We believe that

all New Orleans public schools should have full-time, licensed mental health professionals that receive regular trauma-informed training and support.

It’s time for action in New Orleans. Join us in advocating for systemic change in the Education and Criminal Justice sectors of our city.

Curious how we got here? Read our report about the newest phase of our campaign, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through their Culture of Health Leaders program as well as our report with results from our community charrette, then read our newest narratives in our Educate and (Just)ice sections.

 

Read the Call To Action One-Pager to learn more about what you can do!

Who's behind the numbers?

What are the stories that make up the statistics?

 

the institute of women & EthniC Studies brings you a campaign to reframe how we view youth that have experienced trauma & TAKE ACTION TO MAKE our SYSTEMS MORE TRAUMA-INFORMED.

Read the stories. Assess your attitudes. Adopt compassion.

EDUCATE - local educators advocating for trauma-informed schools

(JUST)ICE - Youth experiences with the criminal justice system, advocating for reform

Original Stories - narratives from local youth that have experienced trauma

WE ARE IWES! - iwes educators advocating for the need for trauma-informed schools

We THE 504! - champions that have advocated for youth in our education system

 

Keep up with us on social!

Check out the latest from our Twitter & Instagram feeds below:

Jacques is working to be the best person he can be, on his own terms. Despite being incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit, he didn’t let that keep him down. He didn’t let it keep him from striving for greatness or graduating fro
While Jacques was incarcerated he had to stand strong and believe in himself. He was surprised that many people weren’t there for him, even some people in his family. However, he knew who he was and what he didn’t do. He had to believe in
Today we’re sharing our final narrative from our latest phase of the campaign and we really hope that you will take the time to read this powerful story from Jacques. Jacques went to jail when he was 18 years old, finishing up high school, alth
The things Keem experienced would be incredibly difficult for even adults to deal with, much less a 17 year old. We believe that by increasing the number of mental health professionals in schools and ensuring they all have trauma-informed training, w
The things Keem experienced would be incredibly difficult for even adults to deal with, much less a 17 year old. We believe that by increasing the number of mental health professionals in schools and ensuring they all have trauma-informed training, w
This week we’re sharing a second narrative from our campaign, this time from Keem, who has quite an incredible story. While he was incarcerated, he spent a majority of that time in a wheelchair, without physical therapy, and still has a bullet
Malaiah, like Ju’ron, mentioned what helped her deal with the stress of incarceration and how she adjusted to life while in jail. For her, her was singing. She continues to sing, all of the time, and women who are still incarcerated even reach
Do you think you know what Malaiah meant in this statement? We bet you probably need to understand her more to really get the gist of it. Head over to our website, via the #linkinbio, to read Malaiah’s full narrative and to learn more about he
This week, we’re focusing on Malaiah, who reminds us how life can change in an instant and all of a sudden you may be forced to deal with a number of traumatic situations at once. Malaiah dealt with both a death of a close loved one and the str