- In New Orleans, Trauma Recovery Center “Celebrates 3 Years of Expanding Trauma-Informed Care.” For The New Orleans Advocate, Stevie Licciardi reports on the rapid growth of Seeds of NOLA, a trauma recovery center embedded within University Medical Center that provides trauma-informed mental health care and wraparound services to survivors of violence, accidents, and other traumatic injuries, and has grown from serving around 400 patients annually, to now, nearly 2,000. Unlike a traditional mental health clinic, the center “focuses solely on trauma survivors,” offering support from psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, case managers, and patient navigators to help patients stabilize, retain housing and employment, as well as battle the mental health challenges that often accompany traumatic injuries.
Megan Simon-Delone, a patient of Seeds of NOLA who was badly injured by a drunk driver and in the past three years has “undergone 13 surgeries, participated regularly in the trauma support group and met weekly with a therapist,” explained how vital the center is: “When something traumatic happens to you, it’s easy to fall into the throws of depression and PTSD, but you have to find the light at the end of the tunnel… [so it’s important to] talk to someone and connect with others who are going through what you are going through. You never know when something might be exactly what you needed.”
- Newport News, Virginia, Opens Doors To New No-Cost Trauma Recovery Center. For 13News Now, Ashley Smith reports that gun violence survivor Cameron Bertrand is opening the VIP Trauma Recovery Center in Newport News to provide “one place where people impacted by violence and trauma can find support, services, and a path forward.” The center will offer “physical therapy, victim advocacy, job training, counseling support, a clothing closet, food pantry resources and other wellness-focused services,” along with “workforce development space… and areas designed for young people and adults to gather safely.” Bertrand described the model as “a survivor-led, trauma-informed space for people to get the resources that they need to get out of survival mode,” adding that it is designed to fill “a gap for people who may struggle to find coordinated help after a crisis.” He said the center is the kind of support system he wished had existed after he was shot in 2015: “If there was a trauma recovery center in our state or in our city, I would be attending it myself.”
- Michigan State University Is Training Staff To Deliver Trauma-Informed Care To Trauma Recovery Centers. For MSU Today, Brandon Drain reports that all new employees at Henry Ford Health’s Trauma Recovery Center now complete Michigan State University’s Trauma Informed Care Certificate Program as part of their onboarding process. Founded in 2022, the center was created to provide survivors of violent crime and their families with holistic recovery services at no cost to survivors. Program Manager Ali Lakhani said the training goes beyond the basics, highlighting modules on “trauma informed communication” and “trauma informed leadership,” and “meeting survivors where they are.” The partnership is designed to strengthen both clinical practice and organizational culture, helping staff better support survivors throughout the recovery process.
