Recently, my wife and I viewed the movie Seabiscuit for the umpteenth time—as it is a favorite. Each time I’ve watched the movie, I notice something I haven’t noticed before. This time, I focused on the message that was being repeated over and over again. To paraphrase that message: we all go through tough times, but we need to keep going in order to succeed and having a second chance is necessary. But is that true? Or does that have to be true? The answer to that question in the context of...

I cross-posted this blog by Holly White-Wolfe (From Sonoma County ACEs) here. I think we in Michigan have to think bigger. We have to get more done. So....... Several ACEs Connection members should be feeling proud about now. Karen Clemmer, Carla Denner, Jessica Hackwell, Nick Dalton, and several others joined the 4CA Campaign to educate legislators about ACEs and trauma. Our partners with First 5, Maternal Child Adolescent Health, and the County Board of Supervisors also wrote letters to...

The Michigan ACE Initiative is training individuals who work in fields that address trauma in children. Our Master Trainers bring excitement, energy and drive to this initiative and help make our efforts worthwhile—they will be the ones to make the difference and our job is to assist their efforts over the coming months and years. So far, we’ve trained 50 individuals– our first cohort trained in Gaylord last spring and our second cohort trained in Gull Lake in September. Talking about mental...