviors, research has told us that the presence of protective factors can help mitigate the effects of ACEs. Common risk behaviors such as smoking tobacco and alcohol misuse can be a result from the trauma of childhood disadvantage. In responding to ACEs, public health research proposes that protective factors such as safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) with a caring adult can mitigate the long-term effects of...
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In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for Black residents (USA Today)
By Joel Burgess, July 15, 2020, ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES. ASHEVILLE, N.C. – In an extraordinary move, the Asheville City Council has apologized for the North Carolina city's historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties to Black residents and voted to provide reparations to them and their descendants. The 7-0 vote came the night of July 14. "Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," said Councilman Keith Young, one of...
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Greater Richmond Trauma Informed Community Network, first to join ACEs Cooperative of Communities, shows what it means to ROCK!
In 2012, Greater Richmond SCAN and five other community partners hatched a one-year plan to educate the Richmond, Virginia, community about ACEs science and to embed trauma-informed practices. Eight years later, the original group has evolved into the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Community Network (GRTICN) with 495 people and 170 organizations. And they're just scratching the surface.
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New ACEs initiatives learn about strategic plan development from from New Hanover (NC) Resiliency Task Force executive director Mebane Boyd
The desire to see other ACEs initiatives grow and flourish was evident at a recent meeting of the Resilient Columbus County (North Carolina) ACEs initiative when Mebane Boyd, executive director of the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (also in North Carolina), shared with the Columbus County and neighboring Pender County groups how New Hanover created and works on its strategic plan. In the spirit of sharing, Boyd agreed to let ACEs Connection post the strategic plan and the video of the...
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The Best for our Children: Considering ACEs in Voter Engagement.
The presidential race is a big-ticket item, but hundreds of other state and local races will impact critical issues like school funding, childcare and early education, nutrition programs, and health care. Every seat in the NC General Assembly is on the ballot, along with the Governor’s race, a US Senate seat, congressional races, and more. When it comes to elevating the importance of racial equity, voting is vital to make marginalized voices heard. Policies and systems can be changed by our...
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Empower Action Model Provides Framework for Strategic Coalitions in South Carolina's Marlboro County and Beyond
Lauren Szymonik kept posing the same questions to members of the Empower Action coalition in Marlboro County: “What is the data telling you? What is the data saying about education? What is the data telling you about trauma?” The numbers were clear: according to 2014-16 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys, 56% of the county’s 24,000 adults had experienced at least one ACE. In 2017-18, there were 212 cases of child maltreatment, including abuse and neglect, among the...
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ACEs Champion: The reintroduction of Michael Hayes — from ACEs awakening to ACEs community service
It wasn’t until his fifth prison term in a North Carolina county jail — his fourth conviction for driving under the influence — that Michael Hayes volunteered to take an ACE survey that changed his life. The 48-year-old father of six sons and one daughter had spent a number of years in and out of prison. During his last term, to get some time out of the cell where he spent 16 hours a day, he volunteered to attend a class offered by RHA Health Services, a nonprofit that incorporates the...
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ACEs Connection/CTIPP Southeastern Leaders’ call: State updates, funding information, and “mind-blowing” information about helping people out of poverty
Southeastern ACEs Connection and national CTIPP leaders on the quarterly leader call welcomed guest speaker Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz (top left) for their quarterly call. Also among those present were (top row l-r) Carey Sipp, Jesse Kohler, Jesse Hardin, (second row, l-r) Patti Tiberi, Mebane Boyd, Jen Drake-Croft, Dan Press, (third row, l-r) Mimi Graham, Christopher Freeze, Margaret Stagmeier, (fourth row, l-r) Emily Marsh, Liz Peterson, Alyssa Koziarski and Janet Pozmantier. Also present was...
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What the pandemic has done to racial inequality in North Carolina [charlotteobserver.com]
By Gene Nichol, The Charlotte Observer, December 28, 2020 It doesn’t happen as often as one might wish. But, on occasion, you can still be surprised by what someone says. For example, earlier this month, the Donald Trump-appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, explained to the Senate Banking Committee: “Disparate economic outcomes on the basis of race, have been with us for a very long time, they are a long-standing aspect of our economy, and there is a great risk that the...
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North Carolina Community Resilience Conference 2021 - Register today!
About the Conference WELCOME to the NC Community Resilience Conference 2021: Moving From Awareness to Action! The conference builds upon the framework of community-led initiatives across the state raising ACEs awareness to build a statewide movement supporting the development of resilient children, families and communities. Special Scholarship Opportunity Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, we are pleased to offer scholarships to the North Carolina’s Community Resilience...
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North Carolina to infuse ACEs science into state judiciary system
Plans to integrate practices and policies based on the science of adverse childhood experiences in North Carolina’s 4,000-person,100-county statewide judiciary were announced today. Jon David, district attorney for North Carolina’s 15th District, and District Court Judge Quintin McGee of the same district revealed plans to work with North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby and Administrative Office of the Courts Director Andrew Heath to create a statewide commission focusing on the science of...
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Rural Opportunity Institute of Edgecombe County offers Free Reconnect for Resilience Training
The Rural Opportunity Institute of Edgecombe County is offering the Reconnect for Resilience Training -- normally offered at $295 per person -- with the cost waived for the April 6-2, 2021 training. s scholarships front grant funding. Sign-up here: https://bit.ly/3m6FJIZ Date: April 6-9, 2021 (on Zoom) Time: 9 am to 12:30 pm EST At this Reconnect for Resilience training you will learn seven skills and eight rapid resets to help balance your nervous system, manage stress, build resilience,...
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"JUST US” Program Connects Arts and Resiliency (https://uncw.edu/newsletters/watson-chronicle)
UNCW has partnered with local school and community groups on a pilot program that uses art integration to help students develop resiliency skills. WCE professor Janna Robertson wrote the curriculum for “JUST US” in collaboration with WCE students Schala Harper and Kia Thompson as well as artist, Dare Coulter. The interdisciplinary curriculum incorporates North Carolina middle school standards for social emotional learning, language arts, social studies and visual arts. The program was...
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Nation's Largest HBCU Sees Record-Breaking Donations [wunc.org]
By Liz Schlemmer, WUNC 91.5, May 2, 2021 The nation's largest HBCU is having a blockbuster year for fundraising. North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro has raised $88 million since its fiscal year began last summer. That's almost six times what the university typically fundraises annually — and the fiscal year isn't even over yet. "There has not been a year like that ever in our history," says Todd Simmons, N.C. A&T's associate vice chancellor for university relations.
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North Carolina launches first-in-the-nation statewide task force on ACEs-informed courts
(l-r) Judge Andrew Heath, Chief Justice Paul Newby, District Attorney Ben David Plans to integrate practices and policies based on the science of adverse childhood experiences in North Carolina’s 6,500-person,100-county statewide judiciary were announced today by Chief Justice Paul Newby. The announcement featured a presentation by Ben David, district attorney for North Carolina’s 13th District, that focused on building community health, the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs),...
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Rally for House Bill 914: Support our Direct Care Workforce
Thank you to everyone who reached out to legislators for our rally day on House Bill 914 Support Our Direct Care Workforce! A special thanks to Lutheran Family Services , Universal Mental Health Services , Alexander Youth Network , A Small Miracle and ACI-Dungarvin (North Carolina) , for having attendees who came to the legislature! If we missed anyone else who came to Raleigh, we apologize and hope you will let us know you were there! We had a fantastic press conference with Representative...
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Four North Carolina resiliency initiatives join the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities—thanks to the United Way
Members of the four Cape Fear Area resiliency initiatives celebrate their joining the PACES Connection Cooperative of Communities and thank United Way - Cape Fear Area leadership for "leaning in" on the work being done to prevent and heal childhood trauma, and build on positive childhood experiences to create individual, family and community resilience. The United Way-Cape Fear Area (UW-CFA) board of directors has voted to fund four North Carolina resiliency initiatives to join the PACEs...
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Register now! North Carolina Resilience Peer Connection August 18th from Noon – 1:00
Dear NC partners, Over the past couple of years, by survey and multiple conversations and meetings, we have asked those of you on the ground doing the important work of bringing communities together to prevent and address ACEs what you need to enhance the good work you’re doing. By far, the desire to connect with peers doing similar work has risen to the top as the #1 priority/desire that you and your colleagues wanted us to address and provide. We are excited to announce the first gathering...
Member
Erin Braasch
Member
Allison Gilliam
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Blue Cross NC Forms New Foster Care Advisory Council for Healthy Blue, Enhancing Commitment to Trauma-Informed Care Delivery Across the State
New council will advise Healthy Blue Medicaid plan for a seamless system of care DURHAM, N.C. – Building on its ongoing commitment to improve the health and well-being of children and families in foster care across the state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) has formed a new Foster Care Advisory Council to work with and advise its Healthy Blue Medicaid plan. The Advisory Council will serve as a valuable resource in ensuring those in foster care are receiving the...
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NC Child Legislative and Policy Update call 11 a.m. EST, Fri. Sept.10, 2021
Special NC Child Legislative Update: COVID Delta Variant & Children Presenters: Dr. Zack Moore, State Epidemiologist & Dr. Kelly Kimple, Women’s & Children’s Health Section Chief Friday, 9/10, 11:00 am All Friday updates will be provided live in both English and Spanish. Sign up here to attend. 2021 NC Statewide Virtual Policy Institute The NC Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Families and Prevent Child Abuse NC announce that registration for the 2021 Policy Institutes is...
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Smart Start Early Childhood Resilience Cohort Here To Help [transylvaniatimes.com]
By The Transylvania Times, October 20, 2021 What helps you cope and get through hard times? How do you face life’s challenges, adversities and crises? The ability to be resilient in times of stress, adversity, failure, challenges or even trauma is a skill that not everyone has. Studies have found that 45% of North Carolina children have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences and only 57% of adults studied exhibited strong resiliency. Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC)...
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In North Carolina, a new Civil War memorial honors Black Union soldiers (Washingtonpost.com)
By Kevin Maurer November 1, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. EDT In the early 1900s, two Civil War memorials — both honoring the Confederacy — were erected in the busy downtown district of Wilmington, N.C. They were meant largely to send a message of intimidation to African Americans and “carpetbaggers,” Northerners who came to the South during reconstruction — and there they stood for a century. Five miles away, Heather Wilson, the deputy director of the Cameron Art Museum, wanted to tell a different...
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Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice with Special Guest, Becky Haas, Pioneer in Developing Trauma-Informed Judicial Initiatives
Please join us for our new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly virtual Zoom series will feature conversations facilitated by Dr. Porter Jennings-McGarity, PhD/LCSW, PACEs Connection’s criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and strategies being...