On August 14, 2021, ACEs champion Jameelah Hanif of Watch Me Grow Inc, held a phenomenal community event at Vallejo City Park, to educate families about ACEs, as well as connect them with the very resources that can help prevent and heal ACEs. The event offered food trucks, games for kids and adults, as well as a live band. Speakers for the event included California AssemblymanTim Grayson and Vallejo City Chief of Police Shawny Williams, each of whom addressed the issue of ACEs, trauma, and resilience by name in their remarks. A representative of Erin Hannigan of the County Board of Supervisors, whose district includes Vallejo, also spoke poignantly about the impact of ACEs in her own life and her own commitment to being an ACEs champion.
Over 35 Solano County and Vallejo local agencies gathered [with all due pandemic safety protocols] to share resources and offer "swag", along with information about their services. As Bay Area Community Facilitator, I came to share PACEs Connection resources.
Hanif is on a mission to ensure that her community, where she lives, works, and serves the community, is well educated about the impact of ACEs and how understanding ACEs can make a huge impact on the lives of families.
PACEs Connection proudly hosts the PACEs Resilience initiative, Vallejo City Strength, for which Hanif is the Community Manager. Hanif is also a member of the Vallejo All Children Thrive initiative, where the team is working on policy change that can help create change in systems to support the development of resilient communities which prevent trauma, and promote healing.
Hear Hanif introduce the subject of ACEs at the event:
As Hanif shared on her social media event page:
"Most who attended walked away learning something new about a resource they didn’t know was available. That’s what it’s about! Community & Resource building to strengthen the child, family and community. Thank you again to everyone involved in making this event a huge success."
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