With its partner congregations, the Faith & Philanthropy Institute is prepared to mobilize in response to the trauma experienced by youth and adults as they seek to cope with recurring devastating events, such as the current crisis concerning COVID-19, intergenerational trauma, and community violence as a result of police brutality or mass shootings. One issue at the forefront of this work concerns longstanding barriers to culturally congruent, integrative faith and mental health services and resources for African-American youth and adults. The TRAUMA-RESILIENT CHURCH COLLECTIVE enables congregations to thrive by supporting and guiding churches of color into a framework of trauma-informed healing. After planning and recruitment, activities of the TRAUMA-RESILIENT CHURCH COLLECTIVE are delivered to two cohorts of congregations. Participating congregations receive a trauma-informed assessment of their current level of healing-centered engagement, trauma-informed and healing-centered education and capacity-building services, small sub-grants to support their congregations’ healing-centered goals, twice-yearly congregational leadership gatherings, a pastoral support network, special training to lead online crisis care groups, and access to the Healing Youth Alliance 3.0 curriculum. Plans include partnering with at least 50 Christian congregations interested in proactively tackling injustices, including COVID-19 exposure, intergenerational trauma, police violence in communities, and mass shootings affecting youth and adult congregants.
Trauma-Resilient Church Collective
Grand Prairie, TX
Regional
Angela Johnson