On April 10 and 11, 2019, the Lake County ACEs and Resilience Coalition partnered with Northwest Indiana Community Action and the Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance to host the reimagine conference. The first of its kind in Northwest Indiana, the reimagine conference provided an opportunity for groundbreakers and community leaders to explore the truth about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), to forge new partnerships, to create actionable recommendations, and to build a resilient community.

On Wednesday, April 10, our attendees participated in a Poverty Experience and a screening of RESILIENCE: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. We remembered together that poverty is expensive, it’s hard work, and it changes our brains and our biology.

On Thursday, April 11, we had a day packed with health, education, housing, and community development professionals helping us think about toxic stress and how we organize our communities for resilience. The keynote by Dr. Jennifer Walthall, Secretary of Indiana Family and Social Services Administration excited and inspired us as we headed into four tracks, totaling 15 breakout sessions addressing healthcare, education, self care, community development, neuroscience and fair housing.

The conference feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and there is a real desire from participants to build momentum toward an ACEs movement in Northwest Indiana.  To that end, we will issue at least two ACEs Community Action Awards to create collaborative initiatives to address Adverse Childhood Experiences in Lake County communities.  Guidelines are described in the attachment to this post.  Applications for Awards are due on May 20, 2019.