Building a Partnership to Enhance Trauma-Informed Recovery Services for Women in Englewood Impacted by the Loss of a Child to Gun Violence or Incarceration

Academic PI: Tracy Fehrenbach, PhD

Community PI: Lisa D. Daniels, Founder and Executive Director of the Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices

Acts of violence in Chicago reached its highest point in two decades in 2016. In this same year, Englewood, a neighborhood on the South Side, had the second highest homicide rate in Chicago. Those who have lost someone to gun violence experience severe and, in some cases, debilitating trauma. This holds especially true for mothers who have lost a child. There are few services available for women in Englewood experiencing this type of loss. Furthermore, little research has been conducted to understand the complex needs of women from Communities of Color like Englewood who have lost a child to gun-violence.

Funded by an ARCC Partnership Development seed grant, Northwestern and the Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices, will partner and build a Community Stakeholder Alliance made up of community members, nonprofit professionals and academic partners to exchange knowledge, review existing evidence-based practices, and examine the lived experiences of women in the community. Additionally, the project team will review scientific literature and existing treatment interventions in an effort to inform the development of a replicable, trauma-informed, evidence-informed program that comprehensively addresses the needs of mothers who have lost a child to gun violence and/or incarceration.

Project Dates: September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2019

About Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices

The Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices (The Center) is a behavioral health services organization serving Chicago’s Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing and Woodlawn communities, founded on the belief that no one's legacy should ever be defined by their worst mistake. Our mission is to transform the individual behaviors we believe to be at the core of gun-violence by offering trauma-centered recovery services to women and children impacted by the loss of a loved one as a result of violent crime who was either a victim or an offender.

For more information, visit: https://www.dbefoundation.org/

About the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC)

The Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) at Northwestern University’s Center for Community Health annually awards seed grant funds that support Chicagoland community-engaged partnerships and research projects. ARCC believes that using the tools of science to achieve health equity can best be done when academic researchers and communities work together. The goals of these awards is to support the development and increase the number of community-academic partnerships that are prepared to collaborate to design and conduct community-engaged research projects.

For more information, visit: https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/cch/get-support/arcc/arcc-seed-grants.html