June 2020

Dr. Ken Ginsburg was overwhelmingly well-received as the keynote speaker at the recent Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference back in April of this year. The Peace and Justice Institute (PJI) at Valencia College is excited to share that we are bringing him back to deliver 3 additional virtual workshops in a Community Resilience Series. The first workshop in this FREE series will be specifically for parents: Parenting in an Age of Uncertainty , July 7th from 5:30 -...

Hi everyone! We'd like to introduce our new ACEs Connection Anti-Racism Resources List c ulled from resources shared by Learn4Life, Prevention Institute., Rise Magazine , V A TICN , Vital Village , 10% Happier . and our own ACEs Connection members and staff . You can access them from this widget on the top right side of our home page or by clicking here. The list has the following categories of resources: Racial Trauma, Historical Trauma, & Healing Police Brutality & Reform...

CRACKED UP THE EVOLVING CONVERSATION Episode 4: Generational Trauma - Breaking the Cycle with Darrell Hammond, Comedian, actor, SNL Legend Michelle Esrick, Filmmaker, activist Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Author of The Body Keeps the Score Jane Stevens, Founder of ACES Connection and special guest Jane Fonda Academy Award-winning actor, producer, author and activist Thursday June 25th at 1pm PDT / 2p MT / 3p CT / 4pm EDT Hosted by ACEs Connection THE PRICE OF THIS LIVE EVENT IS $12.50 We have...

The City of Orlando is co-applying for a National Science Foundation Civic Innovation Challenge Planning Grant with the University of Central Florida to design a series of resilience hubs that would help the city respond to disasters. Please follow the link to read more and watch https://bungalower.com/2020/06/22/orlando-and-ucf-to-design-disaster-resilience-hubs/

WHEN IT COMES TO WELLNESS, you are not alone — although you used to be. While public health officials in Florida wrangle with the new coronavirus alongside the old chronic diseases, there’s some work going on behind the scenes to move beyond public health to a new model to help people become more resilient. This new model is called community wellness. The old “personal responsibility” model of wellness often narrowly focuses on the physical, with diet and fitness equating wellness. Perhaps...

Dear Trauma Friends & Colleagues: We are applying for CDC ACES grant to further our efforts toward a trauma informed state. It’s a collaborative effort across state agencies to improve ACES data collection and utilizes to target prevention strategies. Details in the attached overview. It’s a long shot with only 4 awards but our statewide collaborative efforts are a big strength and it might help push us to the top if we had many letters of support. Attached is a draft letter that you...

By KQED Science, KQED, June 14, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic and the recent killing of George Floyd have brought longstanding racial inequities into sharp focus. One of those disparities concerns the high rate of coronavirus transmission among people of color. To talk about the intersection of race and health, KQED's Brian Watt spoke last week with California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who is known for her pioneering work on the role that childhood stress and trauma play on...

As we navigate through our current global crisis, the PJI Academy for Teachers extends an invitation to all educators who are leading the way for our students and teachers to become resilient, lifelong learners. We realize that many of us have added the role of a teacher to our diverse set of responsibilities. With that understanding we open the PJI Academy for Teachers to all educators from Pre-K through higher education who wish to create more inclusive, respectful, compassionate and...

The killing of George Floyd last month again brought racism into the national conversation and triggered worldwide protests. However, racism doesn’t manifest only as egregious acts, but covers a wide spectrum, including subtle oppression from inequities in the systems of justice, education, employment and even health care. And it hurts kids. Read more here: https://www.modbee.com/living/health-fitness/article243358676.html#storylink=cpy

As we have conversations surrounding racial injustice with our friends, coworkers, and family, an important Principle to honor is maintain confidentiality. When the ones we respect open their hearts and share the most vulnerable aspects of themselves, we must honor and recognize the truth of their words. When we go back out into the world and wish to share these truths with others, maintain confidentiality by sharing how your perspective shifted. This way the private nature of the stories...

When we listen deeply to each other, we can be impacted by another person’s perspective in ways we never thought possible. All voices have value because all voices come from a unique viewpoint that contributes to our shared reality. When we receive the gift of another's perspective, we can open our minds to greater possibilities, and develop our worldview into a more inclusive frame of mind. #PJIPrinciples

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg (Keynote speaker from the recent Creating a Resilient Community Conference) shared the excerpt from his book Reaching Teens titled The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It. This is a valuable resource for anyone interacting with youth and we are providing the excerpt as an attachment here for you to read and share. Also, Dr. Ginsburg will be coming back to our community (virtually) and you’ll be invited to his workshop. Look out for the...