March 2021

I've been with DCF for nearly 15 years and for the first 10 years or so I was a child protection worker, and while in that role, I sent numerous children to YMCA Camp Huguenot . The experiences had by my kids at Camp Huguenot was LIFE CHANGING! It saddens me to know that so many children will no longer be able to attend Camp Huguenot and reconnect with friends especially during these trying times. The Greater New York YMCA said that because of pandemic losses to the tune of $100 million, the...

Amid laughter and more than a few eyes glistening with tears, much gratitude and a chat-box filled with uplifting messages, members of ACEs Connection from around the world gathered via Zoom on March 4 to celebrate the milestone of the social networking site reaching 50,000 members. The group acknowledged founder and publisher Jane Stevens’ foresight in starting this human and digital catalyst, growing and supporting the worldwide ACEs and resilience movement and telling its authentic...

Only 12 seats left! Saturday, March 13 & 20 2:00- 3:30 PM TRF's webinars lay the foundation. The full length workshop builds on it. The Relationship Foundation presents: Alleviating Trauma with Empathic Communication a two-part workshop led by Michael Jascz Guest Presenters: Bria McCallum Bria is a New York City Humanities schoolteacher who plays an important role in many of her school's departments, such as a Member of the Social Emotional Learning Committee, and the Diversity, Equity...

Fritzi Horstman grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan – not as posh as it is now, she says, but still a respectable, middle-class neighborhood. By the time she was 16, she had become a “juvenile delinquent, doing drugs and running around.” What happened? And why was her ACE score 8, when she finally assessed it nearly 40 years later? Domestic violence underscored her childhood and teen years, she says. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother a “rage-aholic” who abused her and her...

Widespread reporting has revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated many poor communities of color. Less widely known is how the pandemic has affected young people in those communities. “COVID-19 has had a particularly harsh impact on youth of color,” further traumatizing [juvenile-justice] system-impacted youth and their families already struggling with disproportionately high rates of disease, death, job loss and housing insecurity,” said Jim Keddy of Youth Forward . Keddy was...

I recently read a quote that @Christine Cissy White (ACEsConnection) shared that says, "Trauma informed care isn't trauma informed, without the trauma survivor." No matter what degree, training, or book you acquire you can never really know how it feels to experience trauma unless you go through it. I remember when I first discovered I had an ACE score of 7; I had been serving the community by teaching resiliency, self-healing, and breaking stigmas around mental health. I came across the...

The I Have a Voice: Caregiver Advocacy Series , led by Tamika Daniel, Behavioral Health Community Organizer with Greater Richmond SCAN , is a discussion series featuring stories and helpful tips about how caregivers can and do advocate for themselves, their children, and systemic change. As a bridge builder who empowers others and a parent with lived experience advocating for herself and her children, Tamika brings her own unique voice and skills to each conversation. The series premiered on...

Greetings! You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Mar 9, 2021 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this meeting: https://baymark.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkde2gpzotGNGWaeNIpOp-BdMPZubllZIi After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. · Introduction to Resilient Sacramento · Mindful minute · Proclamation · Presentation: Ramee Serwanga, SCOE, Early Childhood Education · Round table where you can...

Please welcome these four new communities to the ACEsConnection.com network! ACEs Caribbean Community American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapters RAISE [Resilience Alexandria: Inform. Support. Elevate.] (VA) Resilient Brunswick County (NC) Details about each of them are below as is information about starting and growing your community initiatives and joining the Cooperative of Communities . ACEs Caribbean Community : We are the ACEs Community Initiative for the Caribbean. We educate...

As we grow up, we have to rebuild relationships with parents: to get out of the usual adult-child paradigm and learn to speak as equals. At this stage, it is easy to distance yourself from them and lose understanding. We will tell you how to communicate with your parents when you are no longer a child. Talk to them as adults, not as parents If you are angry that your parents still communicate with you like a child, try changing your style of interaction with them. Evaluate how independent...

Hi there. We recently started the ACEs Caribbean Community on the website, Aces Connection, to rally our Caribbean people and those who love the region to work together to bring the knowledge of Aces Science (Adverse Childhood Experiences), Resilience, Hope, and Truth to our regional people and government institutions. We are facing an epidemic of crime, violence, addiction, despair, and suicide throughout the region and we believe that a better understanding of the connection between what...

Fight or flight and emotional regulation The desert of the Southwestern United States has a strange, stark beauty all its own. Gorgeous sunsets, rock formations and deep canyons accented with spiky cactus resemble another world. If you grew up back east like I did, your previous experience with plant life will be of no use. I once asked a friend if I could dig up some of her innocently named “bunny ear cactus.” She failed to mention I should use protective gloves. As I planted the cuttings,...