Peace4Tarpon is a community initiative that began in 2010 making Tarpon Springs the first trauma-informed community in the nation. Through ongoing research, we now know that unaddressed childhood trauma is the root cause of the most challenging issues we face whether in our personal, family, work life or in the larger community. These impacts on mental, emotional and physical health can have a ripple effect which often crosses generations. We also know that trauma knows no boundaries –...

Susan Traylor says “When they see the cross on the table, they know someone has died.” The ‘they’ she is talking about are the many folks experiencing homelessness in our small community of Tarpon Springs, Florida. A few weeks ago, the cross was on the table for Terry. I knew him by sight but never knew his name. I observed him over the past few years quite often in a state that makes most people not only uncomfortable, but anxious and fearful as he argued with someone only he could see. He...

Connie has lived in Tarpon Springs for over 40 years. During that time, she has served as Interim Director of the Chamber of Commerce and “cut the ribbon” for many new businesses. It was here that she came to know and love the people of Tarpon Springs and developed a heart for both the youth and elderly. As one of the founders of “Wellness Ministries”, Connie works with folks experiencing homelessness by providing food, clothing, medical and spiritual support. She volunteered for over 17...

Chris Warwick worked in the field of domestic violence and victim rights for over 30 years and immediately understood the link between her work and the work of Peace4Tarpon. Chris has been a member of Peace4Tarpon and on the Board from the very beginning. Active on the Marketing and Outreach Team, Chris was also on the Community Outreach Action Team and traveled to Buncombe County North Carolina to experience the trauma-informed work being done there. She is a dedicated and passionate...

As Above - So Below. One thing we know about unaddressed Trauma - it's going to come out somehow - somewhere and we will bear witness to it in our lives. Community Peace is possible when we work together to reduce the ACEs of children and do what we can across the generations to encourage folks to begin to process what has happened to them. When we change our lens from blame and shame to provide an atmosphere of safety, and build relationships to support them, everything begins to shift and...

Mary has worked in several fields, but has been a volunteer all of her life. She is an enthusiastic autodidact, and has been one since childhood. Her main in terests are family, friends, working with people who care, early childhood education, the arts, thrifting (bringing things once discarded back to their original glory), ikebana, mental health advancement, natural health, and constant learning. Mary also has deep appreciation for delicious food. Mary is vice chair of Peace4Tarpon. She...

Judy Kane moved to Tarpon Springs from Richmond Va. in 2015 to be closer to family. In Richmond, she worked in the fields of Information Technology and Residential Real Estate. In Tarpon, Judy started a new business, Aligned Consciousness where she helps people rewrite subconscious self-limiting beliefs. The month before moving to Florida, Judy met Peace4Tarpon partners Robin Saenger and Mary Sharrow at an event where Judy first heard about Peace4Tarpon and Trauma Informed Community. The...

Shannon has over 25 years experience working with children in preschool and after school settings. Originally from Boston, Shannon holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology as well as an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Since moving to Florida in 2000, she has built a career working in the early intervention field with ages 0-5, as well as working with truant teens as a case counselor in child welfare and currently as the Behavior Specialist for the YMCA of the Suncoast.

A few weeks ago I was at a big kickoff event for a new county-wide project to address what our communities feel are the biggest concerns we face. It definitely had its moments and I was all eyes and ears ready to absorb new info and be inspired by the power of coming together for a purpose. One of the last things that I heard that morning was to show the promise of next steps – the speaker said that basically in order to do anything meaningful – you, of course, need a building which – good...

Where does faith come from or go to almost tidal in the swaying that carries us with it rocked like a baby but no mercy incessant motion. It's a coin flip that sometimes comes up all heads for weeks at a time defying the sunrise and sunset tradition of order. Still, it's wait and see watch and wait and see. When faith returns, it brings the childbirth pains from last year, only vague memories and not stopping anybody. It comes like the lightning bug you've never seen in these parts before...

Christine "Cissy" White is probably a familiar name to most of you. If not, check out her wonderful writing which was and is totally inspiring to me. I first "met" her through the Parenting With ACEs site - wonderfully written in her own authentic voice. It was her writing that made me consider the possibility of writing in my authentic voice as well and led me to eventually post several blogs. Then, at the December MARC Convening in Philadelphia, I met Cissy in person. I shared with her...

I remember being so horrified, so saddened by the shooting at Sandy Hook that I wrote to President Obama and Senator Larson to share what I thought might provide a different perspective and possible solution to future violence. I decided to search out the letter from my files to see what I wrote and if it still applied. In the letter, I spoke about unaddressed childhood trauma and how that is often at the root of what shows up in our world as many different forms of adult v iolence. I wrote...

Peace4Tarpon has worked with University of Florida for several years now - specifically with the School of Public Health and Dr. Mark Hart's class on Public Health Communication. The subject of his Public Health Communications Master's level class for the past two semesters was Peace4Tarpon. He gave his students a chance to create marketing materials that would actually be implemented - a far cry from creating campaigns that might never see the light of day. We actually used the materials...

Once again, our great partners have stepped up to share their "peace/piece" with us! Our MARC Program manager, Wendy Sedlacek connected us with Dave Cook, her former colleague from Pinellas County Schools. Turns out, Dave was a gem of a find; a cracker jack professional who put together this video for us in record time. Wendy pitched in as producer adding the slides and visuals. Together, they were able to create this great little video describing Peace4Tarpon. That's not the easiest task by...

What does it mean to be a "trauma-Informed community"? It's a question we at Peace4Tarpon ask ourselves frequently - and the answer evolves as we discover through this journey who we are and how we are. I am still processing the story I am about to share with you. It's not the feel-good type with a tidy ending but more like a series of snapshots cut into puzzle pieces that don't quite mesh. They look like they should all fit together, but they really don't and maybe they never will. The...

Daily, we throw gobs of money down into an abyss...pause, then repeat. Not figuratively, either, at least not the dollars part. It's real dollars, every day, all day long, because we attempt to find solutions to our most challenging issues by focusing on and band-aiding the symptoms — what is in our face. What's in my face these days? Personally, it's feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of our challenges — child abuse, domestic violence, climate change, veterans coming home severely...

How our Florida Red Mangrove tree was adopted as a Peace4Tarpon symbol and the Official Tree of Tarpon Springs!

And this is as real as it gets! The University of Florida School of Public Health in Gainesville had the opportunity to have real-life experience last semester when Peace4Tarpon was invited to be the subject of the Fall 2016 Semester Master’s Public Health Communications class. Under the leadership of Professor Mark Hart, the class was able have the experience of how to "message" an emerging model and to create useful products contributing to real work in the world. Dr. Hart reflected that...

what it means to be a trauma-informed community — not only how we measure up, so to speak, but how and when does culture change and a shift in perspective arrive? How do we know we're “there" — wherever "there" is? When the rubber hits the road, what happens then? That's my big question.