_{Angela Jernigan (left), Donielle Prince (center), Nicole Powell (right) Photo by Laurie Udesky}

Angela Jernigan and Nicole Powell of Resilient Berkeley met with ACEs Connection’s Donielle Prince on Monday, April 23 to discuss an event that they’re organizing, which incorporates ACEs science into parenting education. They plan to hold a gathering at one of Berkeley’s public libraries. (Stay tuned for details as they emerge!)

Jernigan and Powell bring to their work an appreciation for ACEs science. Both have had opportunities to incorporate it and trauma- informed practices into their work. For Angela, who is a pastor, her interest began when she was taking parenting education classes after the birth of her daughter more than a decade ago.  She eventually became certified as a parent educator and began teaching parent education classes. But she felt something was missing from the curriculum.

Reflecting back to a time earlier on in her career, she explained, she recalls that while working in the non-profit youth development field. “I was really aware of how early life could set children up to struggle and how you could build resources into a struggling child’s life.” She also knew about the landmark CDC/Kaiser Permanente ACE study. Significantly,  Jernigan learned about the work of  Echo Parenting, the organization that trains parents, teachers and others involved in children’s lives in trauma-informed care, and  on how to develop empathic and physically safe relationships with children. It was a turning point for Jernigan. “I thought, this is what I want to do.”

Equally important, she said, another parent educator introduced Jernigan to acesconnection in 2014. “Acesconnection became the hub through which I did a lot of self educating,” said Jernigan. She ticks off a list of writers she learned about from acesconnection, including Dr. Dan Siegel, Peter Levine, and Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk. (Here’s a link to a recent comment by Jernigan where she describes the evolution of her interest in providing parenting education through a trauma-informed lens.)

The next meeting of Resilient Berkeley will be Monday, May 21, 2018 at  4 pm at the North branch of the Berkeley Public Library at 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley, CA 94707.