For the tenth year in a row, over 200 local, state and federal officials and nonprofit and community leaders packed the Lew Boyd Room of The Kool Family Community Center for the annual Calhoun County Legislative Breakfast on Friday, June 17.

The breakfast was sponsored by the Battle Creek Community Foundation, the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, The Coordinating Council and the Regional Health Alliance.

Given the state of our world today, the breakfast sponsors chose to focus this annual event on taking the first steps to developing an informed public health response to trauma.  Experts in the field of trauma support from the Institute for Health and Recovery and from Starr Commonwealth shared with the group assembled the principles of a trauma-informed response, the impact of trauma and the public health approach to trauma.  The speakers then went on to connect the trauma work locally and provide examples for education. 

U.S. Senator Gary Peters addressed the audience, acknowledging the challenges in making sure the community feels safe and pledging to provide support and assistance on the federal level. 

State Representative John Bizon, along with staff representing other state and federal elected officials, made up a panel to discuss the various issues surrounding trauma and policy.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for next year’s Legislative Breakfast, please contact the Battle Creek Community Foundation at 269-962-2181.

Additional trauma support information can be found at: www.bccfoundation.org, www.tcccalhoun.org, www.changethestory.org, www.summitpointe.org. 

Trauma Informed Care Toolkit
Institute for Health & Recovery – Developing a Trauma Informed Response to Tragedy in the Community
Starr Commonwealth  – Connecting Trauma Locally
Institute for Health & Recovery – Developing Trauma Informed Organizations