Blogs

September 23rd- 26th, Community Resilience Initiative (CRI) will be holding a trauma-informed boot camp , in which participants can spend an exciting week learning our Course 1, Course 2, and/or Course 3 information. Many of you have already attended Course 1 and 2, and are eager to learn more strategies. Course 3 describes training on topics that teach the knowledge and skills required by individuals who have more regular and intense contact with individuals who may be adversely affected by...

CRI is grateful to have honored three National Resilience Champions- Karen Pritzker, Jane Stevens, and Laura Porter- at the 2019 Beyond Paper Tigers Conference. Each has inspired the development of critical mass, and have been energetic catalysts of new ideas. The three women have represented tipping points in the national movement. They have worked tirelessly to shift culture and mindsets around how human restoration occurs and have provided brilliant insights to reframe beliefs about the...

Announcing a new opportunity for online learning, August 8 & 22, a live webcast of Course 1! Additionally, attend our Boot Camp in September for an exciting week of Course 1, 2, & 3 training! Read more below: August Online Trainings CRI Course 1 LIVE WEBCAST: Trauma-Informed Training A dynamic 2 part six-hour LIVE WEBCAST course, Course 1 introduces CRI’s capacity-building framework for building resilience, KISS. Knowledge, Insight, Strategies and Structure describes our community’s...

Community Resilience Initiative is seeking an innovative and passionate individual to join our organization as an Associate Director (AD). Based in Walla Walla, WA , the AD reports to the Executive Director and to the Board of Directors. Job Overview The role of the Associate Director is to sustain the resilience-based, trauma-responsive capacity building work at the local, regional, state and national stage for which CRI is recognized. Success in this position will be evidenced by...

Community Resilience Initiative is incredibly grateful to all who attended, helped created, and supported our 2019 Beyond Paper Tigers Conference! We were honored to be joined by approximately 450 people from 23 different states and 2 Canadian provinces. Each session felt charged with energy due to the passion and dedication from each of our attendees. CRI was thrilled by the participation, whether during the pre-conference social, or in the creation of the 7-Sentence Stories! And...

It was an incredible opportunity to experience the Beyond Paper Tigers Conference this year. One of our Head Start teachers, Lyn, and myself arrived in Pasco a day ahead to participate in the Course 2 Trauma-Informed training offered by Community Resilience Initiative. Thus began our excitement that would last for the following days - the training giving us strategies and ideas to improve the work we do in serving children and families. Following the training was a networking opportunity...

CRI is excited to announce new trainings! We will have online trainings in July, and an in-person training in September. July Online Trainings CRI Course 1 LIVE WEBCAST: Trauma-Informed Training A dynamic 2 part six-hour LIVE WEBCAST course, Course 1 introduces CRI’s capacity-building framework for building resilience, KISS. Knowledge, Insight, Strategies and Structure describes our community’s learning and movement from theory to practice and how to implement evidence-based strategies into...

Resources for individuals, organizations, and communities moving along trauma and hope-informed pathways in order to: Prevent and mitigate adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Promote resilience and safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Promote equity and racial justice. Prevent substance abuse and promote mental health. … so that all children, youth, families and communities have equal opportunity for educational success, economic stability, health, and well-being.

“I believe that everyone, especially a child, deserves to know how their brains are shaped by environment, to then understand their capacity for building proactive protective factors. We all deserve to be super heroes as we do the best we can to consciously live life well. ” - Teri Barila The superheroes we learn about in comics, movies, and TV shows swoop in to save the world with their incredible powers, to shield people from harm. But in our world, no matter how much we wish to protect...

"In our community, we were first exposed to ACEs and brain architecture. We frequently talked about the impact of ACEs. Until this happened when Dr. Rob Anda came in . Because of this brave mom who shared her 10 ACE childhood Because of that vulnerability in a first exposure to ACEs Until finally… I finally knew we had to do this And now I was convinced to start CRI." - Our own Teri Barila uses the 7-Sentence Story model to tell of CRI's Incubation Stage. We are excited to bring to you a new...

"The world breaks and afterward many are strong in the broken places" - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms During the BPT Pre-Conference on June 25th, CRI will be screening Broken Places - a documentary that posits why some children are severely damaged by early adversity while others are able to thrive. Filmmakers explored 40 years of film archives following children who experienced immense childhood stress, watching with curiosity as some overcame hardship and thrived in their adult...

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in” -Desmond Tutu. This quote captures the essence of why resilience matters. To CRI, Resilience is not about “lifting yourself up by your bootstraps” or “bouncing back” from serious harm or injury. To us, Resilience is about self-discovery and self-awareness based on what the ACE Study, neurobiology, and epigenetics tell us about our development. It is...