Building a Resilient Watertown: Community Leaders Tackle the Lifelong Impacts of Childhood Trauma

Описание: Northeast Radio SD News - Watertown, SD - Local leaders are spearheading a new initiative to address the deep, lifelong impacts of childhood trauma and build a stronger, more supportive community in Codington County.



Through the Codington Connects HEART (Healing, Education, Awareness, Resilience, Trauma) Action Team, community members are organizing to educate the public on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and shift the conversation from “What is wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”



Understanding ACEs and Their Impact Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur during childhood, but their effects can ripple across a person’s entire lifespan.



Heather Fischer, MS, NCC, a counselor at Watertown High School and a member of the HEART team, emphasized the importance of early recognition.



“An adverse childhood experience is typically categorized as some sort of trauma event. It can be a multitude of different things: emotional abuse in the familial household, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, physical abuse,” Fischer explained. “If you don’t address those traumatic events that the child experiences, there’s a multitude of different things that can impact—it can impact social, economic, it can impact mental health, and it leads to things like chronic illness. It just really impacts all aspects of life.”



Carrying Trauma into Adulthood



While ACEs happen in childhood, the resulting trauma doesn’t disappear when a child turns eighteen. Each individual carries an “ACE score” that reflects the number of traumatic events they experienced, which can deeply affect their adult lives.



Krista Atyeo-Gortmaker of Atyeo Consulting and the Northeast South Dakota SHIINE program sees firsthand how unresolved childhood trauma manifests in the senior population.



“We all grow up to be adults, right? And what we carry with us is a score,” Atyeo-Gortmaker said. “In the end, when SHIINE comes in, we see a lot of seniors that have never dealt with that baggage they’ve carried all of their lives. The first place we see that there’s issues with Alzheimer’s or dementia is with their bank accounts or their money. And if we can’t figure out how to pay a premium to get 100% coverage for my elder, or from my mom, or even for myself, it just gets too hard to think about and too hard to talk about. And a lot of times that’s because of those ACE scores that have followed them throughout their lives.”



A Community-Wide Solution The goal of the HEART Action Team is to break these generational cycles by developing a centralized care system, strengthening parenting programs, and establishing community mentorships.



Sara Foust, Board President of Codington Connects, noted that understanding ACEs is essential for everyone, regardless of their profession.



“This isn’t just people that are having trouble; this is stuff we interact with every day,” Foust said. “So anybody that works with anybody is dealing with ACEs and the trauma that we experience.”



To equip the community with the tools to respond to trauma with empathy , the HEART team is hosting a free, multi-session training event at the Codington County Extension Complex. The sessions will be led by Tifanie Petro, MS, a nationally recognized speaker with over 17 years of experience in victim advocacy and trauma response.



Upcoming Free Training Sessions:




• Monday, March 30th (6:00 PM - 7:30 PM): “ACEs: Building Resilient Children.” Geared toward families and childcare providers. Supper and childcare will be provided.


• Tuesday, March 31st (9:00 AM - 11:00 AM): “Understanding ACEs: Building a Resilient Community.” Open to everyone.


• Tuesday, March 31st (12:00 PM - 2:00 PM): “Science of Hope - How to Overcome Trauma.” Open to everyone, with lunch served.




Attendees can come to one or all of the free sessions, and a certificate of attendance will be provided for CEUs.



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