A hug may be comforting to many children, but for a child who has experienced trauma it may not feel safe. That’s an example used by Julie Kurtz, co-director of trauma informed practices in early childhood education at the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies (CCFS), as she begins a trauma training session. Her audience, preschool teachers and staff of the San Francisco-based Wu Yee Children’s Services at San Francisco’s Women’s Building, listen attentively.

Soon after the sun set over Santa Barbara, Ann Hagan grabbed a marker and wrote a short message to the 20 strangers who died in the devastating Montecito mudslides. “In our hearts,” she wrote before signing her name on a whiteboard put up at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Hagan was one of thousands of people who huddled at the courthouse late Sunday evening to take part in a candlelight vigil. “This is a healing experience for everyone here,” said Jennifer Adame, 44, of Santa Barbara.

First, I was obsessively seeking out news of the fire. I worried about the well-being of friends and colleagues, monitored air-quality levels, juggled the physical and emotional needs of two very scared daughters, evacuated or helped others to evacuate, all while trying to continue to do as much work as possible. It was intense. Then, just as firefighters heroically saved our beautiful community, and life was starting to get back to normal with the dawn of a New Year, we’ve been hit with...

The Red Cross shelter, set up at Santa Barbara City College, has been encouraging mud-flow refugees to register themselves at its “Safe and Well” program to let friends and family know they are okay. Online, the resource is at redcross.org , under first the Get Help and then the Contact & Locate Loved Ones buttons (after that, scroll down to After a Disaster). People can also call (805) 681-5542 either to list themselves as safe and well or to find someone who many have registered...

It’s a New Year and a new life for Gigi Schneider, one of six people chosen in 2017 to move into El Carrillo, the only apartment complex in Santa Barbara exclusively serving a formerly homeless clientele. Schneider is one of only 123 homeless people in Santa Barbara County who were placed in permanent housing in 2017 by county and city housing authorities and Peoples’ Self-Help Housing, a nonprofit group. That’s out of a total homeless population of 1,860, or about 1 out of every 15. The...

Today's Press Democrat featured this promising article: "Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday created a new government office to help the region bounce back from this year’s devastating wildfires and assist with charting a formal vision for the long-term recovery of the local housing supply, the economy and other key areas. The new Office of Recovery and Resiliency will have its own budget and seven staff members, three of whom will come from the ranks of current county employees. Housed within...

Health officials have handed out more than 200,000 free N-95 face masks over the past week to guard against the toxic cloud of smoke in the air thrown up by the raging Thomas Fire , which is burning in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Still, some people insist on folding a scarf, wearing a dust or surgical mask or even holding their hand over the mouths. Those methods, however, are useless for the most part. “Dust masks and surgical masks aren’t effective at filtering out the particles,”...

More masks will be distributed Wednesday in Santa Barbara County as air quality in some areas of the county due to the Thomas Fire remain at "unhealthy" levels. N95 masks will be available at the following locations: • Goleta Costco, 7095 Market Place Dr., from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. • Goleta Valley Community Center, 5679 Hollister Ave., from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. • Goleta City Hall, 130 Cremona Dr., from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. • Franklin Community Center, 1136 East Montecito St. in Santa...

As the Thomas fire raged across Ventura County, neighboring Santa Barbara County took to its English language social media accounts targeting its Latino audience to keep them informed on el incendio . Over the last year, through disaster and crisis, the official county accounts have morphed into a mix of Spanish and English Facebook posts and tweets, said Gina DePinto, the county's communications manager. "We're really moving toward an effort to support our Spanish-speaking audience with...

Youth leaders in Santa Maria are calling for more mental health services for themselves and their families. In October, some Santa Maria students ran a "Youth-Led Town Hall" to discuss ways to reduce youth violence. The meeting was in response to the Santa Maria Mayor's Task Force on Youth Safety. Nearly a month and a half later, the data collected from the nearly 100 students at the meeting has been compiled. At a December 4 press conference organized by C.A.U.S.E., data released showed...

To see the conference agenda, list of all-star speakers, and to register go to: http://www.theresourceinnovationgroup.org/california-2018-conference/

On October 16, I joined in Santa Barbara's Second Annual Bridges to Resilience Conference . Surrounded by "our people" or 300+ folks like us who care deeply about ending childhood adversity, I basked in the waves of passion passing back and forth between presenters, participants, and organizers. With the fires raging in our community at the same time, it was hard for me to consider leaving my post at one of the shelters to participate in this event. However, I convinced myself attending this...