My Public Health Campaign has focused on laying the groundwork to establish a grassroots trauma-informed community initiative in Martin County, Florida. Stuart, located in the eastern part of the county close to the Atlantic Ocean, has been my home for 25 years and is a beautiful place to live. Known as The Sailfish Capital of the World, it was named the Happiest Seaside Town in America by Coastal Living Magazine in 2016. Martin County has a commitment to environmental stewardship, a vibrant arts community, highly-rated schools with a campus of Indian River State College, excellent healthcare options, a favorable business climate, great restaurants and shopping, and a strong sense of philanthropy. As in just about any community, though, we have people experiencing homelessness, housing/food/transportation insecurity, mental and behavioral health issues, domestic and neighborhood violence, human trafficking, inadequate health coverage , and racial tension. In the spirit of Peace4Tarpon, Peace4Gainesville, and other "Peace4Communities," I believe it is time to create Peace4Martin...an"umbrella"under which we can bring together all sectors of Martin County to learn about ACEs and their effects on the people they serve, to share best practices for building resilience in people of all ages, to identify challenges these different sectors face, and to collaborate on developing solutions to address them. Toward that end, I have started a Peace4Martin Community here at ACEs Connection which will "go public" in the next month and written an article which will be submitted to TC Palm/The Stuart News. I also created a short video (see link below). I will be soliciting recommendations for a Steering Committee and planning its first meeting in early November 2019. If anyone reading this would like to volunteer or has a recommendation, please feel free to contact me by responding to this post.
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