Blog

Over the last several months, Sonoma County ACEs Connections (SCAC) has been struggling to develop organizational guidelines and committees. We have attempted to adopt them on several occasions but have not been able to agree on a plan. This has been especially frustrating for some of us, because back in November of 2015, SCAC voted to adopt a group of committees. For a variety of reasons however, folks keep wanting to reinvent that wheel. I am proposing one more attempt to discuss our...

This story was written by Anndee Hochman. They began with a song and ended with a poem. In-between, there were photographs and giant graphic renderings, movement exercises and a “human pulse” formed when 90 people stood in a circle and squeezed each other’s hands. At a June summit in Whatcom County, Washington, titled “Our Resilient Community: A Community Conversation on Resilience and Equity,” the arts played a starring role.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Here is a list of upcoming events that are taking place in our community to raise awareness. Heroes in Heels is a “fashion show,” where everyone must wear high heels (yes, even the men). The event will take place at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts on January 14th,2017 at 7:00 pm! Tickets include wine & brew pours and appetizers. Attendees will experience a memorable evening of socializing, a silent auction and a wine cellar raffle (4...

When she was 12, Gabby Falzone and her family became homeless in New York. At 15, she ran away. She moved between squats and stints with her family, but said she suffered too much abuse from them to stay for long. At 17, she moved to Boston, where she said she survived by exchanging sex for rent. At 19, she got into a friend’s car and drove to San Francisco. Within a month, she said, she was shooting heroin. “I kept thinking that if I escaped where I had just been, it would get better, not...

Last week, I took a call from a passionate suicide prevention advocate, James Gallant who wanted to discuss an approach for reducing ACEs. "Do you assess kids with disabilities for violations of their legal rights?" James asked. I was stumped at how to answer this, and didn't immediately see the connection to ACEs. But as James went on to share his expertise on the subject, I felt more compelled to find out what we are doing locally. James makes the case that kids with an ACE score of 1 are...

Here is a wonderful article that I read by Juli Fraga that shares how REACH Academy in Oakland, California turned to mindfulness and storytelling to help kids heal from trauma. Research has shown that traumatic experiences can affect brain development and impact a child’s ability to relax and concentrate. Therefore affecting their ability to learn. REACH Academy noticed that their students needed tools to help regulate emotion. It took time for the students to adopt this new life skill, but...

Today I watched Paper Tigers and this was a tool that they used to help the students. I think that this is a useful tool for others as well. Red , Yellow , Green ! Source: YOLO Resilience Network Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

I just finished watching Paper Tigers and one thing that I found very interesting was how many of the students found art as an expressive outlet. Some students found that drawing, writing or listening to music was what was keeping them alive. I think if we were all to reflect on a time where we sat down and started to draw or listen to our favorite song many can probably relate to that sense of release. I was compelled to do some further research and found a review by Stuckey and Nobel from...

During Sonoma County's first Community of Practice for the ACEs & Resiliency Fellowship, our Student Intern Allison Berk shared a useful resource with the group in regards to responding to bias remarks. The Speak it Up Pocket Guide created by TeachingTolerance.org, gives educators the tools to turn themselves from bystanders to upstanders by responding to biased remarks. This quick reference small enough to carry in your pocket could come in handy and can help you speak up against bias!

It’s 2016 and yet we are still stuck in this “range of traumas that compose the frayed ends of America’s historical racist national fabric” (Dhaliwal, 2016). This article explores how racial justice; its values, investments, strategies and practices can be centered at the health of trauma-informed work. http://www.acesconnection.com/blog/adding-layers-to-the-aces-pyramid-what-do-you-think “Though the ACEs study is a valuable tool that brings a wider audience to what clinicians, researchers,...

In 2015 researchers from New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital looked to epigenetic inheritance as an explanation for why Children of Holocaust survivors have an increased likelihood of stress disorders when compared to Jewish families who were living outside of Europe during the war. “Epigenetic inheritance is the idea that environmental influences such as smoking, diet and stress can affect the genes of your children and possible even grandchildren” (Thomson, 2015). This idea of epigenetic...

Check out this fascinating interview with Bruce Robinson of KRCB and Public Health Director Ellen Bauer: http://radio.krcb.org/post/educating-fellows-counter-adverse-childhood-experiences Please share the story on your social networks to help us continue to share the message of ACEs.