Shared Prosperity

According to a recent study published by the Journal of Community Health, 70% of children in urban areas reported experiencing crimes: repeated exposure to violence in a community can disrupt residents’ lives, and pose major challenges to community well-being.

This summer, Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) is funding and developing the Network of Neighbors Responding to Violence (NNRV), a citywide neighborhood-driven network of Philadelphians who are called on to provide support to communities after traumatic incidents. The Network of Neighbors grew out of the work of the Victim & Community Support Committee (VCSC), which is a coalition of public, nonprofit, and academic groups facilitated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disability Services (DBHIDS). The committee had a mission to have a coordinated, trauma-informed, and evidence informed responses to help those impacted by violent incidents in their neighborhood.

The NNRV plans to engage residents, community leaders, and other partners across the city, and hopes to have strong involvement from residents and partners of the Promise Zone that focus on youth and/or violence prevention.

The Network of Neighbors Responding to Violence is envisioned as community-based network of Philadelphians who are called on to provide support to communities after violent traumatic incidents. In the launch training that will begin in Spring/Summer 2016, prospective Network members will be trained in a trauma recovery model that will emphasize social connections and healthy coping skills. This supportive will be meant to decrease stress experienced after violence, and increase social cohesion.

People are encouraged to learn more about the Network of Neighbors Responding to Violence, and consider joining (space will be limited in this launch, and DBHIDS hopes that 25 members will be residents or partners of Promise Zone neighborhoods). Members will include community residents that engage with youth that are exposed to violence, have a commitment to bringing support and prevention to communities that are impacted by violence and trauma, or work with community based organizations that share services and resources that support public safety.

Network responders will be trained in Post-Traumatic Stress Management, a trauma recovery model which emphasizes social connections and healthy coping skills. The purpose of the Network is to bring together community members impacted by violence by learning ways to reduce posttraumatic stress, provide education about common reactions to stress and how to cope, and offer referrals to local services.

DBHIDS will host a required training from June 13th to June 15th for anyone interested in becoming a Network responder. The training can have up to 100 people with the goal to have a specific number of people from a targeted area, for example, it would be ideal to have 20 – 25 people trained that live within the Promise Zone. The training will teach trainees Psychological First Aid and Post-Traumatic Stress Management, while building skills to support communities that have recently been impacted by trauma.

For more information, click here or contact Ysaye Zamore at yzamore@pmhcc.org or 215-983-5779.