As you know, the Women's Fund is a signature initiative of the Willmar Area Community Foundation, and we've focused on sexual exploitation and sex trafficking in our region for several years. With our partners at Safe Avenues and Lutheran Social Services Youth Programs, we have invested over $200,000 in prevention, early intervention and intervention work to benefit Kandiyohi County.
While this work is continuing, we realized we need to expand the circle of professionals within our area that understand trauma and its implications for those affected within community contexts.
This year, we're expanding our reach to include trauma informed care training and awareness building efforts in Kandiyohi County to organizations serving youth, adults and families.
We recently awarded $19,300 in grant dollars to four local organizations:
We awarded $4,300 to the Kandiyohi County Attorney's office for their Victim's Assistance program to help them train staff members on trauma informed and responsive care. Their ultimate goal for the training is to empower their front-line team to better care for crime victims and prevent them from becoming re-victimized within the justice system. They hope to mitigate secondary trauma, or trauma experienced by the person providing care, as well.
The Kandiyohi County Health & Human Services was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Women's Fund to provide Trust-Based Relational Intervention training for therapists on staff who will educate families caring for children who have gone through trauma. They plan to expand this training to therapists in the surrounding counties by partnering with PACT For Families Collaborative. They anticipate that this training will benefit area children who have experienced trauma, such as those in foster care, and help families understand and respond to trauma-based behaviors in a healthier way.
We recently granted $5,000 to PACT 4 Families Collaborative to assist them in providing Trust-Based Relational Training for school staff and others who work directly with children to help them identify and appropriately respond to trauma-based behaviors. This grant will be offered in collaboration with the Kandiyohi County Health & Human Services training program and will provide trauma-responsive skills for community members working with children in Kandiyohi County and the surrounding counties.
Safe Avenues received a $5,000 grant from the Women's Fund that will help provide support to front-line staff assisting trauma victims. Staff will be able to better recognize and respond to victims who may also be suicidal or suffering from mental health and addiction issues. Safe Avenues also plans to provide staff training for their visitation center team who in turn will educate parents on how to better care for their children during a family crisis.
Thanks to your gifts, together we are able to make an even greater impact in the lives of those who have experienced trauma!