County commissioners, county staff and Resilient Columbus task force members join hands during the May 3 commissioners’ meeting to symbolize their partnership. The gesture came after the commissioners unanimously approved a resolution of support for Resilient Columbus, which seeks to reduce adverse childhood experiences. Staff photo by Thomas Sherrill

By Thomas Sherrill, News Reporter, May 11, 2021 --

Just under two years after being founded, the leaders of the Resilient Columbus collaborative told the Columbus County Board of Commissioners about the grants they have received to cover personnel costs and plans to raise trauma awareness locally.

“When Columbus County is resilient, our individuals, family and our community work as a team,” said Jai Robinson, Resilient Columbus coordinator, during Monday’s commissioners’ meeting.

“When we work as a team, we decrease child abuse, decrease instances of ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences), decrease suicide rates, decrease substance abuse and decrease homelessness. Working as a team, we can increase graduation rates, increase higher education participation, increase stable housing and increase mental health treatment when needed.”

Rosa Bolden, partnership engagement coordinator with Resilient Columbus, said that the organization, with the Columbus County Partnership for Children as the anchor, has received $25,000 and $40,000 grants for administrative purposes in conjunction with Prevent Child Abuse N.C.

The main focus of the presentation was adverse childhood experiences, which Dr. Jugta Kahai, pediatric medical director at Columbus Regional Healthcare System, defined as “potentially noxious or unpleasant” experiences that “may cause long-term social or health implications.”

Kahai told the commissioners that discovery of the effects of adverse childhood experiences in a San Diego obesity clinic in the 1980s was “the largest public health finding in many years.”

Most people have had at least one adverse childhood experience, with many having four or more, Kahai said.

Kahai also tied adverse childhood experiences to health issues, saying adults with four or more ACES are 390 times more likely than average to develop chronic lung disease, 290 times more likely to develop chronic liver disease, 460 times more likely to have depression and 1,222 times more likely to commit suicide.

“Not only do they have health risk factors, but they have social risk factors,” Kahai said, saying adults with at least four adverse childhood experiences are 15 times more like to have 50 or more sexual partners and that two-thirds of them drop out of school.

“Resilience is when we take a noxious or toxic stimulant and give [the ACES victim] support, growth and development,” Kahai said.

According to the group’s presentation, Resilient Columbus, created in 2019, boasted “some ‘Resilient Columbus’ partners and staff have been trained or certified in resilience techniques and child protective factors.”

Going forward, the plan is to use the infrastructure in place to “provide education and training to targeted groups and the Columbus County community” with goals of educating people on”trauma awareness, coping methods, tools to reset our nervous systems and a common language among citizens,” a PowerPoint presentation given alongside the presentation stated.

Raising public awareness by holding film screenings and community conversations on adverse childhood experiences and resiliency is another point in the plan, as were sharing resources and materials, coordinating technical assistance services and seeking more funding.

The commissioners unanimously passed a resolution in favor of Resilient Columbus, which Columbus County Partnership for Children Executive Director Selena Rowell said “will aid us in getting more grants and bringing about greater awareness.”

After the presentation, the Resilient Columbus presenters invited the commissioners and staff to hold hands in a circle.

“So joining together as one agency, we can light the fire and prevent child abuse and maltreatment as well as helping with the other realms of adversity in our community,” Bolden said in the circle.