Healing After Tragedy

AFTER AN ACT OF TERROR, a massshooting or the loss of a belovedmilitary service member, there isusually an immediate response byfriends, family and the communityto help those impacted. That helpcan come in the form of donations,offers to provide a variety of services,household assistance suchas cooking of meals, emotionalsupport through vigils or remembranceevents or any number of otherthings. While this type of support ismuch needed and has great value,often the long-term needs of thosewho experienced the traumatic lossare forgotten. This is where the workof Tuesday’s Children begins.

Tuesday’s Children is the leadingnonprofit organization providinglong-term support to communities andpeople around the world impacted by terrorismand traumatic loss. The organization wasoriginally founded to help those impacted bythe events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001,and has since expanded to provide services toindividuals, families and communities, includingParkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Newtownand many others, torn apart by tragedies.The organization also provides support andprograms for families of the fallen men andwomen who served post-9/11. Tuesday’s Childrenhas served more than 15,000 individualsin 48 states and 28 countries around the world.

Tuesday’s Children’s proven Long-TermHealing Model is one of the ways in whichthe organization helps communities withthe long-term needs of those who haveexperienced traumatic loss. The Model isa compilation of best practices and lessonslearned that serve as: a training curriculumfor local and global policymakers, serviceproviders, community leaders, individualsand volunteers; and a resource guide andinteractive online toolkit for community-based engagement and services totraumatized and bereaved communities.

This resource is being made available through a new online platform (Tuesdays ChildrenHeals.org) featuring free training modules, historical data and resources.

With over 73,000 global terrorist incidents causing more than 170,000 deaths since 2000, and mass shootings occurring nine out of every 10 days in the U.S., the need for long-term support in the wake of these events has never been more apparent.

The Long-Term Healing Model highlights Tuesday’s Children’s adaptive approach to build a nurturing community for those impacted by traumatic losses by connecting them with others who can understand their experiences and offering evidence-based programs that can assist. The organization sees it as a moral obligation to share what has been learned from assisting other communities in the years after some of the largest traumatic events of recent history. “Incidents of terrorism and mass violence have a lifelong impact, particularly on families and children, and we have seen firsthand the need for long-term support services for those impacted by traumatic loss,” said Terry Sears, executive director of Tuesday’s Children. “We encourage policymakers, funders and the public to get behind that need.”

Tuesday’s Children has an innovative platform of programs that have been developed in partnership with recognized leaders in the fields of child development, family advocacy, crisis counseling and mentoring. These programs address the needs of families at all stages of recovery from trauma and loss. The organization’s hope is that the Long-Term Healing Model will serve as a valuable resource to providers and communities and also show policymakers there is a great need for long-term support services after mass-scale tragedies.

Through the Long-Term Healing Model, Tuesday’s Children is helping local providers and community leaders in communities such as Parkland, Florida; Orlando, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada, implement best practices for outreach, engagement, program development, capacity building and sustainability that is vital for providing long-term services and meeting changing needs in the wake of devastating traumatic events. Tuesday’s Children works with key local service providers to conduct organizational and community assessments to determine immediate and longer-term needs of the populations impacted. This helps local frontline organizations identify service populations in need of care, assess their needs, formulate programming for addressing those needs and deliver time-tested programs proven to garner results for communities in the aftermath of traumatic loss.

Tuesday’s Children’s Long-Term Healing Model and work with global victims of terrorism and mass violence has been recognized by leading academic, government and global institutions including the United Nations, the U.S. Institute of Peace, Women Without Borders and the Department of Homeland Security. In 2017, Tuesday’s Children was among 30 organizations selected to receive a Countering Violent Extremism Grant from the Department of Homeland Security, and one of only a handful in the priority area of “developing resilience.”

victims of terrorism. Tuesday’s Children has been part of a task force of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Center to establish the Good Practices Handbook to Empower and Strengthen Victims Associations to Assist, Protect and Support Victims of Terrorism. Tuesday’s Children is the only U.S. organization currently listed in the United Nations’ Victims of Terrorism Support Portal.

Among the many programs provided by Tuesday’s Children are trauma and grief support, youth mentoring, mental health programs, skills- building workshops, career resources, parenting advisement, youth leadership development, community and family engagement events, health and wellness counseling, adult and family programs and volunteerism opportunities. These programs, by design, strengthen resilience, foster post-traumatic growth and build common bonds.

During the past 17 years, Tuesday’s Children has helped individuals and communities across the country and around the globe handle the long-term effects of terrorism and traumatic loss. Tuesday’s Children’s has now deployed its full range of resiliencebuilding, long-term healing programs through a national Military Initiative to meet the needs of more than 20,000 military families who suffered a loss post-9/11. The organization’s programs provide vital support and assistance to children, adults and families struggling with the long-term impact of losing a loved one in a tragedy. ¨

More information about Tuesday’s Children and how to help can be found at TuesdaysChildren.org and on social media Twitter: @TuesdaysChldrn Instagram: @TuesdaysChldrn Facebook: /TuesdaysChildren LinkedIn: Tuesday’s Children

Written by By Sallie Lynch, MA Senior Program & Development Consultant, Tuesday’s Children