Trauma Informed Community Building: A Model for Strengthening Community in Trauma Affected Neighborhoods

Trauma is a set of normal human responses to stressful and threatening experiences (National Center for PTSD, 2007). Low-income and public housing residents may experience cumulative trauma resulting from daily stressors of violence and concentrated poverty, as well as historic and structural conditions of racism and disenfranchisement. We present a model of Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) that addresses the challenges trauma poses to traditional community building strategies. TICB strategies de-escalate chaos and stress, build social cohesion and foster community resiliency over time.