Blog

Scott Whisnant, New Hanover Regional Medical Center A trendy subject these days is the discussion of “toxic stress” and “resiliency” through the study of “ACEs,” or Adverse Childhood Experiences. Twenty years after a groundbreaking study by Drs. Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda established this connection, most communities are grappling with what to do with the now-accepted fact that the awful things that happen to us in our childhood can cause disease and early death. In New Hanover County,...

This weekend, four (count them, four!) individuals sent me a link to this article. It is heart-warming and exciting to know that so many people are reading literature on trauma-informed work (on the weekend, no less!) and connect the dots to know that this was an important article! Thanks to all! https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52881/why-mindfulness-and-trauma-informed-teaching-dont-always-go-together

New to the Resiliency Task Force? This article sums up beautifully our work and focus on the strengths in our community so healing can begin. Thanks to Carla Pike with Vantage Point for passing this article along. https://medium.com/@ginwright/the-future-of-healing-shifting-from-trauma-informed-care-to-healing-centered-engagement-634f557ce69c?fbclid=IwAR00c5JhVRBHmDLS_mwkNiqB2bUHUy3AhbtSS9jjPyd2aclBcWebup69ZlQ

One of the best articles I've read in a while. A couple of great take-aways... "Resilient children saw themselves as the orchestrators of their own fates." "Do you succomb or do you surmount?" https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience

On the 27th and 28th of November, 60 individuals representing a variety of systems and services across New Hanover County were trained in a one-day training of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM). Lauren Clark and Jesse Hardin of Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear conducted the training that was funded by SEAHEC and Smart Start of New Hanover County. Carousel Center provided refreshments and lunch for the groups. The goal is for 30 of those receiving this one day training to move on to...

Here is a great article about the secondary stress that providers in the schools experience, and some ideas on things to do to help. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52281/secondary-traumatic-stress-for-educators-understanding-and-mitigating-the-effects

Where does trauma show up? Everywhere. But these days, it is showing up in larger and larger numbers of children at our hospital Emergency Rooms.

Sometimes talking about ACEs can be overwhelming! It can make one feel hopeless and helpless. We believe teaching healthy coping skills and changing our community to be more trauma-informed will make a difference for children. Here are some great encouraging things to say to children, (borrowed from the Richmond, VA Resilience Network), to build their feelings of capability.

As our five sub-committees explore the topic of provider wellness, I wanted to highlight some work of local experts working on this topic. Lisa Brooks, MSW, LCSW and Ashley Swinson, LCSW will be keynote presenters at the NC NASW Conference in Asheville in November. They will be presenting a Provider Sustainability Track at the 2-day conference as well, addressing the issue of social worker burnout. It's not too late to sign up for this conference! https://www.naswnc.org/page/61

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...

Many people in our community are finding ways to help the children cope after Hurricane Florence. New Hanover County Schools hope to reopen this Thursday, though that is not certain yet. Some childcare centers have sustained damage, and the community definitely is not back to "normal." Children's routines have definitely been disrupted. We know that routine is one of many things that bring comfort to children when they have experienced trauma, and the lack of being in school with their...

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...