BOSTON - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) will be hosting a series of community listening sessions designed to help the City assess trauma resources and needs in Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, and East Boston. The sessions will be open to neighborhood residents and community partners and encourage feedback and ideas around how to improve existing resources and engage residents in trauma prevention efforts. The first session is in Dorchester on Wednesday, May 18, at 5:30 PM.
"We look forward to learning from residents how we can better support individuals and communities who have been victims of trauma," said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. "I am pleased the Boston Public Health Commission is leading these efforts and working with other City departments and agencies to connect with residents in their neighborhoods. I look forward to learning how the City of Boston can better support residents who have faced trauma, and the lessons we can learn from their resilience."
BPHC invites both residents and representatives of community agencies to attend the meetings and to share perspectives on the types of supports their communities would need in the instance of a traumatic event and for longer-term recovery efforts. Leaders will be prompting attendees to share ideas on how the city can help support their neighborhoods, and on the information and education that communities would need in order to offer comfort to neighbors who have been impacted by violence.
"Violence never has just one victim, and any single event can impact an entire community," said BPHC Executive Director Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH. "Residents know their communities best, which is why we turn to them now for guidance in preparing and delivering support response and recovery services for traumatic events."
Through a network of community health centers in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan and Roxbury, BPHC supports eight trauma recovery teams. The trauma recovery teams are a resource for residents impacted by violent or other traumatic events, with services available on an ongoing basis after short term crisis response needs are met. Residents are encouraged to use this resource regardless of when their traumatic incident took place.
BPHC will use information gleaned in these community listening sessions to determine how to improve and continue providing these resources.
Meetings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
May 18: Dorchester, First Parish Dorchester, Meetinghouse Hall, 10 Parish St.; 5:30 - 8 p.m.
May 24: East Boston, East Boston Social Center, 68 Central Square; 5:30 - 8 p.m.
May 25: Roxbury, BCYF Tobin Community Center, 1483 Tremont St.; 5:30 - 8 p.m.
May 26: Mattapan, Mattapan Branch, Boston Public Library, 1350 Blue Hill Ave.; 5:30 - 8 p.m.
Dinner, childcare and translation services will be provided at all of the meetings. For more information, call 617-534-2382.
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