Photo by James Encinas Raising yellow “Visions & Commitments” cards, 550 attendees at yesterday’s Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference pledged their enthusiastic support to create a more resilient Central Florida. The standing-room-only crowd heard Dr. Vincent Felitti deliver a morning keynote address detailing the findings of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) . He also shared moving testimonials of people who are...

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the most recent data from the Florida Department of Health shows Charlotte County with the fourth highest rate of child abuse in the state for children ages 5 through 11.

The group started the workshop with a viewing of Resilience, which facilitated the need to add "Tissues" to the next meeting materials list. Key messages from the film that resonated with the group were: •ACEs are common. •The body does not differentiate between mental health and physical health. •You can’t just suck it up / pull yourself up by your bootstraps. •Resilience is BUILT over time.

I felt inadequate and ill-prepared to speak to licensed mental health professionals about ACEs. But when I was asked to attend the 40th Annual Training Institute on Behavioral Health & Addictive Disorders in Clearwater, Florida to represent ACEs Connection, I was honored and eager. My background is in health planning, not mental or behavioral health. I review health data and look for gaps and inequities. My time is spent looking for and addressing the health needs of a community. So,...

Introducing the Healthy Charlotte elevator speech!

“You didn’t wake up at 14 years old and stick a needle in your arm,” she tells them. “Nobody does that. You did it for a reason, and you might not even realize what that reason is.”

Staff from Charlotte High School invited trainers from SEDNET to bring Trauma-Informed Care curriculum to Punta Gorda, Florida. The training was held on November 6, 2018, adding to the growing number of education staff in Charlotte County that are well-versed in the impacts of childhood adversity, as well as preferred approaches for working with students who exhibit signs that they may have experienced trauma.

Jennifer - Thank you so much for going and introducing ACEs Science to an audience that deals with the impact of Childhood Trauma 24/7! It is good to get the word about root cause to the people who are in such a position to make a difference in getting the word to their clients: It's not "what's wrong with you and why do you do that," it is "what happened and how can I help." As a person in recovery myself, I know the guilt and shame that come along with "unmanageability." I have seen the...

Jennifer - This is fantastic! Your list is seminal, spot-on, terrific. You are doing great, great work there! THANK YOU! C.

Good evening, On Tuesday September 22, 2020 (tomorrow), the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners will sign a proclamation recognizing October as Adverse Childhood Experiences Awareness and Action Month in Charlotte County, FL . The Healthy Charlotte Community Connection Taskforce has worked hard to see this proclamation signed and recognized by our county since the beginning of 2020 and are extremely grateful for the opportunity to raise public awareness on one of the most...

Good morning! I am pleased to announce that the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners signed an ACEs proclamation on Monday, September 22, 2020 recognizing the month of October 2020 as Adverse Childhood Experiences Action and Awareness Month. The Healthy Charlotte Community Connection Taskforce worked hard to see this come into fruition. The initial goal was to have a proclamation declared for the month of September because it is trauma-informed care month, however, our local BCC...

Dr. Mimi Graham will be a guest speaker at Charlotte County's year-end virtual stakeholder meeting Thursday, November 5, 2020. " Dr. Mimi Graham, is Director of Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy, a center of excellence in trauma, infant mental health, human trafficked pregnant teens, and policy & best practices during the pivotal first 1,000 days of life. She pioneered a statewide infant mental health movement building clinical capacity,...

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...

Trauma. “A widespread, harmful and costly public health problem. It occurs as a result of violence, abuse, neglect, loss, disaster, war and other emotionally harmful experiences. Trauma has no boundaries with regard to age, gender, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, geography or sexual orientation.” To say that COVID-19 has in some way been a traumatic experience for everyone would be an understatement. It has had far reaching effects on individual health and well-being and economic...

The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County (DOH-Charlotte) is pleased to announce that the 2021-2023 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is complete and now available. Healthy Charlotte, an initiative of the Department of Health in Charlotte County, composed of local community agencies and county residents, has come together to address Adverse Childhood Experiences through the community's health improvement plan. Recent data on child abuse and neglect, opioid/substance abuse,...

If you have not yet had the opportunity, please watch the Pinwheel Podcast: Hope for Florida's Families podcast series: https://www.ounce.org/webinars_podcasts.html. Learn about the Legend of the Pinwheel in preparation for Child Abuse Prevention month this April and the Circle of Parents! Check back for daily podcast posts by Prevent Child Abuse Florida.

Apply for a Scholarship In this new video PJI Director, Rachel Allen shares some exciting information regarding what you can expect at the upcoming Conference! Register for the Conference Conference Overview: The Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College, the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, the Creating a Resilient Community Network and Title Sponsor, Orlando Health, are excited to invite you to register for the Third Annual Creating a Resilient Community (CRC): From Trauma...

The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County (DOH-Charlotte) is pleased to announce our first bi-annual Community Conversation for Spring 2021 in partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Department of Health Sciences at the Marieb College of Health & Human Services. Community Conversations is a health series by the Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County that will invite various public health experts to discuss current health topics and trends most relevant...

Good morning PACEs Connection! One of the ways our local community is working to raise awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is through an upcoming week-long awareness campaign in November. We are collaborating with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) through various media campaigns and we need YOUR HELP ! We would like to get brief testimonials of positive childhood experiences. They can be: 20-30 second video clips of you, friends, or family (that would like to participate),...

Monday, November 15 th , 2021 marks the launch of Charlotte County’s ACEs awareness week to raise awareness about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and to highlight the importance of fostering Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) in the lives of our children and youth. Last year, the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners granted an ACEs awareness county proclamation; however, still in the throws of COVID-19 precautions and response, our community was unable to celebrate the...

Good morning PACEs Community, Today begins a full week-long campaign of raising awareness about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) that make all the difference! Visit the Healthy Charlotte Facebook page throughout today and each day this week to find more videos like the one below: https://youtu.be/1YEuiwHVpoY #JOINTHEVILLAGE! #CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021

Upwards of 61% of adults surveyed across 25 states have reported experiencing at least 1 ACE. In Florida, as of 2019, 65.3% of adults surveyed for the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) reported having experienced at least 1 or more ACEs. This is an increase from 49.7% when surveyed in 2010. #JOINTHEVILLAGE! #CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021

#JOINTHEVILLAGE! #CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021 #BreaktheCycle of #AdverseChildhoodExperiences

#CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021 #JOINTHEVILLAGE !

Positive Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Shared. They make all the difference! #CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021 #JOINTHEVILLAGE !

For Charlotte County's Day 1 ACEs Awareness Campaign, our Featured Agency is the Charlotte County Substance Exposed Newborn (SEN) Task Force. Substance Exposed Newborn (SEN): Charlotte County Substance Exposed Newborn (SEN) Taskforce formed in May of 2017 as part of the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) taskforce on Maternal and Child Health. The group consists of nurses and community partner representatives from various agencies including Bayfront Hospital, DOH-Charlotte, Charlotte...

The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County (DOH-Charlotte) will be hosting our second Community Conversation Friday, December 3, 2021 in partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Department of Health Sciences, Marieb College of Health & Human Services. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Shelby Gilbert, Associate Professor of Public Health at FGCU. Dr. Gilbert will present and lead us in a discussion on community health disparities and inequities in transportation access...

By Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW Building Resiliency to Trauma Psychology Today, September 30, 2022 Mental health can suffer after extreme climate events. KEY POINTS Mental health conditions exacerbated by natural disasters include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. After a disaster, the number of people needing assistance from the mental health systems strains or exceeds community capacity. There are simple strategies helpers can use to help survivors restore...