The annual Bridges to Resilience conference, a celebration of community designed to strengthen collaboration throughout the Tri-counties (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura), will be held Monday, Nov. 4 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
Since 2016, the conference has focused on increasing awareness about the widespread impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the hopeful strategies that build resilience within families, communities, and systems of care.
The Bridges to Resilience Conference returns to an in-person format with early registration recommended.
The conference will examine inclusion and belonging; pathways to healing; and strategies for disrupting adversity and preventing intergenerational trauma.
Sessions offered throughout the day will share tools that can be applied directly to work with children and families in diverse communities.
The keynote address will be given by Ingrid Cockhren, historian, author and PACEs Science Visionary. There will be 14 breakout sessions led by physicians, field experts and facilitators.
Simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and Mixteco will be available for select sessions.
Individual registration is $225; group registration is $175 per person for groups of 10 or more. Continuing education credits are available.
Learn more and register at bridgestoresilience.com.
The term Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) comes from the landmark 1998 ACEs Study, conducted among some 17,000 adult patients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente.
When capitalized, the term ACEs specifically refers to 10 categories of adversities in three domains – abuse, neglect, and household challenges. ACEs are strongly associated with some of the most common, serious, and costly health conditions facing our society today, including nine of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S.
“We know that toxic stress can dramatically impact life outcomes,” said Barbara Finch of the KIDS Network of Santa Barbara County. “And we know that it takes a whole community to create pathways to healing.
“Bridges to Resilience shows us how to build a collaborative, trauma-informed network of care that can connect families to buffering supports and improve life outcomes for generations to come.”
Conference co-chairs are: Finch, Terri Allison, resilient Santa Barbara County; Lisa Fraser, Center for Family Strengthening of San Luis Obispo County; Kathleen Van Antwerp, Ventura County Partnership for Safe Families; Sharon Elmensdorp, First 5 Ventura County; Fernanda Lucas, Promotores Collaborative San Luis Obispo County; and Natalie Rhodes, Natalie Rhodes Consulting.