Philadelphia Group Blogs

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...

In Toole County, Montana, deputy sheriffs call a school counselor, from their patrol cars, after responding to a traumatic incident—a domestic abuse call, an overdose, an arrest—that involves a child. “Handle with care,” they tell the counselor, and they give the child’s name. The counselor passes that information to teachers: a quiet heads-up that the student might be hungry or sleepy, tearful, angry or distracted by whatever happened at home. “My teachers love it,” says Mary Miller, chair...

Perhaps it wasn’t the optimum time to update the network’s vision and values statements: a virtual meeting held in the midst of a global pandemic. But a record number of people—51, compared to the typical 30—tuned in for the May 1 Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health (OCMH) Collective Impact Council, and they gave the new values statement, which highlights inclusivity and collaboration, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. At the virtual table were members from key state departments—Children...

The Office of Advocacy and Reform (OAR), established by Governor Tom Wolf’s 2019 executive order to protect Pennsylvania’s vulnerable populations, today announced the launch of a volunteer think tank comprised of 25 experts representing a diversity of fields and backgrounds who will develop a plan to make Pennsylvania a trauma-informed state. “The people of Pennsylvania are compassionate, thoughtful and resilient. We take care of each other, and that drive to protect our families and our...

For Philadelphia students and families having trouble coping with the loss of months of in-person school amid the trauma of a pandemic and a changing world, help is on the way. On Monday, the Philadelphia School District and Uplift, the Center for Grieving Children, will launch the Philly HopeLine, a hotline that will connect district children and families to grief support services, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said at a news conference Thursday. The resource comes in response to a...

The new website from the city features a map of all locations and other criteria for certain sites. The new website, which lives at phila.gov/food , offers not only a map of all the food sites across Philadelphia, but also has a breakdown of who can go to each one. There are four categories of food distribution centers in the city: standard sites, student meal sites, senior meal sites and outdoor sites. The standard sites and outdoor sites are eligible for any resident to attend to get one...

On the eastern edge of Missouri, leaders of the Alive and Well network had generated a robust media campaign to help people understand the impact of trauma and toxic stress on health and well-being. There was a monthly column in an African-American newspaper, spots about toxic stress and resilience on urban radio stations and weekly public service features on the NBC affiliate, with physicians, clergy and teachers advocating ways to “be alive and well.” Two hundred and fifty miles to the...

Need help? There is now a statewide hotline you can call. The toll-free, round-the-clock support line can be contacted at 1-855-284-2494. For TTY, dial 724-631-5600. The hotline was launched in partnership with Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services along with the Center for Community Rescoures (CCR), an experienced regional crisis and call center. The hotline hopes to provide assistance to people struggling with emotions during the COVID-19 crisis. “Pennsylvanians will overcome this...

By Ryan Briggs, WHYY, March 19, 2020 Criminal justice advocates are calling for the early release of more than 100 children stuck in Philadelphia’s primary juvenile detention center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Communications obtained by WHYY indicated that 150 children were being held in the city-run Juvenile Justice Services Center on Monday. Marsha Levick, co-founder and Chief Legal Officer for advocacy group Juvenile Law Center called for the release of many of those children. “We need...

CALL FOR PROPOSALS 4th Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference Purposeful Action to Strengthen Families, Communities and Systems JULY 28-30, 2020 JEFFERSON'S EAST FALLS CAMPUS PHILADELPHIA, PA 19144 We are looking for: 90 minute presentations 3-hour intensive workshops, AND poster presentations Visit http://bit.ly/PTTCProposals to submit a proposal. DEADLINE: MARCH 6, 2020

Thomas Jefferson University's newly formed Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health has generated its first-ever newsletter . If you're interested in trauma-informed training and education , or if you simply want to stay abreast of the work of some great clinicians, researchers, advocates and aspiring professionals, please have a look. The Community and Trauma Counseling program currently has Art Therapy options and is launching two new specializations and certificates this summer: (1)...

“The world of thinking about trauma, the importance of school climate and social-emotional learning is 20, 30, 40 years behind the world of instruction." Joanna Schwartz, a 2nd-grade teacher at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School, was about to take a scheduled break and desperately needed a place to have peace and quiet. But the only place she could find was a broom closet. A few years earlier, in another school, Schwartz said teachers were baffled by a 3rd grader who continually fell...