Champions are leaders in their communities (neighborhoods, faith communities, peer groups, social organizations, etc.) who help identify ways to raise awareness about trauma and promote community healing. Recruited through community forums, champions are selected through an application process. and they receive a stipend for their work.
Their roles and expectations include:
- Host 1 meeting / month to educate community members about trauma and resilience; listen to community members to learn how they define trauma and resilience; identify barriers to resilience
- Lead Community Needs and Solutions Projects
- Attend monthly meetings with Alive & Thrive Director
- Track and record number of meetings held, number of contacts with individuals/ groups, identity of groups
- Document information gathered from community
- Provide data to aid mapping process
- Work with Community Health Improvement Plan teams (4 Champions)
If you would like to get involved with one of our ongoing community projects, contact Shelby Mabery at Shelby.Mabery@wyandotbhn.org
It Starts with Me WyCo
Champion: Kathleen Harnish McKune
Description:
It’s up to all of us to start the healing. “It Starts With Me Wyco” is designed to show those who may be experiencing the effects of trauma that they are not alone–that their community has their back, that their community can connect with them, show them they Care, help them find Courage to heal, and share ideas for helping them Calm anxieties and fears. We call these the 4 C’s of resilience. To get your own set of “It Starts with Me” deck of cards, email Shelby.Mabery@wyandotbhn.org
Impact: Over 50 WyCo residents have completed the survey of how they build resilience! We are currently working on distributing these cards to organizations and businesses.
Status: In Progress.
La Kermes
Champion: Eugenia De LaRosa & Aglee Gonzalez, Community Members
Description: Completed in August 2021, La Kermes was a Mexican-style block-party designed to strengthen community connections and reunite and integrate families of different cultural backgrounds in a healthy environment.
Impact: 75 residents attended. Distributed information about trauma & resilience.
Status: Completed.
Day of Care
Champion: Eugenia De LaRosa & Aglee Gonzalez, Community Members
Description: Completed in October 2021, Day of Care actually lasted for several weeks! Designed to reduce insecurity in individuals who found themselves isolated by the pandemic, as well as a result of their economic and social status, Day of Care was geared towards helping seniors. Champions took participants on social outings, shopped for groceries or necessities for personal care, and provided 3-4 hours of services, such as yard work, cleaning, or other household tasks.
Impact: Reached 10 seniors, providing a mix of the above services.
Status: Completed.
Empowering the Women of Wyandotte
Champion: LaTeisha Williams, LMSW
Description: Completed in August 2021, an all-day
workshop that provided women affected by trauma tools for how to recognize symptoms of trauma and how to begin healing from it, including specific attention on how community trauma in Wyandotte County has affected them as Black women. One exercise asked participants to write a letter to themselves asking how they’ve managed what they were experiencing in that moment. All letters were mailed to the participants 6 months later.
Impact: 9 people attended.
Status: One in a series of similar workshops.
Folklore Dance Project
Champion: Aglee Gonzalez & Eugenia De LaRosa, Community Members
Description: Launched in 2021, this project is in progress. Inspired by Alive
& Thrive’s Community Healing Conference in December 2021, a group of 6 Latina/Latino residents wanted to organize traditional Hispanic dance performances reflecting a multitude of Mexican cultures as a way to promote resilience both for those who participate in the performance and those who attend. The group is preparing for their first events, which are scheduled to begin in Summer 2022 and continue through the Day of the Dead in November.
Impact: TBD
Status: Ongoing.
Mother-Daughter Tea
Champion: Tiana Malone, The Triage Center KC
Description: Completed in June 2022, this project provided tools
and resources to participants on how to have deeper connection between mothers and daughters and how to navigate that relationship when affected by trauma.
Impact: 44 attended. Tiana created a “Women of the Tea” Facebook group to provide participants with on-going support and networking: https://www.facebook.com/groups/295545246023857. This project also inspired the champion to tackle the Community Cares Fair and to begin planning follow-up activities.
Status: This event spawned another, the Community Cares Fair, later in 2022. Other related projects are under consideration.
One Community Jiujitsu Tournament
Champion: Ray Freeman, One Community Jiu Jitsu
Description: This ongoing project was launched in 2021. It use
s the martial art of Jiujitsu to help kids and their families build strength and resilience in their lives, foster healthy relationships, and teach emotional regulation.
Impact: About a dozen adults and children attend classes every week [?]. A tournament to celebrate One Community’s first year attracted more than 20 adults and children.
Status: Ongoing.
Let’s Talk About Resilience
Champion: LaTeisha Williams, LMSW
Description: Completed in June 2022, this project was modeled after LaTeisha’s Empowering Women of Wyandotte as a workshop, which was designed to offer women resources and tools for healing from trauma.
Impact: 12 participants attended. Project included the same “Letter to Self” exercise that was used in Empowering Women workshop.
Status: Completed.
Community Cares Fair
Champion: Tiana Malone, The Triage Center KC
Description: Completed in June 2022, this project was a half-day event held at the Kinship Café designed to show how yoga and nutrition can improve mental health.
Impact: 50+ attended.
Status: Completed. A follow-up event is under consideration.
The Vows
Champion: Tiffany and Ed Stewart, Community Members
Description: Launched in June 2022, this ongoing project is a multi-part workshop designed to deepen and strengthen intimate relationships and provide information that helps participants explore the effects of trauma on love and relationships and how to heal from them.
Impact: 12 participants attended first workshop.
Status: Ongoing.
Removal of the Mask
Champion: Empowerment Temple Church of God in Christ
Description: Completed in July 2022, a two-day workshop that focused on how one’s mental health and spirituality intersect, asking the question: How can we use one in conjunction with the other to become our best selves?
Impact: 20 participants attended both days.
Status: Completed.
