Townhall II is ready to take the next step in holistic treatment. Townhall II, a non-profit Portage County health, wellness and recovery center announced its plans to adopt a sanctuary blueprint model to treat trauma patients by hosting a picnic in the Hometown Bank Plaza on Oct. 5 in Downtown Kent. The sanctuary model teaches people how to cope more effectively with adversity and stress to prevent trauma symptoms. It focuses not only on the people who seek treatment but also on the people and systems who provide that treatment.
“It means we are going to be trauma-informed and acknowledging that everyone goes through trauma,” Chief Executive Officer Tamera Hunter told The Weekly Villager. “Trauma happens in systems so it can happen within our staff, interdepartmentally and how we work together and the importance of us being able to identify those problematic systems that keep us sick so if our staff is healthy and feeling good then we are able to provide good quality care to our clients and that is the hope.”
According to Hunter, she first learned of the sanctuary blueprint when she served on the board of Jewish Family Service in Cleveland.
She said that she was intrigued by the model and knew she wanted to institute it as soon as she became CEO at Town Hall II.
“It could be a car accident or could be a death, it could be a chronic issue such as abuse of some sort, so I think the whole gambit is applicable across the board which is why I love this model so much,” she said.
Hunter explained that Townhall II began completing and submitting applications to be approved to take part in a three-year certification process during the pandemic.
“We could not actually start the implementation until things simmered down and we could actually meet as a group,” she said. “Because a lot of the trainings include group training, we see the number of people that need help and the fact it is out there and it is always how can we help people more effectively.”
Townhall II is currently in the second phase of its three-year certification process.
Hunter said the first step focused on educating the staff with a sanctuary institute coming in to train all Townhall II employees so they are well-versed in dealing with trauma cases.
The second step involved community outreach, with the public ceremony on the plaza of Hometown Bank to let the community of Portage County know that Townhall II would be improving upon its care of people suffering from trauma-induced problems.
Marketing director Kevin Brosien entertained the crowd, playing his guitar with the help of a D.J.
Hunter then introduced the implementation of the sanctuary-based model and a client of Townhall II told the audience with how Townhall II helped her in her battle to treat her personal trauma.
The final step of the certification process will be implementation of the sanctuary model and applying it holistically.
Karen Kravetz, an associate director of Portage County’s Mental Health & Recovery Board, said Townhall II is the first of its agencies to begin using a sanctuary model to treat trauma but is hopeful that Townhall II is not the last to travel down this path.
“We are definitely very interested in seeing how this works and learning more about it,” she said. “This is new for Portage County. I think it will be very important. I like seeing that is a philosophy which encompasses everything from their environment to every single employee and all of their clients.”
Although Townhall II has yet to complete the three-year certification process, Hunter said employees have been encouraged to apply the skills they have learned when dealing with trauma cases and soon Town Hall II will be able to use shared language.
“It really is about applying the skills and the knowledge,” she said. “They want us to keep applying it and the more we work with it the more effective it is.
