BOONE — The Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative is approaching the last month of registration for its fourth annual trauma and resiliency conference on May 16.
After offering registration starting Feb. 3, approximately 166 people had signed up for the conference in the first 24 days of registration, according to WCCI Chair Denise Presnell. WCCI is now halfway through its registration period, but still feels like it will meet its 600-attendee goal. Registration will close on April 1.
The fourth annual conference — formerly known as the State of the Child/State of the Community — is taking place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, at Watauga High School. Stepping Stone of Boone is a partnering sponsor of the 2020 conference. Tickets are $25.
The event is offering child care this year with the help of Kid Cove and Watauga Parks and Recreation. Preregistration is required and must be completed by May 7. For more information about child care, contact Christelle Marsh at [email protected].
The theme for this conference is “community is the solution.” WCCI has focused its efforts during recent years to raise awareness of childhood trauma and the negative impacts it has on communities. The group has stated that it hopes that Watauga will become a trauma-informed community because studies have shown that those who have experienced trauma are more susceptible to substance abuse, delinquency, domestic violence, obesity, smoking, poor health, criminal offenses, child welfare issues and mental health problems.
Following a similar setup as past conferences, attendees are able to sign up for classes, receive lunch and hear from two keynote speakers. Attendees will hear from Brandon Wrencher, the former pastor of Blackburn’s Chapel in Todd who now serves in Greensboro, during the morning portion of the event. Wrencher is a community activist, pastor and blogger who is knowledgable about race relations and community building, Presnell said.
Allison Sampson Jackson will present at the conference in the afternoon, and will share her thoughts as a motivational speaker and the CEO of Integration Solutions. Presnell said Jackson is active in trauma-informed practices, and that she will bring a different perspective to the conference.
Lunch will be offered by Reid’s Catering. While some conference goers will be at lunch, the others will have a chance to network during an information fair with booths set up by local agencies and organizations such as AppHealthCare, Mediation and Restorative Justice, OASIS and Mountain Alliance. Presnell said agencies can still sign up to be part of the information fair.
This year community members can sign up for three classes that will range from topics such as trauma 101 for educators, surviving PTSD as a first responder or what it’s like to become a foster/adoptive parent.
Attendees can be included in different “tracks” that will help guide them in choosing which classes would be best for them. Each class will follow the conference theme of community being the solution.
Even though community members have worked to spread awareness of trauma and resiliency since the the first State of the Child Forum in 2017, Presnell said there is still plenty of work to do.
“We’re not going to just rest and be comfortable because we have our 600 (people),” Presnell said. “We will continue to reach out to people who haven’t been here before plus the same people. Even if you come every year, each year will be a different but still very powerful experience.”
For those who have attended the conference before and feel as if they are trauma and resiliency informed, Presnell said staying knowledgeable is a lifelong process.
“There’s no end point,” Presnell said. “They put out new research and new practices; we learn new things every year.”
Presnell said WCCI understands that the majority of those at the conference are typically from Watauga, but the group is still actively reaching out to other communities from around the state and outside of North Carolina to spread awareness. She also encouraged those attending the conference to bring someone they trust to the event. She said it may be helpful to be able to process information obtained at the conference with someone either while there or later on.
To register for the WCCI Conference and to view a class list, visit www.wataugacci.org.
While continuing to move forward with trauma-informed practices, Presnell said WCCI also wants to create a comfortable environment for groups of people who are not currently “at the table.”
In November, Presnell said the group had noticed that more women than men not only attended the conference but were also involved with the group in general. Since then, WCCI group leaders conducted their standard trauma and resiliency presentation to a focus group with eight men. Presnell said organizers talked with the men about the topic, and what barriers may be present to getting men involved in the movement. She added that what WCCI was told by the focus group was powerful.
“Our culture puts pressure on men to be stoic, more reserved and that showing signs of emotions may be viewed as weak,” Presnell said. “They said, ‘We don’t even know how it’s OK to display our own emotions, much less help out with that with other people.’”
WCCI realized that it wasn’t going to be as simple as to just invite men to participate, Presnell said. She added that there was work that needed to be done on a societal and cultural level to let others know that it’s OK to have emotions and need help.
“We’re willing to do that work and currently actively working on those things,” Presnell said.
WCCI has given its standard presentation to around 500 people, Presnell said. The group consistently has around 80 members who attend monthly meetings, and now has about 10 people who go out in the community to conduct the presentations to organizations and businesses.
“I’ve never seen an initiative go on for this long without any kind of funding or paid director,” Presnell said. “To watch us continue to grow even in those monthly meetings is pretty exciting.”
WCCI conducted a Wake up Watauga event with the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce in November, and will be presenting at a chamber Lunch and Learn event on March 11.
