So many of the children that we serve at The Children’s Home are suffering the difficult effects of the trauma they have experienced. Adding to that trauma is the trauma of being removed from their home, taken to a strange place with strange people and strange rules. You can imagine this scenario doesn’t lend itself to opening up about your trauma. And sometimes we see that behavior challenges get even worse, straining staff and other residents.
But what if you were in this situation and came to a place that understood trauma? A place that knew your behavior was often the result of your life experiences? And what if the staff was willing to ask, “What’s happened to you?” rather than asking, “What’s wrong with you?” It would still be scary, but hopefully you would quickly learn that you are safe and cared for, and that the adults truly want to know and help you.
Offering this type of environment for our children goes a long way towards creating the environment of hope and healing we are committed to offering. And the Sanctuary Model of Care® is helping us create that environment.
The Sanctuary Model is a treatment and organizational framework for creating a trauma-informed community. Recently, staff training in Sanctuary has begun on The Children’s Home campus. About 1/3 of the staff completed a rigorous week of training to learn about trauma, how it affects us and everything we do, and how we can help our children deal with their own trauma. The week is long and calls us all to dig deep as we learn, but it is also fun. The training empowers us to open up with one another, to deal with our own trauma, and to begin to create a healing environment in our community.
Additional training is slated for the spring, after which 2/3 of the staff will have completed training. Regular training will be offered throughout the year for staff and students alike.
For more information about Sanctuary at The Children’s Home, visit the Sanctuary Care page on our website HERE, or contact Jenny Taylor at 336-721-7600 or email jtaylor@tchome.org
