Community Partnership has received a $200,000, two-year grant from the Pittulloch Foundation, in partnership with Resilient Georgia, to integrate trauma awareness into the Central Georgia community.
 
The Pittulloch Foundation is partnering with Resilient Georgia to offer grants to four cities and the surrounding counties to provide a regional emphasis on trauma-informed awareness, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and child sexual abuse prevention training as a basis to transform systems and procedures crossing both public and private sectors.
 
“Traumatic experiences often create long-lasting effects, and creating more opportunities in our area to inform providers of those effects will allow them to better serve the community,” said Jill Vanderhoek, executive director of Community Partnership. “We are grateful to the Pittulloch Foundation for providing this grant to help Middle Georgia and to Resilient Georgia and the Community Foundation for their support.”
 
Andrea S. Meyer Stinson, Ph.D., Associate Program Director of the Master of Family Therapy Program and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences/Pediatrics in Mercer University School of Medicine, is a board member of Resilient Georgia and will serve as a partner and consultant on the Resilient Middle Georgia Project. The project will be led by Vanderhoek, Meyer Stinson, and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia and will focus on building awareness and a common language around trauma, adversity, ACEs and resilience in Bibb and other Middle Georgia counties.
 
“Adversity and challenges occur in all families, however some children and youth experience an accumulation of severe stressors that can impair their development and functioning,” Dr. Meyer Stinson said. “By bringing together our community to talk about and recognize trauma and ACEs as an important public health concern, we can move towards a common understanding and language about ways to help reduce the potential impact of these experiences.”
 
The primary aim of the grant is to bring together multiple stakeholders, including education, health care, social services, mental health providers, law enforcement, juvenile justice, families and community champions, to align conversations and build awareness and trainings that will better support children and families coping with adversity and trauma.
 
Dr. Meyer Stinson will serve as a consultant for the grant and liaison between the School of Medicine and the Resilient Middle Georgia Project. She will help in developing community-wide awareness events, coordinating renowned speakers, analyzing and reporting data, as well as planning education and training for School of Medicine students, faculty, staff and physician preceptors.
 
“In order for individuals to thrive physically and mentally, it is essential to address both the family and the community in which they live, especially for rural and underserved areas,” said Jean Sumner, M.D., dean of Mercer University School of Medicine. “Dr. Meyer Stinson’s involvement in this project will support our mission of working with rural and underserved families, while also building a network of well-trained and trauma-informed healthcare providers for the broader region.”