SRQ Strong: Steps to Building a Trauma-Informed Community

The Giving Coast

Pictured: A joyful hug during a community conversation. Photo courtesy of SRQ Strong.

To make Sarasota a better place, SRQ Strong believes we must first create a place where the community takes care of itself, a place where people have the means to create change and support one another. Creating a strong and compassionate community requires awareness of the different faces of trauma and knowing the resources needed to address these issues. SRQ Strong is a nonprofit organization comprised of a growing group of Sarasota County neighbors committed to learning about trauma and responding to its effects. Through its four change components of healing, education, action, and leadership, SRQ Strong brings trauma awareness to our community. A lifelong peacemaker, Andy Blanch recognized the need for community projects for healing in Sarasota and founded SRQ Strong. She believes we must shift the conversation to one that is compassionate at its core; this can be accomplished through understanding trauma. Blanch says, “Once you understand trauma in the trauma world, one of our slogans is: You don’t ask what’s wrong with him, you ask what happened to him.”

SRQ Strong’s mission is to provide the community with the education and resources necessary to create this shift toward compassion for trauma. “For example, we work in churches, with the Safe Children’s Coalition and their staff, with youth in foster care, etc., because all of these people have experienced trauma,” Blanch says. In addition to educating the community about trauma, trauma also needs to be addressed and healed, which is why providing support to heal those traumas continues to be the core component of the caring community that SRQ Strong envisions for our future. “Knowing how to respond effectively and get information to people is absolutely essential in a public health model, and that’s what we’re very much about,” Blanch says.

SRQ Strong hosts community conversations that create a space where members of the community can come together to learn, share their own stories, and ultimately just participate. Blanch is keen to stress that these are really conversations—not training sessions.

In closing, Blanch and SRQ Strong invite you to learn more about where trauma is occurring in our community and the different ways you can help. “The first thing to do is recognize when you see someone or yourself, your friends or your family who could use support. Don’t hesitate to reach out.” For support, contact [email protected].

Pictured: A joyful hug during a community conversation. Photo courtesy of SRQ Strong.

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