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Walla Walla Valley PACEs Connection (WA)

Blogs

The Peace Bus

Times in our community have been challenging and traumatic recently. Shining a light on how we can come together and support one another is vital during this time, and is just what Kwabi Amoah-Forson is doing with The Peace Bus. This is incredible work and reflects the importance of connectivity at this time. Please consider supporting the work Kwabi is doing, and share with others to spread the word! Per his recent Facebook post: "Fear, division, and safety have been the reoccuring themes...

ACEs Connection, our Cooperative of Communities, and....Pando!

Last month, we officially launched the ACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities. We are SO excited about this! And the communities that are part of the handful of ACEs initiatives that are piloting the Cooperative are, too! Before describing the Cooperative, I want to reassure our 40,000+ members and 277 ACEs initiatives (plus another 100 in development) that have communities on ACEs Connection that nothing on ACEsConnection.com changes! Membership is and remains free ! And it will remain...

Meet Allyn Griffin! One of CRI's Trainers.

Today we get to know Allyn Griffin, one of CRI's trauma-informed trainers out in the field based in Prescott, WA. What was your "aha" moment that took you into the world of ACEs and Trauma informed care? Just over five years ago, I was asked to speak at a friend’s retirement celebration. A close friend of mine and retired NASA astronaut, Leland Melvin, arranged a meeting with a group of NASA educators who were very influential at the time in creating national curriculum. That meeting and a...

Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) launches new grassroots initiative to engage and educate Congress

CTIPP (Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice) today announced the launch of the National Trauma Campaign , calling for federal action to prevent and address childhood trauma and build resilience through educating and engaging Congress. Its widely circulated communication invited people from around the country to join the new grassroots initiative. The campaign provides ways for everyone to get involved by joining the effort, becoming a Local Liaison to take the lead in every state...

CRI's Search for National Resilience Champions

CRI is the nation’s first Resilience community network and a national leader in the effort to create and support inclusive, equitable and healthy communities who understand, model and promote the common language of safety, connection and love. Contextual community resilience is our emphasis and helping to share that message is our passion. Why did CRI create a national resiliency award? Malcolm Gladwell defined a tipping point as ‘the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling...

7 Sentences to a Story

An inspirational story from our Founder + Board President, Teri Barila Nothing thrills me more than to hear from someone who attended our conference or training and took action as a result! Angela Hill and Line Perron, with Imagine Institute for Learning (Edmonton, Canada), shared an amazing story based on their engagement with us at the June 2019 Beyond Paper Tigers conference. During the Social/Networking activity, we used the 7 Sentence story to help participants see the power behind...

Meet Rick Griffin! CRI's Dir. of Training + Curriculum

Today we have the chance to get to know Rick Griffin, CRI's Director of Training and Curriculum. Rick continues to speak to thousands of groups from all over the country and is widely recognized for his work with trauma-informed practices. What was your "aha" moment that took you into the world of ACEs and Trauma informed care? My "aha" moment came from two decades of working with struggling teens. I saw young men become frustrated far more easily and more often and communicate their...

Meet CRI Founder Teri Barila

Today, we have the opportunity to get to know CRI’s founder and board president Teri Barila. Teri holds a M.S. Degree in Fisheries Science and Management, has over 20 years experience working for government agencies from the Bonneville Power Association in Portland to the Army Corp. of Engineers in Walla Walla, WA. She was a founder or major instigator for numerous community focused non- profits, most notably, Friends of Children of Walla Walla, Community Center for Youth (CCY), Commitment...

Meet the team--our new Associate Director, Rebecca Cooley

Rebecca joined the team at CRI in September, 2019 What was your "aha" moment that took you into the world of ACEs and Trauma informed care? Before I answer, I would like to say how honored and lucky I feel to have been chosen to work with Teri, Rick and others who are addressing health and wellbeing inequities. I love my job and what we do. It was a build up. Upon moving to Walla Walla, a friend encouraged me to see Paper Tigers at a public screening at Whitman College. Then within a few...

Posada, ponche and connecting in the neighborhood!

I was honored to be invited to a gathering of neighbors and friends in one of our neighborhoods as they came together to celebrate the holiday season. The traditional practice of the Posada opened the party, with neighbors walking door to door singing the traditional verses asking for shelter, with the neighbors responding, either denying shelter or offering their house, re-enacting Joseph and Mary seeking shelter. The last verse was sung at the location of the party, thus welcoming all in...

Honoring a humble champion, in front of a packed ballroom!

The Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted their 137th Annual Community Awards last week, and one of Community Resilience Initiative's trainers-- Tony McGuire-- was recognized for his service to our community. As an instructor of basic carpentry at the local Washington State Penitentiary, Tony is so much more than that- he is a mentor, champion, communicator and lifelong learner of what makes us human together. His gift to the world is his ability to share the insights of the...

Celebrating community engagement for October is Resilience Month!

I was reflecting on another event-packed Resilience Awareness month, with Family Fun Nights, City and County Proclamations, Yard Signs, Banners and flags, sandwich boards, Screenager documentary, resilience tips daily and sheep brains. Wait, what? Sheep brains?? Yes! In partnership with Whitman College's Science Department, we used sheep brains as part of our STEAM events and they were a hit! One grandmom reported it was her grandson's favorite! Another family came back to a second event, to...

ACEs Connection's Inclusion Tool makes sure nobody's left out

We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...

Capacity building via rocks!

On a beautiful fall Saturday at our local Farmers Market, we encouraged kids (and parents) to paint a rock, and then hide it somewhere to surprise the individual discovering the rock with its message of kindness, encouragement or even emojis! The Community is the Solution puzzle was a great conversation starter with adults, and was a natural kick-start to explaining our work!

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