On September 12-13, with support from the Farris Foundation, CCFH partnered with the NC ACCESS team at the NC Community Colleges for a transformative event in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This gathering was a dedicated space for education faculty, administrators, and leaders from community colleges across the state to explore secondary traumatic stress prevention and trauma-informed education by centering their own wellness.
Photo courtesy of CCC&TI
A huge thank you to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute for graciously providing the beautiful venue at their Watauga campus. Around 60 attendees came together, focused entirely on nurturing their own wellness in a supportive and inspiring environment.
The conference kicked off with an uplifting keynote address by Jessica Bartlett, MSW, PhD, President and Co-Founder of Thriving Together. Her message on harnessing the power of hope and joy set an inspiring tone for the event. Following her talk, sessions delved into wellness topics such as self-compassion, fostering healthy workplace environments, building authentic relationships, and aligning values with action in the workplace.
Outside movement group at ELEVATE
To embed wellness practice into the event, the agenda was interspersed with wellness activities. Attendees enjoyed mindfulness meditations and movement sessions set against the beautiful backdrop of Grandfather Mountain.
Hope Tyson from A Visual Approach served as a graphic recorder, live capturing key themes and insights in real time. Her vibrant visuals provided a creative representation of the entire conference, reinforcing the learnings for all participants.
As the conference drew to a close, we asked attendees to reflect on one change they would make for their own wellness moving forward. The responses were both thoughtful and inspiring:
“Let go of the guilt of trying to be everything to everyone”
“Begin evaluating my self-talk – how compassionate am I being with myself? “
“Increase efforts to build positive relationships”
“Set healthy boundaries “
Overall, participants left the conference with a heightened understanding of trauma-informed education and expressed heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to connect and heal together.
“The entire atmosphere of the conference was healing for me. No pressure, no to-do lists, freedom to share or not share, time outdoors, snacks, gifts, hotel rooms paid. And, you required nothing from us…just pouring into us and allowing us time to process. Such a sweet spirit in the training. Not too many people. No agendas forced on us…it was one of the best conventions I have ever attended.”
ELEVATE Planning Team
Photo courtesy of CCC&TI