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Partners Healthcare and Roxbury Presbyterian Church Collaborate to Ease Community Violence and Trauma

A Special Advertorial Section

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Partners Healthcare and Roxbury Presbyterian Church Collaborate to Ease Community Violence and Trauma
Rev. Liz Walker and Debra Johnson gather at the Roxbury Presbyterian Church for a meeting of “Our Voices, Our Stories.”

Debra Johnson reads a poem aloud at the January “Our Voices, Our Stories” meeting at Roxbury Presbyterian Church.

Trauma is pervasive and impacts not only individuals, but also whole communities. Addressing trauma is essential to one’s health and to prevent additional trauma being inflicted and endured. Partners HealthCare is aware of the impact of trauma and is committed to healing efforts aimed at improving the health of individuals and communities. That’s why Partners is working with Reverend Liz Walker and the Roxbury Presbyterian Church’s trauma program, Our Voices, Our Stories.

Our Voices, Our Stories calls the community together as part of an effort to heal from traumatic experiences. It provides a safe place for those healing from traumatic experiences to share their stories. Through story-telling, participants build connections in the community and become active in each others’ healing process. The healing process is essential in the effort to find joy, even when facing pain.

Debra Johnson, a member of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church and leader in Our Voices, Our Stories, lost her son four and a half years ago. Not far from his home in Roxbury, Cory Johnson was murdered—he was just twenty seven years old. Debra says that her family, faith and church community have been essential in her healing process—and that Our Voices, Our Stories has made a big difference. “The pain of losing Cory never really goes away,” says Debra. “But Our Voices, Our Stories helps with some of the pain. It helps to hear other people’s stories and realize that you are not the only one going through this kind of thing.”

”Pay it forward“

The impact of Our Voices, Our Stories on Debra’s healing process has prompted her to “pay it forward” by participating in a training program offered to participants. For six weeks, Debra and others were trained to help other victims of trauma with their grief. “There will always be a rip or a tear that never heals from losing Cory, but I feel that I’m now in a place where I can help others understand that even with that pain, things do get better,” says Debra. Debra and others are paired with participants to deeply listen to their stories. They provide peer to peer support, and are also supported by a mental health counselor who can refer people to counseling and other supports.

“So many people in the Roxbury community have had some exposure to or experience of trauma that this program seemed both natural and necessary,” says Rev. Liz Walker. “People like Debra are a living testament to the power of hope and healing—it is people like Debra that have the power to transform the community and make it safer for everyone.” The group is not only committed to the healing, but also to violence prevention efforts, which help stem the tide of trauma.

“More than fifty percent of people have had some experience of or exposure to trauma—it is a truly a public health issue with a pervasive impact,” says Marta Chadwick, Director of the Violence Prevention and Recovery Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “We recently had our own experience of trauma with the senseless and tragic death of Michael Davidson, MD. The support of our entire Brigham and Women’s community has been essential for those most directly affected — just as Our Voices, Our Stories provides some of the necessary support and opportunity for healing

in the Roxbury community. It is this kind of support that may make some measure of peace possible.”

Our Voices, Our Stories holds monthly sessions at the Roxbury Presbyterian Church and is open to the public—one does not need to be a member of Roxbury Presbyterian to attend. The evening begins at 6pm with dinner and is followed by community testimonies, performances, talking, and a closing ceremony. Childcare is also available for those who may need it. The next Our Voices,

Our Stories events are on February 26th and March 26th at 6 pm at Roxbury Presbyterian Church.