Cultivating Trusted Community Figures
Relationship-building and a consistent presence by trusted community figures are crucial to achieving community safety. It is not enough for prevention and support services to exist–they must also be accessible. People may be unaware of the available help, believe that services are not helpful, or be too overwhelmed to navigate services. Having trusted individuals connect people with resources at relevant times can increase access to support. Thus, cultivating strong relationships between resource providers and community members before incidents occur enables effective interventions in moments of crisis.
The programs in this section use consistent, welcoming, and helpful interactions to build trust between community members and program staff. Trust enables people to seek out or accept help from us. We are then better able to connect people with resources that can address the conditions that lead to harm or heal from harm that has occurred. By cultivating trusted community figures that are resource connectors, we prevent people from suffering alone. These trusted figures are also able to navigate tensions as they arise to de-escalate conflict and restore relationships.
Programs in this category
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