Taking Action Against Adverse Childhood Experiences

In response to rapidly growing out-of- home-placement, meth treatment and incarceration costs, organizations from the Brainerd Lakes area have come together to implement locally a successful model that proved to be effective in building healthier individuals, families, and communities in Washington state. Bridges of Hope took the lead and was awarded a $30,000 Difference Maker grant from the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation, plus additional funding, to kick off  the Self-Healing Communities Model (SHCM) project.

Self-Healing Communities Model is designed to build community capacity to improve outcomes for health and social issues by reducing and preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The goal of the SCHM is to solve dynamic problems to engage the public, inspire innovation, support peer helping, ease the daily stress burden of parents, and promote change in all of the systems that serve them so that together communities can better protect and nurture the next generation. Implementing this model in Crow Wing County will help us all work together with the communities we serve to develop the skills and supports necessary for individuals to become and remain productive members of the community and workforce, our primary focus.

The kick-off event was November 27 in Brainerd, with 86 people in attendance.