“At the Center for Community Resilience, we believe fundamental ingredients for community resilience and wellbeing — interconnected systems, authentic community engagement at the decision-making table and equity — are absent in the lives of millions of our children and families. With this understanding, we have an extraordinary opportunity to get it right” (Milken Institute of Public Health, George Washington University).

WHC’s Executive Director, Justin, and System of Care Program Manager, Heather, recently attended the Community Resilience National Conference in Washington D.C. 

Here are some of the key takeaways Justin and Heather gleaned from the conference:

• There needs to be a centering on community engagement.
• It is important to build relationships with elected officials at the national level and raise their awareness of what is happening locally.
• When considering community building, individual stories are important, and we should be aware that overarching narratives are not always accurate.
• WHC hopes to implement the Group Model Building in the future, which is a participatory approach that helps groups understand and address complex problems.

The Building Community Resilience model is closely tied with MAPP 2.0, which is the new framework our region will use to guide the next Community Health Improvement cycle.