Members of Florida's health, mental health, child-serving agencies, faith-based communities, law enforcement groups and others are invited to attend a free webinar tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. EST on trauma response and how to better help communities find resilience following natural disasters. You can register for the webinar now by clicking on this link.
Elaine Miller Karas, executive director of the Trauma Resource Institute in Claremont, CA, will lead the webinar. It will be recorded and available for later viewing via ACEsConnection and the ACEs Connection community websites Florida ACEs Connection, Peace4the Big Bend ACEs Connection and Peace4Tarpon ACEs Connection.
Karas recently held a similar support webinar for North Carolina communities affected by Hurricane Florence. Attendees from the North Carolina webinar said a major takeaway from their learning was "the importance of helping traumatized people find their 'resilient zone’.”
Karas will discuss the importance of using resiliency skills in the face of climate change, as well as ways to help people access positive thoughts, recognition of their and others’ strengths, and things to be grateful for in the face of natural and other disasters. As an example, for Karas, the thought of her two-year-old granddaughter helps to calm her nervous system so she can be present and focused.
"When you're in your resilient zone you can better take care of yourself and your family, help rebuild the community. You're more open to the ways of creating better communities to meet challenges from the past, present, and future."
About 40 people joined the NC webinar, and asked questions about how employers can better support workers still traumatized by the flooding, as well as how to help caregivers care for themselves.
"It was valuable for our team to take the time to reflect together in the trauma our community is experiencing," said Mebane Boyd, resiliency task force coordinator in New Hanover County, NC.
Boyd, who is also the New Hanover County North Carolina ACEs Connection website community manager, added that she appreciated the insights into the fact her community was in the "honeymoon period" of disaster response.
"We have had so many helping hands and experienced such generosity, and we need to figure out how now to work and prepare for the response for the long haul," she said.
Jennifer Travieso, community manager of Florida ACES Connection and Peace4the Big Bend ACEs Connection communities, is coordinating tomorrow’s webinar.
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