News

Maureen Hammett.

ITTIC Welcomes Maureen Hammett to the team

5/18/23 - ITTIC gives a warm welcome to Maureen Hammett, a part-time administrative consultant. Maureen previously served as the Vice Dean & Chief of Staff for the School of Social Work here at UB for 7.5 years. She thrives in her leadership and coaching skills, and we are lucky to have her. To read more about her, check out her bio here

Co-Director Green Joins Older Adult Trauma Learning Collaborative

Sue Green, 6th from the right.

Co-Director Sue Green, Seen 6th from the right, at the #PowerNet Conference in Dallas, Texas.

5/15/23 - Co-Director Sue Green, with the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York  attended the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies' #PowerNet conference, representing their sub-section of the Older Adult Trauma Learning Collaborative in Texas from May 7th-9th. This group aims to create more person-centered, trauma-informed care. 

Co-Director Susan Green Receives Outstanding Career Achievement Award

5/1/23 - During the 2023 Celebration of Outstanding Student and Alumni & Research Excellence, Co-Director Susan Green received the Outstanding Career Achievement Award for transforming the delivery of trauma-informed care in our Buffalo Community. Congrats, Sue!

Dr. Jangmin Kim.

ITTIC Welcomes Dr. Jangmin Kim to Team

4/28/23 - ITTIC sends a warm welcome to Dr. Jangmin Kim, an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work here at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Kim has taken on the role of a research consultant and is a great fit to our team due to his interest in organizational level change and workforce wellness. To find out more about him, check out his bio here

Co-Director Sue Green Presents in the Inclusive Excellence Series

4/21/23 - On Wednesday April 19th, Co-Director Sue Green presented in the Inclusive Excellence Series on Trauma-Informed Care for Health Care Professionals. This one hour training helped students and faculty at UB Dentistry to understand how ensuring universal precaution helps to intentionally neutralize the environment and interactions for re-traumatization. The University at Buffalo community can view the video recording of this lecture by clicking here

ITTIC Wraps-Up Year 3 with City Year Buffalo

City Year Buffalo Comes to ITTIC's Office for the Final Session.

4/14/23 - ITTIC trainer's Megan Koury and Ann Adams invited City Year Buffalo's Core Members to come to their office space for the final session of the 2022-2023 class. This partnership, like the other two years before-it, have been an incredible experience. ITTIC worked with core members, aged 18-25, as they support students throughout Buffalo Charter Schools. Understanding trauma-informed educational practices (TI-EP), as well as the impact of the work, has helped the core members throughout their journey. ITTIC is looking forward to discussing year four in June. 

LaSalle Student Champion Team Highlight

LaSalle & ITTIC Student Champion Team.

4/6/23 - Project Manager Megan Koury poses with Niagara Falls Staff Leaders Tina Ligammare and Alyssa Antonacci and the student champion team at LaSalle Prep School for a group photo. Students have been learning that all behavior is driven from a thought and a feeling, and that there is always meaning behind the behavior. The students have been continuing the work making posters for the school walls and drafting messages for the morning announcements. 

ITTIC Wraps-Up Part 2 with Housing Visions

4/5/23 - ITTIC traveled to Albany to do the final environmental walk-through of tenant buildings, public spaces, and the grounds as well as a final 3-hour full staff training on trauma-informed care. Housing Visions has showed their full commitment to understanding how trauma and adversity from both the tenants and staff show up in the work, as well as workforce wellness. ITTIC and Housing Visions will have a follow-up meeting to discuss the findings of all three environmental walk-throughs from Niagara Falls, Syracuse, and Albany locations that were conducted over the last four-months. 

ITTIC Wraps Up Niagara Region Collaborative

Members of ITTIC and the Niagara Region Champion Team.

Pictured are members of ITTIC and the Niagara Region Champion Team at the wrap-up/graduation event.

3/3/23 - On March 2nd, 2023, ITTIC facilitated an in-person wrap-up session and graduation for the 36 trauma-informed care champions participating in the Niagara Region Champion Collaborative. The collaborative was a partnership between ITTIC, the Armstrong Strategy Group and the Canadian Mental Health Association, and was funded by PenFinancial with the best hope of building capacity for trauma-informed change in the region. A total of 20 different organizations have at least one individual who is more knowledgeable in trauma-informed approaches, tools, and resources to facilitate trauma-informed organizational change. 

ITTIC Begins Work with Housing Visions - Niagara Falls Location

Project Manager Megan Koury (second in from the bottom right) and Consultant Ann Adams (Bottom right) join the Niagara Falls Staff and Community Partners of Housing Visions for an intimate training session on trauma-informed practices.

2/24/23 - On Tuesday February 21st, 2023, Project Manager Megan Koury and consultant Ann Adams went to Housing Visions' Niagara Falls Location to work with staff (Property Management, Maintenance, and YWCA partners). Staff from the Buffalo and Lockport office also traveled to attend this session. First, a trauma-informed environmental walk-through was conducted, looking at the physical safety of the common spaces, as well as some vacant apartments. Then, after mingling for lunch, ITTIC held a three-hour informational session where the impact and effects of trauma were discussed. Housing Visions is committed to making their spaces and employees trauma-informed to best serve their tenants and those they interact with in the immediate community. ITTIC will go to their Syracuse and Albany locations over the next few months to continue the work across the company. 

Rep. Brian Higgins Announces $6M in Mental Health Funding for Niagara Falls City School District, Continuing the Partnership with ITTIC

Megan Koury (ITTIC), Mark Laurrie (Superindentent of Niagara Falls) and Brian Higgins.

Photo Credit to Channel 2 News

2/9/23 - Last Friday, Rep. Brian Higgins held a press conference at Niagara Falls High School to talk about the 6 million dollar grant that was awarded to continue funding mental health initiatives across Niagara Falls City School District. This grant will be used to continue the work with ITTIC to provide training and education opportunities for staff, administration, and students on trauma-informed educational practices. Read more about it here. 

ITTIC and Niagara Falls School District Start Gaskell Prep Student Champion Team

Posters made by Gaskill Prep Students.

2/2/23 - ITTIC starts the same work with Gaskill Prep, a 7th and 8th grade school in Niagara Falls City School District, on teaching a student-led trauma-informed champion team about how trauma and adversity can cause a survival response (fight, flight, freeze) to occur. Half of the students worked on creating both digital and paper posters, while the other half practiced what they were going to talk about on the morning announcements this month. 

ITTIC and Niagara Falls School District Start LaSalle Prep Student Champion Team

Posters created be LaSalle Prep Student Champions.

1/31/23 - Megan Koury, project manager at ITTIC begins work with LaSalle Prep School in Niagara Falls for their own trauma-informed student-led champion team. During the first session, students learned about how trauma can effect the brain into a fight-flight-freeze response based on toxic stress. The students began thinking about how high, moderate, and low stress impact their own bodies, and what they can see outwardly. They then created posters for the school walls that will be up all of February to help their peers understand these concepts. 

Niagara Falls Student Champion Team Meets with Mark Talley and Students from North Tonawanda

1/19/23 - Mark Talley, founder of Agents for Advocacy, came as a guest speaker to talk to the Niagara Falls Trauma-Informed Student Champion team and North Tonawanda students about the importance of growth, resiliency, and understanding your triggers. Talley talked about his experiences with racism, and the tragic death of his mother, Geraldine Talley, who was killed on May 14th at Tops in Buffalo. Students from both school districts were able to ask questions and gain knowledge on how knowing your triggers can help you in moments of hardship. 

Niagara Falls Student Champion Team meets with North Tonawanda Students at the Rainbow Rink in North Tonawanda to listen to guest speaker, Mark Talley.

Pictured are some of the students from the Niagara Falls High School Student Champion Team with Mark Talley, founder of Agents for Advocacy.