A Community Effort 

Network Goals for 2019
Our Vision
Charlottesville area organizations recognize that trauma impacts the lives and wellbeing of our community members. Across the country, trauma-informed care is being recognized as a necessary component to healing and recovery for children, families, and larger systems. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)*, emerging research has documented the relationships among exposure to traumatic events, impaired neurodevelopmental and immune systems responses, and subsequent health risk behaviors resulting in chronic physical or behavioral health disorders. Research has also indicated that with appropriate supports and intervention, people can overcome traumatic experiences.

Our Mission
Therefore, community members and organizations in the Greater Charlottesville area have come together with the following mission: to improve trauma-informed care by educating professionals and the community on the impacts of trauma and by advocating for trauma-informed systems of care. 

Our Founding
The Greater Charlottesville Trauma-Informed Community Network was established in 2016. Alicia Lenahan, President and CEO of Piedmont CASA, and Shannon Noe, Youth Counseling Program Manager at ReadyKids, led this effort. The first step was to establish a Steering Committee of leaders from area non-profit organizations. The first community-wide network meeting took place on September 26, 2016.  Since then, more than 300 persons representing over 70 organizations have attended network meetings. 

The Steering Committee
  • Formalize the TICN organizational structure.
  • Support greater awareness in the community about trauma/ACES through the Train the Trainer (TTT) initiative in partnership with Allison Jackson.
  • Launch the Trauma Informed Leadership Team (TILT) to incorporate trauma informed responses and practices into four community systems/organizations with training and technical assistance provided by Allison Jackson.
  • Continue to host or co-host high-quality, relevant training throughout the year.
  • Host screenings of Paper Tigers and Resilience.
  • Establish and maintain a TICN website and communication portal.
  • Recruit more TICN members with a focus on underrepresented disciplines: medical community, police, etc.
  • Utilize an intern from VCU to manage various network projects.
  • Prepare a coordinated response to community violence to be used in the future if needed.
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Year in Review (2017-2018)

Download the report here.