BRR Quarter 1 Newsletter

What is Building a Region of Resilience of NWGA?

Across Northwest Georgia, communities are coming together with one shared goal: to build a future where every child and family can thrive. Building a Region of Resilience is a powerful, grant-funded initiative supported by Resilient Georgia and led by local NWGA Family Connection Collaboratives. Together, we’re strengthening our region from the inside out — creating systems that are trauma-informed, poverty-aware, and grounded in equity and connection.

At the heart of our work are individuals and families navigating the challenges of poverty and complex trauma. We believe that real resilience starts with understanding — and grows through collective action.

🌱 Our Theory of Change

We build resilience by implementing trauma- and poverty-informed Capacity Building, Community Awareness, and Systems Change. This approach ensures that our efforts don’t just create short-term impact — they transform the way our communities think, respond, and support one another for lasting change. Through workshops and evidence-based trainings, we’re developing a shared language that helps schools, service providers, and community leaders collaborate more effectively. This is more than an initiative — it’s a movement. One that’s turning awareness into action, and connection into change. Together, we’re shaping a region that’s not only stronger — but truly resilient, for today and for generations to come!

"From Awareness to Action in Trauma-Informed Care" Regional Summit

On Friday, October 24th sixty-eight regional partners assembled together for a Regional Summit, titled “From Awareness to Action in Trauma-Informed Care” at Dalton State College. The overall intent of this event was to nudge people, regardless of their starting point, down the road in their journey with deeper understanding of what it means to be trauma-informed that would lead to application and action.

This event was coordinated by Georgia Family Connection Coordinators from the Northwest Region as a part of their Building a Region of Resilience Coalition of NWGA funded by Resilient Georgia. Building a Region of Resilience strategically emphasizes building community awareness around trauma and poverty, building capacity of professionals and caregivers, and promoting systemic change within communities.

As a result of the summit, several counties have expressed interest in additional training for their staff or in sharing this information with other community partners. A participant from Whitfield County shared, “The content was directly applicable to my work, and I intend to enhance my skills as a coordinator with an emphasis on being Trauma-Informed.” If the goal was to create an impact, it appears we have achieved that! As a region, we look forward to hearing about the ripple effects of this event.

For more information about this event, read the Full Article Here.

Regional Impact: Teen Maze 2025 — Empowering Youth Across NWGA

This fall, the Teen Maze experience reached new heights across Northwest Georgia—empowering over 3,800 high school students to see firsthand how their choices today can shape their futures tomorrow. Over the course of three powerful events involving 6 counties in NWGA: Walker, Catoosa, Dade, Whitfield, Murray, and Floyd Counties, students stepped into real-world simulations designed to inspire reflection, responsibility, and resilience.

🚗 September 8–11 | The Ringgold Colonnade

Nearly 940 tenth graders from 7 high schools across Walker, Catoosa, and Dade Counties participated in four impactful days of learning centered around one message: Your Choices Matter. With the help of nearly 100 volunteers each day, students experienced powerful scenes of distracted and impaired driving, emergency simulations, and discussions on mental health, social media safety, and healthy relationships.

🎯 September 22–26 | Murray & Whitfield County Teen Maze

More than 1,700 students journeyed through immersive scenarios led by local first responders, educators, and community organizations. From crash scenes to courtroom experiences, teens faced the consequences—and rewards—of everyday choices. Guest speaker Chris Sandy’s emotional story of accountability and hope set the tone for a week that challenged students to think critically and live intentionally.

❤️ October 1–2 | Floyd County Teen Maze

At Georgia Highlands College, over 1,200 ninth graders from Rome City, Floyd County, and Darlington Schools explored hands-on learning stations alongside 40 partner organizations and 180 volunteers daily. Each station connected students with local resources, equipping them with tools to make safe, healthy, and informed decisions for their future.

🙌 United for Our Youth

Across all three events, more than 400 volunteers and dozens of community partners joined forces to create unforgettable experiences that truly change lives. Together, our region is building stronger, safer, and more informed communities—one choice at a time.

Catoosa, Dade, & Walker Counties

Murray & Whitfield Counties

Floyd County

FY25 Annual Impact

With the help of Community Evaluation Solutions, BRR collects impact data to share our collective story! To see the regional impact of Fiscal Year 25, click HERE or view some of our highlights!

Stay Connected. Stay Inspired.

Are you passionate about building trauma-informed communities and addressing the root causes of poverty? We’ve got an exciting new way to stay connected with others who share your mission!

The Community Awareness Committee has launched a new public Facebook Page — a space for partners to share updates, resources, and success stories, and to stay informed about what’s happening across our regional coalition. It’s a great place to learn from one another and celebrate the incredible work happening in our communities.

📱 Haven’t joined yet? Scan the QR code below and be part of the conversation!

We’re also thrilled to announce the launch of our new quarterly partner newsletter! Each issue will highlight community or regional impact, innovative strategies, and opportunities to grow together — and we want your voice to be part of it.

✨ Do you have a capacity-building project to spotlight?
🏛️ Are you seeing systemic change take root in your community?
💬 Are you leading conversations around trauma, poverty, or mental health?

If so, we’d love to feature your work! Reach out to us to be a guest contributor in an upcoming edition. Together, we can lift up stories that inspire, educate, and drive change.

Why Do We Need Systems Change?

The 2023 Georgia Civic Health Index (https://gafcp.org/georgia-civic-health-index/) included an enlightening section, on pages 23 - 26, highlighting national data about the confidence Americans have in our institutions. Put another way, this data reveals the trust Americans have in the systems with which our youth and families interact. For instance, only 17% of Americans reported trust in the judicial system, 43% reflected trust in law enforcement (an all time low for that sector), 38% expressed confidence in our health care system (another all time low), and only 26% had confidence in our public school systems. In fact, out of 16 systems on which Gallup conducted the survey, Americans expressed a high level of confidence in only one, small, local business.

This data helps quantify an often uttered sentiment that “our systems are broken.”

In October, representatives, from multiple sectors or systems, from our 15 Northwest GA counties, convened to learn more about how to take trauma-informed principles and practices from a state of awareness to applied action. In the post event survey 77% of responders reported growth in their understanding of how community systems can create challenges for children, youth and families.

All of these insights are indicative of the necessary first steps in a process often referred to as “systems change.” In order to engage in the deep, complex work of systems change, those of us working in roles within the systems, need to first recognize that our systems can often create challenges for the very youth and families we aim to serve, that the outcomes we often seek and measure have stagnated or declined (ex. reading proficiency scores, health outcomes, etc.), and perhaps most importantly, our systems are losing the trust of the populace. Realizing this, we recognize the need to start facilitating tangible changes in our systems, rather than continuing to maintain the status quo.

Sparking and facilitating change in our systems is a commitment of Building a Region of Resilience and the Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives in our Northwest Georgia region. It is more than a vision, a talking point, a goal. It is one of society’s most pressing needs.

Training Opportunities

One of our key strategic priorities is to strengthen the capacity of both professionals and caregivers while fostering a shared language around trauma-informed and poverty-aware care. Explore the various training opportunities offered by our partners to enhance your own understanding or to equip your staff with valuable knowledge.

Resilient Georgia's Training Road Map

TBRI Caregiver Training at Restoration Rome

Wellroot HOPE Trainings

Highland Rivers Behavioral Health

Georgia Center for Child Advocacy

Continual Growth Toolkit

Are you interested in learning more on your own? Check out our these recommendations for personal learning. Do you have a recommendation to share for our next newsletter? Let us know!

Book Recommendation

Podcast Recommendation

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Every Monday, Resilient Georgia distributes a *Monday Memo* that features highlights, professional development opportunities, and valuable tools or resources. Click on the image to access the sign-up link for this weekly newsletter or to stay informed about developments in Georgia related to Trauma-Informed Work.