Helping Kids “Weather” the Storm
A few weeks ago, a few of our staff hosted a book club for volunteers at the Landing. Sitting in a circle, reviewing and discussing the book What Happened to You: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey, a question was posed about what the purpose of the Landing actually was.
To our team, there isn’t a singular right answer.
Yes, we provide shelter and sustenance to children entering foster care.
Yes, we connect kids with needed resources such as doctor visits.
Yes, we help buy social workers time to make better placement decisions for where children might go next.
Yes, we provide a space that is welcoming, restful and even a little magical for our youngest guests.
All of these answers are important and valuable and play a role in what might be the overarching reason behind the Skookum Landing.
In the book, Oprah Winfrey shares from her own experience growing up a woman of color, and how when her church community didn’t have a word for the trauma they were experiencing and how they banded together in a sense of resiliency, she said that they “weathered together”.
Further along in the book, Dr. Perry explains that this is a key part of building resilience. He says,
“Your connectedness to other people is so key to buffering any current stressor - and to healing from past trauma. Being with people who are present, supportive, and nurturing.”
“Your connectedness to other people is so key to buffering any current stressor - and to healing from past trauma. Being with people who are present, supportive, and nurturing”
From showing up and being present, to listening and responding to individual needs, and by creating a space that is nurturing, we get the privilege of being a part of the community that helps each child “weather” their foster care experience.
Would you consider joining our volunteer team and helping kids “weather” their first few days in foster care?