AZTIFC
Hello everyone,
Greetings in the grace and peace to you all in this difficult time!
COVID-19 brought overwhelming crisis, confusion and frustration globally. Let’s keep praying and supporting one another with the limited connectivity meanwhile we need more of resilient human connection than ever before ironically.
I don’t know why but I find myself busier with this social distancing season in the middle of online transitioning and the flood of information via emails, texts and social media. I have been with online communication for decades as a campus minister, connecting with graduates who scattered to the world. However, when everybody depends on this connection channel only, I see myself more overwhelmed and feeling lost quite often.
I had many things to share but suddenly I feel I don’t have anything to say or too numb to talk. Regardless, I will share here whatever I can. I guess my email might not arrive in many recipients’ mailboxes as I have too many links and/or too long. Too dangerous to receive or simply recognized as spam.
Anyway, like all of you, I am surviving and working harder with the increase of huge demand and needs in the community. I am here to cheer to you, encourage you and pray for you with my sincere love, care and respect. Please let me know if you have any prayer request that I can pray for you or any need that I can help or support.
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
Crisis brings danger but also opportunity. We need to work urgently to fight against the virus pandemic. But also we need to use this social distancing season as an opportunity to focus and re-value ultimately important things in our life: identity (who I am, where I belong), purpose of life, family or significant others. This is time we can re-connect and build constructive and caring relationships, overcoming past conflict and trauma but establishing safe, transparent and resilient connectivity that will continue after this pandemic emergency passes.
We train people to ask, “What happened to you?” rather than asking, “What’s wrong with you?” in trauma-informed care. Honestly, it’s quite easier to ask “What’s wrong with you?” or “Why did you do that?” to those who are very close in our life such as, spouse, our own kids, other significant others. We now have an opportunity to practice the training knowledge with those who are close and living together so trauma-informed care will be our lifestyle at home as well as the modality of serving in the community.
WINDOW OF TOLERANCE
In trauma-informed care, the window of tolerance is the zone between one’s being hyperarousal (over-responsive) and being hypoarousal (under-responsive) so s/he can function effectively with the proper recognition of thoughts and feelings. This pandemic emergency may shift each person’s level of the window of tolerance.
Based on the past history of traumatic or toxic stress, the level can be dramatically shifted each day with the magnitude of stress and/or suffering in this difficult time. It is important to get aware of one’s window of tolerance and its changes, responding with appropriate self-care. It is also important to share that with others courageously so we can build resilient connectivity together.
I am grateful for my last three years’ trauma recovery process. However, having family in South Korea as well as here in States, COVID-19 has been a huge stressor to me since January and I sense my window of tolerance is narrowed. Now I am easily getting anxious and hyper-vigilant if the amount of information from electronic communications is too big to digest thoroughly. Now the amount of all telecommunication tripled. I am safe and well so no worries. But I might spend more time of calming, centering and self-care so I do apologize if I am to be less responsive to your telecommunications in the coming days.
COVID-19 INFO
National/ Federal Government: https://www.coronavirus.gov/
Kimberly Konkel from SAMHSA suggested: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
State of Arizona
Phoenix COVID-19 Resource Connection (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/547696679187752/?ref=share
ITRC's statement about the pandemic: Download PDF
American Bible Society: Beyond Disaster: A Survivor's Guide for Spiritual First Aid English PDF Spanish PDF More Resources
ARIZONA TRAUMA INFORMED FAITH COMMUNITY (AZTIFC)
BUILDING THE RESILIENT CHURCH CONFERENCE
The three-year-old Trauma Informed Community (TiC) movement with AZTIFC came to the highlight with the last month’s the third Building the Resilient Church Conference. We formed the executive and advisory committees and thirteen tracks’ leaders who will continually lead and serve the movement together. About 50 people of these leaders, speakers and presenters, who are also executive personnel of local and national organizations, must be very busy to cope with the current virus pandemic emergency. They are great partners with beneficial resources for this critical time. If you need any help or support from them, please contact me to connect. If you have the conference booklet, please find their contact information to connect.
Pastor Dan Steffen, Brenda Cochran and I have been developing ideas and strategies for next year’s conference, considering this year’s evaluation result and the direction of the movement. The fourth conference will be held on Friday, February 12, 2021. We’ll work with all the leaders of the movement to have a better and greater conference next year.
One of the keynote speakers from the last year’s conference, Dr. Andi Clements, and Pastor Tanner Clements will do a national webinar on: trauma-informed care for the faith community with the US Dept of Health and Human Services.
Wednesday, April 1. 9 am (AZ Time)
Registration:
GOYFF (GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF YOUTH, FAITH AND FAMILY)
Director of GOYFF:
Director of Faith:
GOYFF wants to know how they can help your community. Also if you have highlights of how your faith organization is helping the community, please let them know so they can share with the Governor. Contact Director Maria Cristina Fuentes or Director of Faith Terrilyn Miller.
ARIZONA ACES CONSORTIUM
Consortium’s statement on COVID-19 situation and resource information:
https://azaces.org/covid-19-resources/
ARIZONA TRAUMA INSTITUTE
ATI offers great training resources with a huge discount rate to help the community in this difficult time.
Also you may visit their YouTube channel that also has great information and resources. Here’s their trauma-informed yoga (first one): https://youtu.be/lnBKgwZNz44
ASU CENTER FOR MINDFULNESS, COMPASSION AND RESILIENCE
The center is offering online mindfulness practice Mon-Friday, 12-1 pm (AZ Time):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_pJu7HH1M0&feature=youtu.be
FAMILY MINDFULNESS
ACEs trainer, Mike Edwards uploaded family mindfulness resources on his Facebook.
https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/what-is-mindfulness.pdf
https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/family-mindfulness-schedule.pdf
RESILIENT PARENTING RESOURCES
Jenny Brackman's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenny.brackman.rezilia
CENTER ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD (HARVARD UNIV)
PREVENT CHILD ABUSE ARIZONA
Appreciate Claire Louge, the Executive Director, shared this article. There are many invisible, unspoken, not-enough-advocated people group that we need to get aware and help…
SOUTH MOUNTAIN WORKS COALITION
The chairman Dr. William Beverly sent a message after a discussion with Shomari and me. This is our heart for the community, encouraging you to practice 3M (Movement, Mindfulness and Meaningfulness).
LIST OF ARIZONA NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELP THE COMMUNITY WITH COVID-19 SITUATION
https://c0dug176.caspio.com/dp/550730000dd2ad04e6254e2e9ff2
There are so many resources with COVID-19 situation out there. I will stop here but please visit other online channels and social media. I will try to keep uploading other resources to my social media channels later (Sanghoon Yoo or The Faithful City).
Please check out https://www.acesconnection.com/ that is the national network of trauma informed care and community building movement, which also broadcasts useful information and resources every day for coping with the global emergency of coronavirus.
“PEOPLE ARE DOING THE BEST THEY CAN”
Rick Griffin who is a local and national leader of resilience movement sent to me this afternoon a good resource for resilient community practice:
In my teaching material, there’s an infographic that shows a paradigm shift from non-trauma-informed care to trauma-informed care. One of the paradigm shifts is from the perspective of “People are bad.” to that of “People are doing the best they can.” I believe this is one of the most needed paradigm shifts such a time it is. We now have too many cynical criticisms, skeptical discouragements, nasty objections and divisions while nobody knows the perfect and certain way to overcome this pandemic emergency. Naive optimism or ignorant bravery is not the answer either. ACEs and trauma-informed care science teach us that there might be deep root-causes that form people’s reactions and behaviors although that might be annoying, illegal, immoral or ideologically wrong from one’s or majority’s perspective. Now we have an opportunity to practice this profound trauma-informed lens of believing: People are doing the best they can! This will generate a space of relationships, where we continually pursue and do: Unconditional love and constant care!!
Thank you for your attention, support and collaboration.
Be safe and stay healthy,
Rev. Sanghoon Yoo, MSW, MDiv
The Faithful City, Arizona Trauma Informed Faith Community