Conversations

Week two started at the same pace as week 1 ended, as there were so many people I caught up with rather than break it down chronologically I am going to cover the different types of organisation that I met and the impact that it had. We began our week by receiving a proclamation from the County Commissioners celebrating Resilience Month in Walla Walla and it was moving to hear one of them describe the impact that ACE's and resilience had on him personally. This was another example of working to get buy in at as many levels within the community as possible, all three commissioners were interested and engaged with what was going on and keen to see the results be as impactful as possible. We met again with them on Tuesday where they had a chance to ask questions about what was happening and I discussed some of my personal lived experience. I also met with Mayor Barbara Clark and City Manager Nabiel Shawa for a long discussion on the impact that the trauma informed movement has had o...

Wednesday was quite an inspiring day, I travelled up to Pasco where Broetje Orchards have helped to create two communities which were established in support of their workforce but encompass a trauma informed approach which of course was great for me to see. The Broetje family place a large emphasis on their faith as the reason for their commitment to their staff, this isn't just extended to ensuring that people turn up and pick fruit, it is a genuine desire to see people lead successful lives, resolve issues, and become more happy and more fulfilled. They combine the work of their business with their charitable foundation and the team at Tierra Vida (the first and newest housing project I saw) are employed to ensure community cohesion and support for people, trying to ensure that new arrivals are welcomed and engaged with neighbours. The Staff at Tierra Vida and my friend Andrew Rodriguez from C2C They have combined the community work with a tremendous body of evidence, like D...

So I am in the middle of my first week in Walla Walla, I am based with Teri Barila of Community Resilience Initiative who has had a remarkable impact upon the entire community through her work on ACEs and resilience. As well as creating practical networks and organisations to empower communities, she has worked with Dario to create a stunning base of researched evidence. Walla Walla is well known by many as the home of Lincoln High, the subject of the Paper Tigers documentary movie - and whilst I would encourage people to view that I would say that it is not the whole story, here in Walla Walla it is a broader and wider community initiative that has created a culture open to prioritising the emotional health of children and communities as a vital part of delivering social cohesion, academic success, and healthier, happier people. The road to Walla Walla! So how is this happening? Firstly a lot of work is done to 'name' what we want to see, I am attending a City Council p...