Experience & Activities

Due to my educational background and work experience in social work, community development, and health care administration I know first-hand how important it is to raise community awareness of how trauma impacts childhood adversity and why we always need to protect our children. Children are by far our most valuable asset and they are the future leaders of our communities. As a community it is imperative that we collectively work to build strong families and prevent and also eradicate child abuse and other forms of child mistreatment. To me a Resilient Community is one that is strongly committed to building effective strategies that will help build resilience and productive and strength based family and community relationships so our children can thrive and reach their full potential.

I am really excited about all the great work that is being done in this community project. From coordinating various community events that promote Resilient Communities, to providing an ongoing venue for educational sessions with Parents through Parent Cafes, and providing ongoing community education regarding the psychological and emotional impact that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) have on Children we are able to successfully move forward with empowering Ottumwa to do a much better job of keeping our children safe and emotionally stable so they can become well- adjusted, self-sufficient, and productive Adults in the future. As the saying goes, it does take a whole village to successfully raise children who are safe from harm and are emotionally stable. As a community we all need to invest in our children as they are our future.