Woodstock Pantry News Brief February 25

This week, we served…no one.In this news brief, I would like to explore our goal to become a Trauma-Informed Food Site.

Trauma-Informed Food Site

Those of us scheduled to work this weekend watched with concern as the latest storm descended on our area. We tracked the storm, its impact on safe travel and how our partner organizations were coping with it.

It became evident on Thursday that we couldn’t open the pantry on Friday, but we had hope that we could run both the pantry and Hot Meals on Saturday. However, on Friday we were forced to close all services for Saturday.

I believe this was the best decision we could make, given the circumstances. However, it came with a cost. Anyone who looked to us for services this weekend found a closed building and empty campus. Among the many things this raises for me is a recommitment to our goal to develop into a Trauma-Informed Food Site.

Why? Because, for one, being trapped in freezing weather without shelter or access to vital services is, at the least, traumatizing and at the worst, life threatening. So, I will take this opportunity to describe our plan and progress toward becoming a Trauma-Informed Food Site.

What is Trauma

There are three aspects to trauma, i.e., event, experience and effect.

Events Events or circumstances that cause physical, emotional and/or life-threatening harm.

Experience How a person experiences the event/s. How someone experiences the event/s is personal. Strong support systems, little or no prior traumatic experiences and individual resilience enhance the person’s ability to respond. Alternatively, deficient support systems, re-traumatization and weakened individual resilience degrade the person’s ability to respond.

Effect The ongoing effect of the trauma on the person, specifically their mental, physical and emotional health, social well-being and spiritual well-being. The effects are manifold and can last well beyond the events.

What is a Trauma-Informed Food Site?

In a Trauma-Informed Food Site, we realize that many people have experienced trauma. We learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma, in ourselves and in others. We integrate our knowledge about trauma into our program operations. And we seek to resist re-traumatizing our neighbors.

ASEC - A Trauma-Informed Food Site

At All Saints Episcopal Church (ASEC), all outreach programs will be trauma-informed. To inform our design and implementation, we are collaborating with community partners with expertise, including Cultivate Initiatives, Better Outcomes through Bridges, Clackamas County Emergency Department and Portland VA Medical Center.

Our first project is the Hot Meals Program. We are now testing and improving program design and implementation strategies. Our next project is the Woodstock Pantry.

Planning & Development - A Trauma-Informed Food Site Plan and an Emergency Response Plan were developed. Emergency Response Teams were developed, including roles designed to watch over and support all volunteers and neighbors. Environmental and service strategies were designed to create a welcoming, respectful experience for our neighbors.

Training - Shift leads and people in key positions have received F2F training on De-escalation and Trauma-Informed Care. The content is being repurposed into video training. Video training on Trauma-Informed Care and Self-Management Strategies to Deal with Stress is being developed for all other volunteers.

If you would like more information or are interested in participating in the design/test process, let me know. When we are ready to start the pantry project, I will look to you all for your ideas, input and participation.

Remember…

It Takes a Community, And We Are It!