--Educators, Parents  and Community Members--

Special screening 

of the documentary, 

RESILIENCE:

The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope

followed by a discussion focused on the implications for 

families living in unstable and stressful living environments, 

and what we can do as a community to mitigate the risks.

About the film:

Researchers have recently discovered a dangerous biological syndrome caused by abuse and neglect during childhood. As the documentary Resilience reveals, toxic stress can trigger hormones that wreak havoc on the brains and bodies of children, putting them at a greater risk for disease, homelessness, prison time and early death. While the broader impacts of poverty worsen the risk, no segment of society is immune. Resilience, however, also chronicles the dawn of a movement that is determined to fight back. Trailblazers in pediatrics, education and social welfare are using cutting-edge science and field-tested therapies to protect children from the insidious effects of toxic stress-and the dark legacy of a childhood that no child would choose.

In this 1-hour documentary, Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician in San Francisco, intervenes early with her young patients who are greater risk for diabetes and asthma, as well as learning and behavioral problems now.  In New Haven, Connecticut, we meet Alice Forrester and Laura Lawrence of the Cliford Beers Clinic, which provides mental health services for children by including the entire family in their programs.   In an elementary school across town, kindergartners recite "Miss Kendra's List"- a bill of rights for children- and learn ways of expressing an coping with their stress.  In the great Northwest, communities across the state of Washington brought together teachers, police officers, social service workers and government officials to learn about the brain science of adversity.  

Since implementing "trauma informed" policies and practices, these communities have seen drastic reductions in rates of everything from dropping out of high school to teen pregnancy, and youth suicide and domestic violence.