CLEVELAND — According to social support specialists, kids and teens living in inner cities like Cleveland are at higher risk for suffering from traumatic events like gun violence and housing insecurity.
In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health says one in four children will experience one traumatic situation before they are 16 years old.
Because of this, Cleveland is stepping up to help kids, teens and even adults.
“Making a difference in where you live, for me, is important,” said Stella Walsh Recreation Center Social Support Specialist Michele Princeton.
When it comes to trauma, Princeton said it’s a matter kids, teenagers and even staff at Stella Walsh Recreation Center encounter quite often.
“I live right over on 65th and Fleet, and when I got hired, I kind of like requested this center particularly because I see what goes on in my community,” said Princeton.
Princeton works as a social support specialist at this recreation center and the Earle B. Turner Recreation Center.
Throughout her time, she said she’s dealt with numerous people suffering from trauma relating to gun violence, housing issues and even the loss of a parent.
“I think the inner city experiences more rates of trauma than suburban,” said Princeton. “They’re exposed to a lot of different things in an environment within the city than basically in the suburbs.”
Just last December, an 18-year-old was shot and killed outside the Earle B. Turner Recreation Center in the city’s Union–Miles Park neighborhood.
RELATED: 18-year-old fatally shot by man in ski mask outside Earle B. Turner Recreation Center in Cleveland
“It was a lot of parents that it took a little while for the parents to even allow the kids to come back,” said Princeton. “A lot of the trauma was employee based.”
While working at Stella Walsh, Princeton said she hasn’t experienced an event as traumatic as the situation at Earle B. Turner.
But she and others say these circumstances can make the work environment even more challenging.
“The African American culture, for the most part, is what goes on in this house, stays in this house, and we don’t share a lot about what hurts,” said Princeton.
Because of these past experiences being described, Case Western Reserve University has been working to transform Cleveland’s 22 rec centers into trauma-informed Neighborhood Resource and Recreation Centers.
Researchers held multiple training sessions with staff to talk about what trauma is and how it impacts kids who use these facilities.
“When kids are able to be in the company of grown-ups with whom they feel safe, they feel supported; they can, you know, turn to them if they're stressed out, or they need help with something. It actually can help to create new neural connections in the brain,” said Dr. Jennifer King, who’s the co-director at Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School Center on Trauma and Adversity.
Social Support Services Director Eugenia Cash–Kirtland believes this will be the first step towards healing the community as well as improving people’s physical and mental health.
“It’s one thing to be in the community, but you have to be of the community in order to cultivate and create a climate so that you can navigate through what the culture looks like,” said Cash–Kirtland.
Cleveland is one of the first cities in the country to provide trauma-informed recreation centers, so researchers hope to be a leading example for others.
“The fact that the Mandel School recognizes and understands the importance of supporting the city as much as they can, I think, is vital and critical,” said Cash–Kirtland.
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