What is a trauma-informed organization?

A trauma-informed organization is committed to understanding trauma and viewing every aspect of its work through a trauma-informed lens. 

Trauma-Informed Housing goes beyond training, it requires real change to policies, procedures and programs that impact residents and frontline staff.  

And it’s not just what you do, it’s how you do it. Trauma-Informed Housing requires deep collaboration with resident and frontline staff. 

Follow this step-by-step guide to learn more.

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Why focus on process?

Trauma-informed housing sits at the intersection of human-centered design (a strategy for solving problems) and trauma-informed care (an approach to working with humans).

Human-centered design:
  • Focuses on empathy by centering the experience of the people closest to the issues
  • Encourages creativity and collaboration through team-based learning
  • Embraces failure as a learning tool
  • Embraces curiosity and divergence by engage a diversity of perspectives

This means we design with, not for communities, by sharing power with residents and frontline staff. In other words, the process must model what it seeks to achieve.

 

Watch this video to hear from participants:

 

Looking for inspiration on changes to property management and maintenance, resident services or human resources? Check out the Case Studies section of this toolkit.

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