Healing Communities: Infusing Trauma-Informed Practices in Community Development Organizations

Trauma can result from a variety of causes, including abuse and neglect, family conflict, poverty, life-threatening illness, repeated and/or painful medical interventions, accidents, violence, grief and loss, racism, discrimination and discriminatory policies. Applying a trauma-informed lens requires change at the individual, interpersonal, organizational and community levels. While trauma-informed care has been adopted in behavioral health settings for a decade, it is newer for most community development organizations. As a result, there are limited resources available to help incorporate a trauma-informed lens into the community development setting.

Our learning community was informed by multiple models, including the BRIDGE model from Oakland, California and the Sanctuary Model in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) and Impact Services are in the process of developing a community toolkit for trauma and healing. In addition, NeighborWorks America’s Healthy Homes & Communities Initiative completed a case study on NKCDC’s work to build healing communities in Philadelphia.

The goal of our Learning Community was to develop a comprehensive approach to address trauma that can be integrated and infused across the entire organization to better serve and partner with community.
Our final product is