Tagged With "Path to Hope Live"
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During COVID-19, how does a trauma-informed school pivot to distance learning?
All photos courtesy of Antioch Middle School staff Antioch Middle School seventh-grader Alyssia Garcia was accustomed to scanning the cafeteria during lunch for kids who might need her assistance. “I’d look for kids who looked sad, kids who were sitting alone, kids who looked angry,” says Garcia, a peer advocate at her school. Alyssia Garcia When she’d spot students sitting alone or looking sad, she’d approach them and ease into conversation. “If it’s a sad person, I’ll try to cheer them up...
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The Conversation: How childhood experiences contribute to the education-health link
Dube writes on February 7, 2018 a compelling article on the Conversation . "The interconnection between education and health is well established. Take, for example, smoking. Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. The highest percent of smoking is seen among persons with less than a high school or General Educational Development (GED) high school equivalency diploma , and the lowest is among persons with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Trends in...
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The Economics of Child Abuse: A Study of California
While the impact of maltreatment on a child and their family is devastating, child maltreatment also has serious effects far beyond those for the victim. Maltreatment results in ongoing costs to taxpayers, institutions, businesses, and society at large. Local communities bear the brunt of these costs in the form of medical, educational, and judicial costs, though more tragic signs are seen in homelessness, addiction, and teen pregnancy. To create a concrete understanding of the widespread...
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The Future of Healing: Shifting From Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement
A colleague from Northern California recently visited Sonoma County to learn more about our work to address behavioral health and track community well-being. We shared much of our work to mobilize action for resilient communities, and some of Upstream Investment's tools to track impact on community health. I hope hearing some of our journey made her out of state visit worthwhile! What I gained through the site visit was profound... After hearing about our work to build resiliency, address...
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The Power of Hope to Mitigate Vicarious Trauma and Burnout
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified child maltreatment as a major public health concern, and adult survivors of child maltreatment are at significant risk of chronic disease and premature mortality. This constant exposure to child maltreatment makes these health care practitioners uniquely vulnerable to stressors associated with burnout.
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The Power of Photovoice
Today I was able to sit down with Salvador Sanchez Strawbridge, who is apart of the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership. Sal shared with me how his life experiences lead him to where he is today and how he is giving back to his community. Sal did not have an easy childhood and was affiliated with a gang at a young age. I personally do not know a lot about the dynamics of a gang and he was able to provide me with a little more insight. He shared that being apart of a gang filled a void...
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The Schoolbox Project Trains Parents and Educators to Address Crisis in Sonoma County with a Trauma-Informed Approach
Live Oak Charter School in Petaluma hosted the Schoolbox Project on Sunday and Monday October 15 and 16 to help train and support volunteers, parents and educators in responding to the crisis in our community. Without an understanding of basic trauma-informed principles, there is potential for even the most well-meaning volunteers to engage in behavior that is overstimulating or even re-traumatizing to vulnerable populations. Dr. Gabriela Bronson-Castain, Clinical Director of the Behavioral...
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These Black Lives Matters protesters planned a march. The police threw them a cookout instead.
Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post just posted an inspiring story with a message of hope for communities struggling with tension between police and community members: Activist A.J. Bohannon had organized more than 1,000 Black Lives Matters protesters to march the streets of Wichita on Sunday. But then, days before, he received a call from the new police chief with a different idea. Instead of having an event that drew a hard line between protester and police, why not bring them all...
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Toxic Stress and its Effect on Development.
Here is a short video clip that explains how toxic stress effects development. Learning to cope with stress is an important part of healthy development. When experiencing stress the stress response system is activated and once the stress is relieved the stress response winds down. In severe situations of abuse or neglect where there is no caring adult to act as a buffer from the stressor, one’s stress response stays activated. Absence of response from adults and constant activation of the...
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Transformational Resilience Train the Trainer Opportunities in San Francisco
Applications Now Open for Nov 15-16 Transformational Resilience Intensive Train-the-Trainer Workshop The ITRC is offering a Train-the-Trainer Workshop on Transformational Resilience for climate change aggravated traumas and toxic stresses workshop. The workshop will be held November 15-16 in San Francisco. This will be an intensive 2-day training offered in cooperation with the SEI Resilient Community Fellows Program. It is open to a maximum of 20 people who want to learn how to apply...
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Trauma education and mindfulness help youth living amid gun violence
Armon Hurst, 2nd from left, first row, Teens on Target, courtesy of YouthAlive! Eighteen-year-old Armon Hurst serves as vice president of the student body at Castlemont High School in Oakland, Calif. He has a 4.0 grade point average, is an avid baseball player, and is slated to go to college next year. But until a few years ago, Hurst would find himself waking from nightmares in the middle of the night. It was difficult to concentrate at school, and he wasn’t eating well. Armon Hurst “There...
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Trauma Informed Agency Champions
On December 11, 2017, more than fifteen agencies sent representatives to participate in our Trauma Informed Agency Champion training. Many folks expressed an interest in continuing to come together and to share resources. We invite all of the workshop participants and other interested community members to find connection right here via ACEs Connection! I encourage you all to use the ACEs Connection websites and live groups which offer many resources for you including: The new online Becoming...
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Trauma Informed Pocket Card Inspires Praise from Community Member
Do you read the Press Democrat or the North Bay Business Journal? If yes, you may have seen Prevent Child Abuse Sonoma County's special newspaper insert. This colorful and helpful resource guide offered stories, tips, resources and tools for helping to strengthen families and reduce child abuse. Page 7 featured an article about "Trauma Informed Care" and included a pocket card folks could use as a tool for letting doctors, dentists, and other care providers they might need some extra care to...
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Trauma Informed Schools Webinar Archive
Did you see the September 22 webinar the National Child Traumatic Stress Network hosted? If you missed it look for it here: http://learn.nctsn.org/ The handouts are also attached. Policy Issues in Implementing Trauma-Informed Schools In this webinar experts will explore policy challenges and lessons learned in promoting and supporting trauma-informed schools. Speakers will share key NCTSN resources related to the development and implementation of trauma-informed schools; discuss the...
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Two Truths and a Lie: ACES Training for Providers, Part One
Note: I was asked to repost this blog on the Sonoma County site, so if you have already read this, there is no new content. There is a game in which you tell people two truths and a lie and folks must guess which one is the lie. Want to play? One: I lived and worked on a seaplane for several months. Two: for a time, I built musical instruments for a living. Three: I helped several women escape domestic violence. To help you figure out which one is the lie, let me tell you a...
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Upcoming Hope Forums via Kids at Hope
Kids at Hope, in partnership with Arizona State University's Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Hope, is keeping hope at the forefront of our minds with their Hope Forums - the next two coming up on April 1st and 8th! On April 1st, founder Rick Miller will be joined by: Special Guest: Erin Gruwell , an American teacher known for her unique teaching method, which led to the publication of New York Times bestselling book, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used...
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Upcoming Training Opportunity, "Trauma Informed Care: NEAR Informed Solutions"
The Public Health Institute and John Muir Health are excited to sponsor this one-day training. This is a training for providers, educators, and community leaders to better understand Trauma Informed Care. The training will share insights and strategies from the self-healing communities work in Washington State. This training will be held on February 27, 2018 from 9:00am-3:30pm at the First 5 Conference Center. The address is: 1115 Atlantic Ave., Alameda, CA, 94501. For more information,...
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Upcoming Training Opportunity, "Trauma Informed Care: NEAR Informed Solutions"
The Public Health Institute and John Muir Health are excited to sponsor this one-day training. This is a training for providers, educators, and community leaders to better understand Trauma Informed Care. The training will share insights and strategies from the Self-Healing Communities work in Washington State. This training will be held on February 27, 2018 from 9:00am-3:30pm at the First 5 Conference Center. The address is: 1115 Atlantic Ave., Alameda, CA, 94501. For more information,...
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Upstream Invites Community to Recovery and Healing Workshops offered by UC Davis this December & January 2017
Dear Upstream Partner, We hope this message finds you well and safe. There are no words to describe how difficult the last month has been for our community. The resiliency of our residents and the critical support you continue to provide gives us hope for successful recovery efforts. We want to acknowledge all you have done and continue to do to support our community. In addition to personal losses you may have experienced, repeated exposure to the suffering of others takes its toll on the...
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Violence Profile of Sonoma County
Several months ago, the Violence Profile of Sonoma County was published online. The profile aims to deliver three messages: (1) Violence Impacts Health (2) Violence is More than Physical (3) Violence is Preventable In addressing these aims, the profile provides a strong explanation for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) having lasting effects on health and behaviors, including violent behaviors such as emotional abuse, intimate partner violence, and suicide attempts. The profile also uses...
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Virtual Screening of Broken Places on March 21st & Registration for ACEs Connection Members!
Please join us on Thursday, March 21st for a special virtual screening of Broken Places , the latest U.S. documentary on early childhood trauma and resilience. The film will be offered via a private Vimeo link with passcode to all registered members of ACEs Connection, for free, accessible in the United States and internationally. REGISTER TODAY: To register, please visit : https://goo.gl/forms/apdoINwgtQmydEXK2 The viewing portal for the film will open on Vimeo at 6am EST and close at 11pm...
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We Need a Healing Movement
What if you had developed a cure for the most painful and costly public health problem in America, you had proven that it worked, and you were offering it for free, but could not reach those who need it most because no one wants to talk about the problem? Tragically, this is my reality and the truth about human nature. It is easier to suffer in silence than acknowledge the painful things that happen to us. Over 20 years ago, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser...
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Webinar: June 30th 9:00-10:30
The ACE Study: Measuring Childhood Trauma Exposure and Working to Change the Ending for Survivors and their Children June 30, 2015 9:00-10:30 am PT (11:00-12:30 pm CT, 12:00-1:30 pm ET) Presented by: Vincent Felitti, MD and...
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Webinar: The Human Impact of Climate Change
The Community Resiliency Model Disaster Relief Program Climate change emergencies are real and the human toll during and in the aftermath impact children, teens and adults. This webinar will hear from Kelly Doty, a survivor, who lost her home in Paradise and is working in a community-based program to help the children and their parents in the aftermath. Elaine Miller-Karas, the key developer of the Community Resiliency Model Disaster Relief Program, will explain the program and how it helps...
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Webinars: Transformational Resilience for climate traumas and toxic stresses [ITRC]
The International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC) is offering 4 free 1-hour introductory webinars next month on methods for helping individuals and groups constructively cope with the traumas and toxic stresses of climate impacts, and use them as catalysts to increase wellbeing. For more information and to register see below. Introduction to Transformational Resilience for Climate Change When : Tuesday March 13 from 12 noon--1 pm Pacific Time To register for this webinar click...
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What Do Caregivers Do?
This story occurred in the early part of the AIDS epidemic. In 1991, I was part of a coalition working to develop local home care options for AIDS patients. This was before the first AIDS treatment drugs became available, so the prognosis for someone with AIDS was not good. They got sick. If they recovered, they were likely to get sick again soon. Back then, HIV disease was still an unfamiliar and frightening illness, even for medical personnel. The general public was concerned about...
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"What Happened To You? A Journey From Childhood Adversity to Resiliency" Explained by a Compelling Pamphlet
I found a manila envelope on my desk this morning. Inside was a heartfelt letter wrapped around a small stack of pamphlets. I can't remember the last time I held a paper resource guide in my hand, and there is something quite satisfying in this small, tangible resource. As I thumb through the pages, I feel myself drawn into a simple, relate-able story. I'm eager to keep turning pages and to discover how those of us with similar stories can find resources and support. "The pamphlet is...
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What Wildfires Do to Our Minds
A Northern California community offers mental health first-aid to survivors of devastating fires. Yes Magazine-- posted Aug 07, 2018 https://www.yesmagazine.org/ issues/mental-health/what- wildfires-do-to-our-minds- 20180807/ It’s late spring, and I’m hiking Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Sonoma County with therapist, ecopsychologist, and California naturalist Mary Good. A mist is drifting down, and we have the park mostly to ourselves. In October 2017, 80 percent of Sugarloaf’s 3,900 acres...
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When Being Trauma-Informed Is Not Enough
Trauma-informed care is the new gold standard. For the last several years, Echo has been providing professional development in trauma-informed care but we’re beginning to notice a worrying aspect of the new push to train staff and transform systems. Some human service professionals are seeing ‘trauma-informed care’ as another skill to add to their resume or a box to check off on a grant proposal. But if the information stays with the professionals and is not used to empower survivors, then...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting 7-26-17
Dear Friends, We look forward to coming together to continue our efforts to raise awareness around Adverse Childhood Experiences & Resiliency. Join our community coalition’s meeting on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 12:30 at 625 5 th Street, Santa Rosa in the City View Rooms. Attached is the agenda for our meeting and last months meeting minutes. Your voice, community insight, and local action is helping us achieve community healing. We thank you for your participation and support! (Please...
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Sonoma County ACEs Connection Meeting February 28, 2018
The Sonoma County ACEs Connection has had some exciting meetings the past few months, exploring the many directions our group can and will take in the coming months. Attached you will find a typed up version of our brainstorm sessions from the February, 28, 2018 General Meeting of the Sonoma County ACEs Connection. The topics addressed included: (1) What will the be the group's norms and dedication to safe space look like? (2) What type of resiliency events should our group engage in? (3)...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Minutes 4-27-16
Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. We had a great turnout given many partners also planned to attend the Blue Ribbon Child Abuse Prevention luncheon the next day! Today, we started the meeting with a meditation for our mindful moment . Sue Stephenson introduced us to the Tonglen meditation of breathing in suffering and breathing out compassion. With just a few breaths and a focus on our intentions, we were all quickly grounded in the compassion-centered work that...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Minutes 5-25-16
(Please see the attachment for a nicely formatted version of these minutes.) 5/25/16 Dear Sonoma County ACEs Connection Friends, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. Today, we started the meeting with a meditation for our mindful moment with Kate Jenkins . With just a few breaths and a focus on our intentions, we found improved focus for our meeting. Grace Harris led a discussion around the concept of “Trauma-Informed Care.” Folks turned to their neighbor and shared...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Minutes 9-28-16
(Please see attachment for a colorful and engaging version of these minutes.) Dear Sonoma County ACEs Connection Friends, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. Today, we started the meeting with a mindfulness activity where we used our sense of smell and touch (but not sight!) to explore an object. Tuning into our senses is an easy mindfulness activity we can incorporate into our daily life. Ellen Bauer shared a brief overview of the “ Self-Healing Communities ” model...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Notes from 1-17-16
Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection Enthusiasts, Guess who is coming to our town? Dr. Macy is a tireless pioneer in the field of psychological trauma, psychosocial recovery and resiliency in research, interventions and violence prevention initiatives for children, youth, their families, and adults and their communities exposed to traumatic events including large-scale disasters, terrorist events, and political, school based, community and armed conflict violence. Check out his upcoming...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Notes from 2-22-17
(For a picture-filled and engaging version of these notes, please see the attachment.) 02-22-17 Dear Sonoma County ACEs Connection Friends, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. Kate Jenkins started us off with a prompt to learn five things about two of our neighbors in the room. This “mindful moment” encouraged us to focus on listening, while also paying attention to the different sensations that were occurring in our body and mind. Were we focused on what we wanted to...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Notes from 2-24-16
(See the attachment for a colorful version with photos.) Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection Enthusiasts, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. We packed the City View Rooms and showed a team of grant evaluators a great display of passion fueled by our local network. Today, we started the meeting with a quiet mindful moment . Kate offered everyone a raisin and led is in eating it slowly and consciously. Kate reminded us how taking time to deeply observe eating is a...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Notes from 3-22-17
(For a picture-filled and engaging version of these notes, please see the attachment.) 03-22-17 Dear Sonoma County ACEs Connection Friends, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. Kate Jenkins started us off by inviting us to close our eyes and focus on being present in the moment. This “mindful moment” encouraged us to focus on our breath, while also paying attention to the different sensations that were occurring in our body. Javier Rivera-Rosales from Positive Images...
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Sonoma County ACES Connection Meeting Notes from 3-23-16
(Please see the attachment for the version with photos and colors - it is much more visually interesting!) 3/23/16 Dear Sonoma County ACEs Connection Enthusiasts, Thank you to all that participated in today’s ACES meeting. Today, we started the meeting with a quiet mindful moment . Susan Barnett-Hampson led us in a short meditation, using her soothing, slow voice to ground us in the present moment. A few deep breaths and positive affirmations can help us refocus whenever needed! “ A...
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Sonoma County ACEs Connection Strategic Planning Session Update
Thanks to all of the members who contributed to our Strategic Planning Session on 6/29/16. The engaging agenda is attached to this post, as is the presentation on the scope of the problem of ACE's in Sonoma County. Our fabulous facilitator, Selena Polston (Innovation Team Program Manager for Public Health) captures some of our meeting highlights in these notes: ACES Connection Retreat: Developing a Vision Statement Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Elsie Allen High School What Makes A Great Vision...
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Sonoma County Data Dashboard: Child Adversity and Well-Being
A product of the Essentials for Childhood Initiative (EfC), the Child Adversity and Well-Being Dashboards contain indicators of child adversity, health and well-being utilizing data available on kidsdata.org . For more information about the dashboards, please refer to the California Data Dashboards page. The Sonoma County Data Dashboard contains select indicators of child adversity and well-being. The dashboard is a product of the Shared Data and Outcomes Workgroup of the California...
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Sonoma County homeless population among the biggest nationwide [Press Democrat]
Manuel Santiago, a 52-year-old Pomo Indian, has been homeless for many years. He’s lived in tents, RVs, motels — anywhere but a shelter. In and out of state prison since 1979, Santiago said his many years behind bars include several stints in solitary confinement. That’s left him with an aversion to crowded places like the Sam Jones Hall homeless shelter in Santa Rosa. “I can’t be around people,” he said Friday, crouched in front of a tent he shares with another person in the city’s...
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Sonoma County Human Services integrates ACES science training in New Employee Orientation (NEO)
On January 30, 2019 the County of Sonoma took a significant step towards becoming a more trauma informed organization by delivering a 1 hour over-view of ACES science to newly hired staff. With this framework now embedded in NEO training we hope to give staff a solid foundation on the key concepts behind trauma informed care. We are re-focusing our efforts towards educating all staff on the link between toxic stress and health outcomes and behavior. This training is the result of...
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Sonoma County one of 14 communities awarded MARC grant
[Originally posted by Leslie Lieberman] Fo urteen communities from across the country now have an opportunity to expand their innovative work in addressing childhood adversity through a new project launched by The by The Health Federation of Philade lphia , with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment. Called Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC), the project supports communities building the movement...
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Sonoma County Resiliency Collaborative A Practical Approach to Post-Wildlife Resilience and Wellbeing
The traumatic events of the North Bay wildfires affect our emotional and physical health, social functioning, and overall well-being, both as individuals and as a community. Unresolved, they can damage our health and limit our potential to rebuild a strong community. Join diverse Sonoma County leaders and representatives to participate in dynamic workshop where you will practice tools for effectively addressing personal and team stress after the fires, network with peers, and learn about an...
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Sonoma County’s parklands are already showing signs of recovery from fire (sonomanews.com)
Nearly every tree species affected by the Tubbs and Nuns fires has a strategy for returning. Some, such as coast live oak, have thick bark and may still be standing with green canopies hanging over blackened understory in places such as Sonoma Valley Regional Park. Trees in this condition will be helped in the years to come because the competition around their bases is gone. If burned, coast live oak have an amazing ability to sprout from the trunk. This can happen as quickly as two months...
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Sonoma County to explore divestment from firms tied to migrant detention centers [Press Democrat]
Residents hold up "Divest" signs Tuesday before the public comment portion of a Board of Sonoma County Supervisors meeting. Residents urged supervisors to divest from U.S.-Mexico border detention facility-connected companies. (Tyler Silvy/The Press Democrat)
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Sonoma Film Fest Screens Redford's Followup to Paper Tiger's Film "Resilience"
James Redford will screen "Resilience" twice at Sonoma's Film Fest this weekend. For those of us who were transformed by his first film, Paper Tigers, it is big news that he'll screen his latest documentary in our own backyard. The film works with the provocative premise: “The child may not remember, but the body remembers.” The trailer will surely capture your attention - watch it here . Redford's website further explains: The original research was controversial, but the findings revealed...
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Sonoma Valley's Hanna Institute Receives $30K Grant [sonomanews.com]
By Index Tribune Staff, Sonoma Index-Tribune, January 2, 2020 The Hanna Institute announced on Dec. 20 that it received a $30,000 grant from Community Foundation Sonoma County that will provide scholarships for Title I school staff and educators to attend the Hanna Institute Summit Jan. 29 through 31. “The mission of Hanna Institute is to support parents and child-serving systems with resources that build resilience and hope,” said Erin Hawkins, co-director of the Hanna Institute in a press...
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SonomaCountyRecovers: Official recovery information for Sonoma County fires
When we experience a disaster, people react with increased anxiety, worry and anger. With community and family support, most of us bounce back. Some of us, however, may need extra assistance to cope with unfolding events and uncertainties. Everyone, even the people that others look up to for guidance and assistance, is entitled to their feelings and deserves support throughout the recovery process. If you or someone in your care needs additional assistance recovering emotionally from the...