Tagged With "Christine Forke-Young"
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After reversing more than 100 overdoses, the trauma is starting to take a toll on me [kensingtonvoice.com]
As a citizen who has reversed more than 100 overdoses, every now and then I have a cry that is so uncontrollable, and painful, and deep, that I wonder if I will ever stop crying. Recently, I experienced one of those cries. It was after reversing a young man who was overdosing who looked just like my son. He was 16 or 17 years old, still with his school ID around his neck. It took three doses of Narcan — the overdose reversal medication — to bring him back. Surprisingly, he wanted me to call...
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Academic Pediatrics publishes case study on Philadelphia ACE Task Force
On Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, Academic Pediatrics released a special issue highlighting a comprehensive research and policy agenda for addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting well-being. The issue features an article, Developing a Community-Wide Initiative to Address Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress: A Case Study of The Philadelphia ACE Task Force." Authored by the Task Force's three co-chairs, Lee Pachter (lead), Sandra Bloom, and Joel Fein, along with staff...
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An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction
If schools are to be guided by data, the data says that 2 of 3 children experience at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE): children of all incomes, all colors, all social levels, all educational levels. It is all of us. Is your school trauma-informed?
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Artists in the ACE and Resilience Movement: Creative Avenues to Change
They began with a song and ended with a poem. In-between, there were photographs and giant graphic renderings, movement exercises and a “human pulse” formed when 90 people stood in a circle and squeezed each other’s hands. At a June summit in Whatcom County, Washington, titled “Our Resilient Community: A Community Conversation on Resilience and Equity,” the arts played a starring role. Kristi Slette, executive director of the Whatcom Family and Community Network, one of two Washington sites...
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Burden of Environmental Adversity Associated With Psychopathology, Maturation, and Brain Behavior Parameters in Youths [JAMANetwork.com]
Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD; Tyler M. Moore, PhD; Adon F. G. Rosen, BS; et al JAMA Psychiatry . Published online May 29, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0943 KEY POINTS Question What is the association of an adverse environment, including low socioeconomic status and traumatic stressful events, with psychopathology, neurocognition, and brain parameters in puberty among children and young adults? Findings In this community-based cohort study of 9498 participants, low socioeconomic status was...
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Can adding neighborhood Adversity Scores to SAT's help our young people?
The Huffington Post article "SAT to Add 'Adversity Score' to Reflect Student's Privilege ," by Hayley Miller, reports on the 15 factor neighborhood score that may be reported with a student's SAT's when applying to college. The inclusion of community-level adversity with the SAT is conceptually a major step towards acknowledging the environmental impacts that can affect SAT outcomes. Philadelphia is a region with one of the highest densities of colleges and universities as well as the seat...
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Case Statement on Trauma Informed Approaches
Attached is a Case Statement on Trauma Informed Approaches--it is a review of the Greater Harrisburg Area's and beyond's ACE scores, the outcomes of these ACEs and some ideas of how to resolve the negative consequences of this crisis of epidemic proportions. Please use it to advance the cause of moving from the bad news of ACEs towards the good news of becoming trauma informed and resilient. I would also welcome your comments, questions and recommendations! Thank you.
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Childhood Trauma and Its Effects: Implications for Police
Another great piece shared by Philadelphia Taskforce member, Risa Mandell. By Richard G. Dudley, Jr., M.D. Repeated exposure to traumatic events during childhood can have dramatic and long-lasting effects. During the past 20 years, there has been an...
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Clergy embrace trauma informed training in Greater Philadelphia region
An exceptional all-day “Trauma-Informed Training for Clergy” event was held in Philadelphia in May 2017, organized by JSR Educational Enrichment Strategies, Inc. Founder and President Doris Smith-Ribner, Retired PA State Appeals Court Judge. Judge Smith-Ribner recognized the need for this training particularly for those on the front lines of dealing with the impacts of trauma and its prevalence within Philadelphia—the Clergy. Here is her report from that meeting. Highly-regarded trauma...
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Commentary: A fresh start for former foster-care youths [philly.com]
This piece is a wonderful commentary showcasing a solution story out of Philadelphia where a coffee shop is creating a sense of community, job-skills, and life-skills for young adults formerly placed in foster care. The Monkey and the Elephant is a shining example of doing right by foster alumni, and bringing hope to ending intergenerational cycles of trauma and adversity. Sherreiff McCrae was 5 years old when he was placed in the care of a neighbor. Not long after, the Department of Human...
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Community Health Worker Peer (CHWP) Training Academy
The Drexel University Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice | Healing Hurt People - In partnership with the Drexel University Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Philadelphia Works and The Behavioral Health Training and Education Network presents: Community Health Worker Peer (CHWP) Training Academy Do you know what it is like to be impacted by violence in your neighborhood? Do you want to help people heal from their injuries? We invite you to learn more about becoming a...
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Community Health Worker Peer Training/Certified Peer Specialist Training Academy
Training Opportunity Do you know what it is like to be impacted by violence in your neighborhood? Do you want to use your experiences to help other people heal from their injuries? We invite you to learn more about becoming a Community Health Worker Peer/Certified Peer Specialist! The Drexel University Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice is currently seeking applicants for our 9-week Community Health Worker Peer (CHWP)/Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) Training Academy . This program,...
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Community Voices: Creating a Just, Healthy and Resilient World
Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) is a vibrant learning collaborative of fourteen sites actively engaged in building the movement for a just, healthy and resilient world. Using the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resiliency as their organizing framework, these communities have built strong cross-sector networks to help heal and prevent early childhood adversity. From October 2016 through May 2017, we were privileged to travel to all fourteen MARC...
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Death, rapes, and broken bones at Philly's only residential treatment center for troubled youth [Philly.com]
Shortly after David Hess died in a struggle with staffers at Wordsworth last fall, the state shuttered the West Philadelphia facility , decrying it as “an immediate and serious danger” to the children who lived there. The death of Hess, 17 – ruled a homicide – was yet another violent chapter in a hidden history of abuse at the city’s only residential treatment center for troubled young people. In the last decade, at least 49 sex crimes have been reported at Wordsworth, including 12 rapes and...
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Documentary about Trauma and Resilience in Philadelphia Schools wins Award [thenotebook.org]
Glen's Village , the Notebook's 30-minute documentary film and multimedia reporting project on childhood trauma and Philadelphia's public school system, was named a finalist for an Education Writer's Association award for education reporting in the single-topic news or feature category for small newsrooms. The film, directed by journalists Dorian Geiger and Paul Jablow , follows the journey of Glen Casey , a resilient young Philadelphian who overcame violence, drugs, and family turmoil as a...
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Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro: “Protecting Students Is a Must” [phillymag.com]
On Monday night, Drexel University’s Creese Student Center was the site of the second roundtable discussion in Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro ’s ongoing series on college campus safety. Shapiro launched the initiative in August with the broad goal of preventing drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and tragedies stemming from mental health issues on the campuses of colleges and universities statewide. “When parents take their kids to college and drive off in their minivans, of...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACE Messaging Work Group met on Tuesday, February 14, 2017. The three messaging groups, Youth, Older Adults, and Parents of Young Children reported in on their progress and current projected timeline for completion by end of June 2017, and provided feedback and questions to each other for each messaging theme. All groups have met within the last two weeks. The Work Group explored challenges that arose around the “what” that we are connecting people to through the messages, and how much...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group, an ad hoc group of ACE Task Force Members and Community Partners, convened on Tuesday, May 10 th at Friends Center. This meeting served as first re-convening of this group since work that had been done in 2015 around developing messages about ACEs, trauma, and resilience that “catch-on”. The group began by discussing some of this former work and reviewing some guiding principles as they move to narrow messages and test them with focus groups throughout Philadelphia.
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group, a subcommittee of the Community Education Workgroup, met on Tuesday, June 14 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia. The group began with an overview of some of the work to date, including an update of the survey that was administered prior to May’s meeting. There were four new respondents who responded very similarly to other group members. The group moved forward to discuss their agreed upon target audiences, including older adults, youth, and parents of young...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, July 12 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia. The team reviewed the work from their previous meetings, discussing the target audiences and major themes that will be used to tailor the messages they plan to create. One group member presented an activity for the group called a Messaging Box, which was developed by a communications firm, Spitfire Strategies . The Message Box includes four quadrants: The Value Message: The message must tap into the target...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group, a subgroup of the Community Education Workgroup, met on August 9 th to further discuss their project to develop messages about ACEs and resilience. They reviewed the work from their previous meeting, during which they broke into small groups based on target audience focus and developed Message Boxes, an activity developed by Spitfire Strategies . The youth message group discussed the need to validate the adaptive behaviors that youth present when they have...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, October 12 th to discuss their project on their messaging work with three different target audiences. The group began with some light housekeeping – agreeing to keep the space and meeting location and deciding to cancel their November 8 th meeting so that everyone in the group has the opportunity to get out to vote. Several members of the group have been engaged in an online course through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement which focuses on...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) met on Tuesday, December 13 th to discuss small group the work that had been done in November in lieu of a larger group meeting. The group began with a history and overview of the work, revisiting the discussion of particular target audiences: youth, parents of young children, and older adults. Each small group then updated the larger AMG about their work. The group focused on youth reported back about the event that took place at UrbanPromise in which a group...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, January 10 th , 2017. The group began with a discussion of the work that was done through a Justice Department Project, Changing Minds . The group liked their messaging materials and discussed how they could pull from their work moving forward. The group agreed that our target audiences were different than this campaign’s and therefore decided that while this resource can inform the work of the ACEs Messaging Group, it will continue to develop new...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, April 11 th . Representatives from each of the three subgroups focusing on messaging to youth, older adults, and parents of young children were in attendance. The group began with a review of the Philadelphia Block Captains Rally where members from the Older Adults and Parents of Young Children Messaging Groups presented their messaging work. Members interviewed roughly 80 block captains about several messaging options and reported that the block...
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Philadelphia needs to respond to black people's trauma from police shootings | Editorial [philly.com]
Last Tuesday, a police officer in a Pittsburgh suburb shot and killed 17-year-old Antwon Rose . The black teenager was unarmed and cell phone footage footage shows that he was fleeing the police officer when he was shot. The devastating effects of this incident will ripple far beyond Allegheny County and according to a new study, it will be felt widely. In the study , researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, and Harvard examined the mental health effect on black...
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Philadelphia's new Green Light Fund ED is not interested in reducing poverty. He wants to end it. [www.generocity.org]
Omar Woodard is staring at his palms as he sits quietly in a café chair. He knows what he’s trying to say, but he seems tangled up on a thought. The stretch of silence is very much out of character for the amiable young nonprofit director from 20th and Cecil B. Moore. He’s a lingo-savvy conversationalist who, in just six months as executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia , has learned how to talk shop with the best of Philly’s impact intelligentsia. These lulls are typically where...
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Philadelphia Urban ACEs Research
This page lists research about ACEs in the Philadelphia area. If you know of any other research, please let us know in the comments section. Adverse Childhood Experiences of Low-Income Urban Youth (Philadelphia) Findings From the...
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Pioneering Research Study on Child-Parent Psychotherapy Incorporates ACEs
The Child Parent Project , a five-year, $3 million federally funded project in Philadelphia, is the first research study in the U.S. partnering with public health agencies and family courts to gauge the impact of child-parent psychotherapy (CPP)...
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Resources
ACEs Connection Stories about the Philadelphia Area The Philadelphia Story: Education And Activism Converge In “Aces Epicenter” http://acestoohigh.com/2014/09...e-in-aces-epicenter/ Failing Schools Or Failing Paradigm?...
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Ripple Effect: Two Philly Activists Share ACE Knowledge Close to Home
Anthony Ballard grew up with multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before those disruptive childhood experiences had a name. Ballard was raised, along with 11 siblings, in a North Philadelphia housing project by “a beautiful God-fearing mother and a loving father who suffered from alcoholism.” Ballard witnessed relatives who developed addictions or landed in prison; in his early 20s, he, too, abused alcohol. He got sober. He became a firefighter. And when he learned about ACEs a few...
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Seed, Soil & Light: A Young Revolutionary's Journey (dailygood.org)
Three to four houses had recently burned down in Tommy Joshua’s North Philadelphia neighborhood. In an empty lot behind his home, Tommy came to figure out the origins. The youth of the neighborhood used that space to hop around on the furniture, play with the debris, and kick the wood. From an early age, Tommy questioned the suffering in the world. His earliest memories are of the broken school system, dysfunctional families, and homelessness. He turned to his mother for answers and she...
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"Should ACEs Include Community Level Indicators" - Philadelphia Research Reaches California
Deangelo Mack , ACEs Connection member from California posed the question "Should ACEs Include Community Level Indicators" and replies with a resounding "Yes." The article that he points to regarding this issue is written by Christine Forke Young, MSN, CRNP, Fellow at the Violence Prevention Initiative at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Co-Chair of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force Research Committee, as well as one of the developers of the Philadelphia ACE...
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Study of Trauma Informed Transition at Hopeworks
Please check out this amazing research study about Hopeworks and our transition to a trauma informed model prepared by Rutgers Center for Urban Research and Education! Special thanks to Dr. Natasha Fletcher and New Jersey Health Initiatives for making this study possible!
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Teaching Adult Wary Children and Youth
Secure, trusting bonds are essential if young people are to grow, learn, and thrive (Baumeister, 2011; Brendtro, Brokenleg, & Van Bockern, 2005; Shulevitz, 2013). Today there are literally millions of young people disconnected and living in violent communities with over stressed families and schools that are depersonalized. They traverse dangerous communities and the ecology in which they live is one of extreme levels of toxic stress. The most troubled and troubling kids display...
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Re: The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline; The Girls' Story
Hi, Alyson, I am looking to spread information that is relevant to all groups to other groups. I think this would be great for the Michigan page. We need to understand that there is a lot of sexual abuse of young girls and boys in all communities rural or urban and I would like to share with our group members how all forms of abuse eventually lead to very negative outcomes. Can I share this or would you on the Michigan group? Thanks Tina Thanks so much!!!
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Re: The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline; The Girls' Story
Hi Tina, I just looked and I can't post on Michigan's group but please feel free to copy and paste it in there. You are always welcome to share/copy the stuff I put up. Best, Alyson Originally Posted by Tina Marie Hahn, MD: Hi, Alyson, I am looking to spread information that is relevant to all groups to other groups. I think this would be great for the Michigan page. We need to understand that there is a lot of sexual abuse of young girls and boys in all communities rural or urban and I...
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Re: Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
Hi, could you please let me know when the next focus group meeting is. I would like to attend. I am a licensed clinician currently working in a methadone maintenance program. I am trained as a Trauma/TREM specialist and currently providing both individual and group therapy services to individuals with trauma histories and used drugs/alcohol to cope with the emotional consequences of the trauma. I am interested in meeting other professionals in the field to find out what they are doing to...
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‘Building Wealth and Health Network’ Reduces Food Insecurity Without Providing Food [drexel.edu]
As the coronavirus pandemic forces so many to reckon with growing food insecurity and increased health challenges, the Building Wealth and Health Network program of Drexel University’s Center for Hunger-Free Communities is reducing food insecurity and improving mental health – without distributing any food or medicine. How? By focusing on group experiences that promote healing and help people save money and take control over their own finances. Parents of young children, who completed the...
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General board hearing Thursday likely to focus on school officers and reopening plans [thenotebook.org]
The Philadelphia Board of Education is holding an open public hearing Thursday afternoon, one of two that it is required by the City Charter to conduct annually on general topics. The three-hour meeting, which starts at 4 p.m., has no agenda except hearing from speakers. Student activists plan to renew their calls for police-free schools. Many others have registered to air their concerns about the conditions under which schools will resume in the fall, said Board President Joyce Wilkerson.
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Wolf Administration Releases ‘Trauma-Informed PA’ Plan with Recommendations and Steps for the Commonwealth and Providers to Become Trauma-Informed [PA Governor Tom Wolf Press Release]
July 27, 2020 As a companion to Governor Tom Wolf’s multi-agency effort and anti-stigma initiative, Reach Out PA: Your Mental Health Matters, the Office of Advocacy and Reform (OAR) is releasing the “Trauma-Informed PA” plan to guide the commonwealth and service providers statewide on what it means to be trauma-informed and healing-centered in PA. This plan is the result of four months of work from OAR and the Trauma-Informed PA Think Tank, formed in February. The think tank was made up of...
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"It's All Connected": NJEA ACEs Task Force Reaches Beyond Educators
The March meeting of the New Jersey Education Association’s ACEs Task Force opened without an agenda. It was a virtual gathering with more than 50 people—educators, social workers, professionals in pediatrics, juvenile justice and child abuse prevention. The pandemic had landed emphatically close to home, with a governor’s order to close all schools on March 18, and participants were grappling with what that meant for their students, their families and themselves. So ACEs Task Force co-chair...
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ACE Impact Team Aligns Efforts to Help Newark Residents Reach Greatest Potential
Five years of convening Newark’s ACE Impact Team has taught Keri Logosso-Misurell a crucial lesson: Fight the urge to reinvent the wheel.
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LAUNCH Together Supports Social Emotional Well-Being in Southwest Denver
As the COVID-19 pandemic blurred from days into months, the leadership team of LAUNCH Together Southwest Denver began hearing about the sense of anguish and confusion felt by directors of early-childhood learning centers: Should I re-open? Is that financially feasible? Is it ethical? And how do I decide, in a sea of fast-changing information about a virus scientists are still struggling to understand? LAUNCH Together SW Denver, a collaborative formed in 2016 to boost community capacity to...
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Data-Driven, Cross-Sector: Bounce Coalition Boosts Trauma-Informed Change in Kentucky
Student suspension rates dropped. Teacher retention rose. Membership in the PTA swelled from zero to more than 200. More kids said in a survey that there was at least one adult at school whom they could talk to if they had a problem. The data—a comparison of the Bounce Coalition’s pilot school and one with similar demographics—told the Kentucky resilience-boosting group that they were on the right track. The Bounce Coalition formed in 2014; the catalyst was a grant from the Foundation for a...
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Youth-Led Advocacy Creates Healing Opportunities in Baltimore City
After a shooting at a historic Baltimore high school in February 2019—a 25-year-old man, angry about the school’s treatment of his sister, who was a student there, shot a special education assistant with a Smith and Wesson handgun—conversation in the city centered on whether school resource officers should be armed. Students said that was the wrong question. When City Council’s education and youth committee, chaired by council member Zeke Cohen, held hearings on school violence following the...
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“Unite in a Common Cause”: Minnesota Tribal Communities Use NEAR Science to Address Trauma and Promote Healing
As the Minnesota trainers expected—and welcomed—the ACE trainings in tribal settings began late and lasted for hours: multiple generations of people from the White Earth and Fond du Lac communities gathering around simmering Crock-Pots of food, sharing stories, standing in line to talk with the trainers afterward. Once, a White Earth elder was the only person to show up for a presentation, recalls Linsey McMurrin, Director of Prevention Initiatives and Tribal Projects for FamilyWise Services...
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The Hidden Biases of Good People: Implicit Bias Awareness Training
The Dibble Institute is pleased to present an introductory webinar by Rev. Dr. Bryant T. Marks Sr. of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity , which will provide foundational information on implicit bias. It will focus at the individual level and discuss how implicit bias affects everyone. Strategies to reduce or manage implicit bias will be discussed. Broadly speaking, group-based bias involves varying degrees of stereotyping (exaggerated beliefs about others), prejudice...
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Drexel Seeks Young Adult Applicants for PAID Community Health Worker/ Certified Peer Specialist Training
Do you know what it's like to be impacted by violence in your neighborhood? Do you want to use your experience to help others heal? Drexel University Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice is currently seeking applicants for a PAID Community Health Worker/ Certified Peer Specialist Training for Philadelphia residents ages 18-24. This program is a good fit for young adults impacted by violence or trauma who want to use their experiences to become healers and helpers in their communities...
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In Philly, These Retired “Aunts And Uncles” Fund Young Entrepreneurs (nextcity.org)
An entrepreneur presents to The Circle of Aunts and Uncles in a member's backyard. (Photo courtesy of the CAU) Author: To read Connie Aitcheson's article, please click here. When Judy Wicks retired from running her restaurant, the White Dog Café, she wanted to find a way to help young, under-resourced entrepreneurs develop their own businesses. She had an idea but wasn’t sure it would work. Like many other retired baby boomers, she had money, knowledge and time to offer young entrepreneurs.