August 2021

By Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, August 16, 2021 Three-quarters of people in the world’s wealthiest nations believe humanity is pushing the planet towards a dangerous tipping point and support a shift of priorities away from economic profit, according to a global survey. The Ipsos Mori survey for the Global Commons Alliance (GCA) also found a majority (58%) were very concerned or extremely concerned about the state of the planet. Four in five respondents said they were willing to step up and...

A Better Normal is a live Zoom event series by PACEs Connection in which we imagine and create a better normal together that is informed by PACEs science. PACEs = Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences. For an overview of PACEs science, check out this 5-minute video . Join us for our next event: Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: Problem and Prevention Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Noon to 1:00 PM PDT Hosted by PACEs Connection staff including @Natalie Audage (PACEs Connection Staff) and...

Following a brief mindfulness check-in, PACEs Connection staff meetings begin with the review of our Vision, Mission, and Values statements, as well as our Equity and Inclusion Statement. At a recent meeting, top row, L-R, Ingrid Cockhren, Carey Sipp, Donielle Prince, Jane Stevens. Middle row, L-R, John Flores, Porter Jennings-McGarity, Jenna Quinn, Gail Kennedy. Bottom row, L-R, Rafael Maravilla, Natalie Audage, Alison Cebulla, Samantha Sangenito. A couple of times last week I felt my body...

On Tuesday, August 24, Chuck Price and Becky Haas will be sharing in a virtual event their experience in helping organizations move from trauma aware to becoming trauma informed. In transparent fashion, and by providing reusable steps, they will discuss both successes and barriers they've encountered along the way. Becky will share steps that have helped transform an entire school district in Southwest Virginia to incorporating trauma informed practices since beginning this work in 2019 as...

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” - Charles Spurgeon Have you been feeling anxious lately? If your answer is a yes, you are not alone. The global pandemic has triggered a lot of anxiety in all of us as millions of people have died across the world. When life becomes uncertain, it is natural to feel anxious. But, as described in the words of Charles Spurgeon above, “anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today...

By Poppy Noor, The Guardian, August 16, 2021 When a shackled Mansoor Adayfi was lumped on to a heap of shivering, naked bodies in the pitch black, a hood over his head and muffs around his ears, he assumed he was going to die. He had just been conducting research in Afghanistan, and was expecting to begin university at the end of the year. Instead, he was accused of being an al-Qaida leader, kidnapped by Afghan warlords and handed over to the CIA. He was kept in a prison camp in Afghanistan,...

By Heather Tirado Gilligan, California Health Care Foundation, August 16, 2021 Jenise Dixon fell behind on rent after losing her job in the film industry last year. Dixon, who lives in Los Angeles, applied for rent relief in April and has yet to receive any help from the billions in federal funds set aside for that purpose. Despite her pending aid application and local and federal protections against eviction, Dixon’s landlord has served her with an eviction notice, Sam Levin reported for...

By Laura Reiley, The Washington Post, August 15, 2021 The Biden administration has approved the largest increase to food assistance benefits in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a move that will substantially retool the program to provide the targeted assistance advocates have long argued is desperately needed by poor families. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce Monday morning that benefit amounts for the program, formerly known as food...

By Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli, Fordham Institute, August 2021 America’s hardnosed focus on academic achievement in recent decades has not improved schools nearly enough. Part of the recent move to incorporate other educational goals, such as perseverance and self-discipline—often under the banner of “social-emotional learning” (SEL)—is a response to our schools and students still being off-track two decades after passage of No Child Left Behind and almost four decades after A...

The Potts Family Foundation supports a vital program that is helping Oklahomans become aware of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACEs Study) and the risks that trauma and toxic stress can impose on our health and development, especially when experienced before the age of 18. This initiative also highlights the protective factors that we, as individuals, families, workplaces and communities, can foster that decrease the negative impact of adversities and allow people and communities...

Dear NC partners, Over the past couple of years, by survey and multiple conversations and meetings, we have asked those of you on the ground doing the important work of bringing communities together to prevent and address ACEs what you need to enhance the good work you’re doing. By far, the desire to connect with peers doing similar work has risen to the top as the #1 priority/desire that you and your colleagues wanted us to address and provide. We are excited to announce the first gathering...

Many times, the reason we spend so much time feeling not good enough is that we have so much negative self-talk going on in our minds. Not only does our inner critic put us down, but it also replays the messages we heard during the trauma we survived. If we were told we were ugly, we internalized those words and thus began to believe that we were unattractive and not good enough.