Macon Magazine

W e are not what happens to us, but what we choose to do with it. One Saturday morning in 2019, while Jill Vanderhoek and Dr. Andrea Meyer Stinson were chatting about work and family, the two Middle Georgia leaders found their conversation migrating toward their shared interests in building and strengthening the community. Vanderhoek, executive director of the Bibb Community Partnership, and Stinson, associate professor at Mercer University's School of Medicine, both wanted to address trauma, adversity and resilience from different perspectives. "at's when we decided to unite and combine our resources and connections to make Resilient Middle Georgia a reality," Stinson said. Resilient Middle Georgia was created out of the experiences of both women, living and working in the local community. "We recognized that there was a large disparity between families that had access to resources in order to build resilience in their children, and those that did not," said Stinson. "Many of these disparities were a result of hundreds of years of racial and economic inequalities in our area." Vanderhoek and Stinson said the primary work of Resilient Middle Georgia involves being a community-building organization. "It's about building resilient communities that can support and promote resilience in families and children," Stinson said. To create this vision, Stinson and Vanderhoek saw that the whole community, including schools, law enforcement agencies, social service providers, health providers and faith organizations, needed to develop a common language around trauma, adverse childhood experiences and resilience. "Resilient Middle Georgia is a trauma-informed, community- building organization, seeking to empower the cities and counties in Middle Georgia to face our challenges with empathy and bravery, and in turn, to enact long-term change and build resilience in our residents and communities," Stinson said. e organization does not provide direct services to families. Instead, it aims to support and transform the way in which providers Building community resilience COALITION A RESOURCE TO EMPOWER MIDDLE GEORGIA FAMILIES BY LISA PRITCHARD MAYFIELD | ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALICIA THOMAS 72 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021

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