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What does a child who can't sleep at night because his father beats up his mom almost daily have in common with a twenty-something woman who calls our suicide crisis line after she has closed the windows and turned on the gas? And what does a man who was sexually assaulted as he walked alone in Channelside share with the single mom who lost everything when her home was flooded by Tropical Storm Debby? What we found was astonishing and headed us down the path which you read about in this newsletter.

For many of the people we serve, if not most, the common denominator was trauma.  Put simply, trauma is any major life experience that overwhelms a person's ability to cope and threatens his or her sense of safety and wellbeing, resulting in a profound feeling of hopelessness, helplessness and betrayal. Sometimes the trauma is caused by a recent event, such as sexual assault or abuse.  Many times, especially with people who are suicidal or a victim of domestic violence, the trauma is related to a past experience.  With children, the trauma is usually a result of a series of adversities, such as being abandoned or abused or having a parent who is mentally ill or a substance abuser.  Or the trauma may be related to a natural disaster like the recent flooding caused by Debby.

Whatever the source, the effects of trauma are often the same:  People become preoccupied with managing their fears and anxieties, often in very unproductive and unhealthy ways, and are less able to solve everyday problems or cope with other life challenges.    This is why the services offered by the Crisis Center are so vital. It's also the reason we have made trauma informed care the center piece of our work going forward.  Without help and support from trained staff and volunteers, trauma and its aftermath almost never gets better.  But with the right kinds of counseling and support, people's natural ability to rebound from life's tragedies and disasters, to right themselves and become happy, healthy and contributing human beings, can be rekindled. 

Today, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is becoming a center of excellence for the care and treatment of trauma.  You may not notice a change in what we do, but you can be sure that how we deliver services is very different today than one year ago.  That's because today, the promise of help, hope and healing is made real by highly effective, trauma informed programs and services that really work.  Please read the rest of this newsletter and you'll see what I'm talking about. 

 - David Braughton, President & CEO