“I wanted change, I just didn’t know how.”
From Trauma to Transformation
The long-term effects of trauma in an individual, in a family, and in a community can be extremely detrimental to health outcomes and quality of life. Many young people on our communities come from childhoods filled with neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, gang-related neighborhood violence, and social fragmentation. They have not been able to gain the perspective or social-emotional skills to heal from this trauma without guidance from positive adult role models. Young people and adults alike can fall into a cycle of violence that can destroy their health and livelihoods and last generations if not properly addressed and understood. By being able to identify the center of a person’s trauma, they can begin to understand and allow the healing process to transform their lives and thus their health.