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The PACEs Connection Team will be taking a week of rest following the Labor Day holiday on September 4th. We will be out of the office from September 4th - 8th. We will not be checking or responding to emails or calls. We will not be publishing the Daily Digests and Weekly Roundup during this time.
Although the field of Adverse Child Experiences and child trauma has always been a stressful one in which to work, our tradition of changing Labor Day to Labor Week was in response to the tremendous stress that came at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have continued this tradition in hopes of staving off burn-out, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.
As an organization striving to be trauma-informed and healing-centered, it is important for us to lead by example. We believe that regular rest is essential in our field of work and is especially important now, in particular, as the collective trauma of 2020 still lingers and is still impacting our collective mental health.The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the emerging societal and media realization and reckoning of the racial violence and discrimination that has been a part of America since its foundation, and the impending and current climate catastrophes are all contributing stressors.
As a trauma-informed organization, it is important for us to lead by example. We believe that regular rest is essential in our field of work and is especially important now. Taking a whole team break will reduce stress for individuals since we won’t be thinking about all of the emails, tasks, and projects waiting for us when we get back. The collective pause means the work train is stopping until we all get back on it again together.
We invite you to explore the idea of collective care by Lisa Chamberlain and of The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture by Tema Okun. Collective care shifts the onus of mental health hygiene away from the individual and towards the organization or institution. This is in alignment with what we know about the social determinants of health. White Supremacy Culture demands that we stay busy, maintain a sense of urgency, and value quantity over quality, among other demands. These characteristics ultimately perpetuate the patriarchal, colonial, and unregulated capitalist systems that dehumanize and separate people based on race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs or religion.
Thanks so much for honoring our week of rest. We have been inspired by other organizations to make this choice, and we hope we inspire some of your organizations to make the same commitment to the health of your people, organizations, and communities.
With Love & Justice,
The PACEs Connection Team
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