Cobb Collaborative presents First Annual Resilient Cobb Summit
Community leaders from across metro Atlanta convened on Tuesday, February 1, for the first annual Resilient Cobb Summit presented by Cobb Collaborative. This half-day event was held at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Cobb Community Foundation. Speakers from Resilient Georgia addressed the significant need to recognize trauma, identify issues stemming from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and work to build resilience to foster better outcomes. Two panel discussions were held during the Resilient Cobb Summit which focused on the need to build trauma-informed schools as well as trauma-informed juvenile court systems to help build thriving and resilient communities. Dr. Denise Magee, Principal of Lindley Sixth Grade Academy, said “Being trauma-informed is not something we do. It’s who we are.”
ACEs are defined as “potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood centered around neglect, abuse, and household dysfunction.” These can undermine a child’s sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Persistent exposure to one or more ACEs as a child or adolescent can cause prolonged activation of the body’s stress response, which triggers toxic stress. Toxic stress, when not properly addressed and reduced, can dramatically change how the brain develops and can lead to many learning and behavioral issues as a child, as well as many common life-threatening health conditions as an adult. Statistically, 3 in 5 adults living in Georgia have experienced at least one ACE in their lifetime. Research shows that those who have experienced ACEs are more likely to experience longer-term physical ailments such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, obesity, suicide and more.
Given this prevalence and the potential ramifications associated with ACEs, a need has been recognized for building trauma-informed and responsive communities in which resilience building is made possible It was this awareness and advocacy that launched the first annual Resilient Cobb Summit. Cobb Collaborative Executive Director, Irene Barton, says, “Introducing and building momentum around trauma-informed and trauma-responsive practices is an important pillar of our Mind Your Mind mental health initiative. We are leading our community in recognizing the prevalence of ACEs and why it is important to work collaboratively to address the potential impacts. But the greater opportunity is preventing ACEs since we know that early intervention is more effective and less expensive.”
Cobb Collaborative also presented a new downloadable Mental Health Resources toolkit at the Summit. This toolkit contains valuable information regarding mental health including statistics, resources and information that can be shared via social media, newsletters or distributed as print items. This toolkit is available on the Cobb Collaborative website.
