Friday, April 12, 2019 marked an exciting, auspicious, and perhaps pivotal day in the history of Monroe County, Indiana. That’s a lot of adjectives—and pressure—to pile onto just another glorious spring day in Bloomington. But I think many folks who virtually congregate on a site that supports communities implementing trauma-informed and resilience-building practices grounded in ACEs science would agree that a county’s first-ever ACEs conference deserves a little ballyhoo. But this ACEs...

Volunteers, businesses and organizations in the community are coming together to provide food for families during spring break and while Monroe County Community School Corp. schools are closed following the break. The Monroe County Community Food Train will be delivering prepackaged or prepared meals, provided by City Church For All Nations, the Office of Diversity Initiatives in the Kelley School of Business, and local restaurants, to locations in the county beginning 12:30-2 p.m. Tuesday...

Covid-19 Community Resources from the Monroe County Public Library (MCPL): https://mcpl.info/geninfo/covid-19-community-resources

Laura's Note: This post is old news -- the United Way of Monroe County Breakfast Panel it recounts happened in July 2019. It may not be news at all to any of you who happened to attend. But I wanted to share it because when I happened across it well after the fact, it gave me a lilt of hope--someone else out there is paying attention! We KNOW other ACEs-aware folks are among us, we just haven't necessarily made all of their acquaintances yet. To me, it's exciting to know that the topic is...

BLOOMINGTON - Individuals in Monroe County who are experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis have a new source for help besides an emergency room or the local jail. The Bloomington-based Stride Coalition has opened The Stride Center which offers a place for police to take individuals in need instead of going into the criminal justice system. The 24-hour crisis diversion center in downtown Bloomington was opened to better help those with substance abuse disorders. The coalition...

Bloomington city leaders plan to move five police officer positions to social service positions within the department. In a zoom call Thursday , they talked about actions the city will take for racial justice. Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton says these efforts will also include a request that the Board of Public Safety form an advisory committee to study what public safety efforts should look like long-term. Police Chief Mike Diekhoff says keeping the reallocated positions in the department...