It's Time to Talk: See Something - Say Something - Get Involved

Have you ever watched John Quinones and ABC’s What Would You Do? 

If you haven’t,  it is a show where people are put in situations they think are real (but they are staged) and the show is watching to see “what they would do” when they think they see a child being abused, a bike being stolen, and pregnant woman drinking alcohol, etc.  You often see the very best in people when they step forward and “say something” and get involved in situations involving complete strangers because they believe it is not right to “just stand by.”
 
On October 2, Central Illinois will "take a moment to talk" about domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse. The community will talk together about the fact that "trauma lasts a lifetime" and that there are impacts of trauma across the lifespan – including witnessing abuse as a child.
 
The community will emphasize the importance of bystander involvement and highlight the effects of trauma over a lifetime –including the impacts mentally, physically, socially of unaddressed trauma and the costs to community. The community will also include outreach to those who have not addressed trauma in the past to reach out for help.

 
We believe the community can make a difference.

We were thinking about John Quinones and “What Would You Do” and those involved came up with the idea:

 “It’s Time to Talk: See Something – Say Something – Get Involved”

 By the way, we tweeted our idea to Mr. Quinones and he gave us a “thumbs up” :-)

Events during the day include a conference on Trauma- informed care.  Trauma does not always evidence itself as we might imagine.  This conference will examine the unique needs of trauma survivors with a focus on education and training for professionals who provide care to this special population.  Conference participants will gain a greater understanding of the many facets of trauma through:

• a greater awareness of the causes of trauma
• recognizing the impact on the brain
• examining the physical, emotional and psychological impact
• exploration of the role of trauma in addiction

 (If you live in the Central Illinois area, and are interested, conference information is available at http://traumainformed-eorg.eventbrite.com. )

We’ll also be wearing purple as part of an initiative through a local community (the Town of Normal) and its police department. 

 We’ll have a lunch event for downtown business people/parents sponsored by our local Soroptimists:

We’ll even have “Care Crows” being decorated at a local pumpkin farm so families and children can learn about healthy relationships.

 

 

 

We also have resolutions from our local units of government and universities proclaiming October 2 as “It’s Time to Talk Day” and October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Here’s an example:

 

 

It is never easy to open doors to talk about these issues – but we think that the idea of “What Would You Do?” is a pretty good place to start. 

We hope wherever you are on October 2, you will join us in taking a moment to talk – and getting involved. 

 

To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/CorporateAlliancetoEndPartnerViolence/events#!/CorporateAlliancetoEndPartnerViolence/events