Community Resilience Leadership

By Lisa Larimer Burtis, MA & Thaïs Mazur, PhD

Community Resilience Leadership kicks off: WE CAN ALL LEARN TO BE LEADERS

Socially cohesive communities are hardy, self-reliant, and able to maintain themselves by independent effort—that is, they are resilient. Where we live and how we live matter. Communities are complex tapestries where our stories and our experiences and our relationships are intimately woven together, ultimately creating meaning and a foundation for who we are as individuals and who we are together. When we share our stories, it helps us find a common ground. In turn, finding common ground is an essential step towards healing and wholeness. During epochs of unpredictability, mistrust, and divisiveness, as well as in the wake of acute adversity and disaster, we must find ways to sustain ourselves and future generations. Developing skills to handle events that are unexpected and learning how to respond in the midst of uncertainty, (as with last year’s wildfires) are crucial elements that will guide us in adverse situations. But how can we learn and develop these skills, how can we talk to and really understand each other?

In support of this vision, a new campaign on the Mendocino coast—Community Resilience Leadership (CRL)—is being launched this month, starting with an exciting event that will initiate the entire community’s involvement in addressing these issues. It’s called The Community Resilience Leadership Summit.

The kick-off for the two-day event includes the showing of a film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, on Friday, April 26, from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m., at Fort Bragg Town Hall, Main and Laurel Streets. The film “chronicles the birth of a new movement among pediatricians, therapists, educators, and communities, who are using cutting-edge brain science to disrupt cycles of violence, addiction and disease.” Admission is free and open to the public. The following day, there will be a special workshop designed for local community leaders, first responders, health providers, behavioral health professionals, childcare providers, educators, law enforcement officers, faith leaders, and institutional policy makers.

The group is most excited that Elaine Miller-Karas, internationally renowned trainer and executive director and co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute, will attend in person to share her ground-breaking work and how to apply it to our daily lives and work. Ms. Miller- Karas, with thirty years’ experience in health education, teaching, social work, and advocacy, has co-created the Trauma Resiliency Model® (TRM) and the Community Resiliency Model® (CRM), along with its adaptations for active duty military and veterans. She has shepherded the Trauma Resource Institute since its birth in 2006 into a worldwide organization, bringing resiliency skills to the under-served. Ms. Miller-Karas has traveled internationally and trained thousands of mental health, health professionals, and community leaders in social service agencies, hospitals, and community organizations.

This summit will provide an opportunity for community leaders to establish a shared language and together explore strategies that cultivate community resilience. Several organizations are sponsoring this event, including Healthy Mendocino, FIRST 5 Mendocino, Project Sanctuary, North Coast Opportunities, and Coast Community Resilience Leadership.

In the spirit of “what happens to you happens to me and what happens to me happens to you,” Community Resilience Leadership is forging a dynamic network for compassionate action that supports the common good. Its mission is to gather interested members of the community and offer opportunities to learn leadership skills, build a common language, and explore what’s needed for successfully responding to every kind of challenge. On its calendar, Community Resilience Leadership already has plans for workshops that teach resiliency and is actively building alliances with other organizations, individuals, government agencies, and nonprofits. What could make more sense than bringing together people who serve the community into one room to share their perspectives and identify any redundancies or missing pieces in the network of help they each provide, and finding ways to collaborate and support each other?

RESILIENCY IS AT THE CORE OF THE COMMON GOOD

The idea for CRL arose from meetings between the Mental Health Action Team and the Childhood Trauma Action Team of Healthy Mendocino (see story at www.realestatemendocino.com, June 28, 2017). These teams are comprised of people who work in the fields of trauma and domestic violence prevention, medicine, emergency response, child welfare, counseling, healthy families, and others who are dedicated to the betterment of the place they live. After almost a year of meetings, it became obvious that resiliency was a core thread in all health—mental, physical, and spiritual. Conversations about what that looks like in an entire community ranged from offering more education about trauma and resilience, to taking on the moral fight to make the world a place where people, across all ages, can thrive. Providing support in a manner that is accessible—providing for the real need, not the perceived need—is a primary focus.

The team members agreed that connection with others and a shared common value to “do no harm” are essential to a cohesive society. They have bolstered questions and findings that came out of their meetings by inviting speakers to present at workshops on trauma and prevention and have set the stage to bring together even more community members and professionals who will be able to weave together this information. That in turn will inspire actions that will more effectively move us toward the ideal of a resilient community. You can read more about the CRL in the Real Estate Magazine out of Fort Bragg HERE.

Healthy Mendocino is a free-standing, community-driven resource, based at North Coast Opportunities. Healthy Mendocino has the support of several key organizations and agencies that make up the Steering Committee. The Community Healthy Improvement Plan (CHIP) builds on the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), which was completed in early 2016. From the assessment, five areas of focus to improve the health of our community were identified including: Housing, Mental Health, Childhood Trauma, Family Wellness & Childhood Obesity, and Poverty. The North Coast-based Childhood Trauma and Mental Health Action teams applied for and were granted supportive funds from Healthy Mendocino to launch the Community Resilience Leadership Initiative. For more information about Healthy Mendocino, please visit www.healthymendocino.org.