May 2020

By Your Letters, Syracuse.com, May 15, 2020 To the Editor: Vulnerable children and teenagers need our attention at this time. For some, the home they have been restricted to during the COVID-19 pandemic is not a safe place. The stresses of finances, food insecurity, close living quarters, fears regarding infection and other crises-related pressures increase the risk for physical and sexual abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence. While schools remain closed, some children, who would...

By Giles Bruce, Kaiser Health News, May 14, 2020 On an early March day at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medical Center teemed with patients. But many weren’t there because of the coronavirus. They were there because they’d been shot. Gunshot victims account for most of the 2,600 adult trauma patients a year who come to this hospital on the city’s sprawling South Side. And the pandemic hasn’t dampened the flow. [ Please click here to...

By Christie Thompson, The Marshall Project, May 15, 2020 Keith had spent over four months in the Hillsboro, Oregon, county jail—charged with robbing a deli with a fake gun—when his delusions returned this February. In a phone call to his father, he rambled about drinking bleach, being exposed to nuclear waste, and fearing going blind. Keith, who is being identified by his first name to protect his privacy, had a history of schizophrenia. Keith’s lawyer told the circuit court that his client...

Left to right: Director of the Peace and Justice Institute Rachel Allen, Administrative Manager of the PJI Community Will Jefferson, Keynote Speaker Kenneth Ginsburg and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer To View the Entire Conference Video, Click Here --- Tuesday, May 12, 2020 By Rachel Allen , Director, Peace and Justice Institute The second annual Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing conference scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2020, was certain to be a success. Our first...

From Center for Youth Wellness, May 18, 2020 We hope you, your family, friends, patients, their caregivers and families are staying as healthy as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a clinician concerned with adversity and trauma, you’ve likely noticed that existing inequities in the US are becoming even more starkly apparent, such as food insecurity and access to healthcare. It’s estimated that food insecurity may double to affect more than 75 million Americans . Also, people of...

On May 13, 2020, I was interviewed for PBS NewsHour and had a chance to bring HOPE to the discussion about child maltreatment during the pandemic. Have a look – all the way to the end – and don’t forget to laugh! [Please click here to read more.]

When one thinks of meditation some will think of someone sitting cross-legged on the floor, with fingers in a funny position, repeating a simple word or sound such as “ooommm”. However, meditation is much deeper and richer a practice than just the one practice encompassing many forms.

After 8 weeks of regular online Practicing Resilience in Community at 12:30 most weekdays, we will be ending this offering after Wednesday, May 20. Please join us this coming week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for the last sessions! THANK YOU to all who have participated! It wouldn’t have been the same to practice without you! We are grateful for the expanded relationships and community that have emerged from this. Now that the weather is warm and the shelter in place restrictions are...

By Mas Masumoto, Moyers & Company, May 8, 2020 Isolation. That’s the emotion of this pandemic period we’re all living through. We farmers live with isolation. We work in open spaces, much of the labor is done individually and alone. Today, I have found myself worrying about the impact of the coronavirus on this livelihood I’ve chosen for myself and my family as my children partner with us on our farm. Our future is now measured by generations on this land: What lies ahead beyond our...

By Jody Greene, EdSource, May 13, 2020 The rapid shift to remote instruction at universities and colleges necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic has been attended by predictions of the end of everything from residential college life to in-person instruction, from majors and degree programs to the professoriate itself. I want to suggest that this rush to predict the worst possible outcomes for higher education teaching and learning is not only ill-advised but also flawed. We would do better...

By Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, May 13, 2020 The workers who restock grocery shelves. The workers who aid the dying in hospice-care centers. The workers who pick strawberries and butcher chickens and cows. Who transport vital goods from port to store, and spirit away trash and recycling from homes and businesses. Who change the linens in hospitals, deliver food, watch babies, and help people with disabilities. Along with doctors and nurses, these are the heroes of today’s crisis. They are the...

By Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times, May 17, 2020 This isn’t the first time Vicki Dobbins’s town has been forced to shelter in place. Last year, the Marathon Petroleum refinery that looms over her neighborhood near Detroit emitted a pungent gas, causing nausea and dizziness among neighbors and prompting health officials to warn people to stay inside. When a stay-at-home advisory returned in March, this time for the coronavirus, “it was just devastating,” Ms. Dobbins said. Ms. Dobbins, who...