The 2023 KFL&A Resilience Symposium

Navigating Adversity through the Power of Community

About The Symposium

In October of 2023 Teach Resilience joined with the Aces & Resilience Coalition to host the KFL&A Resilience Symposium: Navigating Adversity Through the Power of Community. Over 3 days, upwards of 450 people engaged in 10 events at 6 locations. Rick Griffin, Executive Director of Community Resilience Initiative (CRI, criresilient.org) made his way from Phoenix, Arizona, to lend his voice and wealth of experience to the week’s events. Never has the community come together to conspire in quite this way. Thank you to all those who attended and contributed - it was incredible to be part of the magic! 

After some reflection, our Teach Resilience team noted some highlights: 

• A great first morning of learning the new material included in CRI’s foundational Course 1, followed by an afternoon recertification of the same course with local trainers. It felt a bit like a family gathering and kicked off the symposium with just the right tone.  

• In addition to urban events, we headed to Verona for a rural gathering of leaders to better discuss the unique strengths and challenges of communities outside the city center.  

• Selling out the Community Resilience Dinner and Keynote Address. Seeing such a diverse array of representatives from community agencies, schools and other stakeholders gathered showed just how ready the KFL&A is to work out new ways forward, together. Also, students of Bayridge Secondary School and Loyalist Collegiate Vocational Institute put on an amazing spread from start to finish! 

• Our Teach Resilience PA Day seminars were in such demand that we had to divide our teaching team and find a new venue for some of the participants. A good problem to have. Hopefully someday soon all our local school boards could gather under one roof to learn and grow together! 

• Spending time with Rick of many hats – speaker, mentor, trainer, coach and friend. It was really special to show him around and let him in on the happenings in our neighbourhood, agencies, town and region. What a thoughtful, steady and insightful person to have share in this pivotal time. He’ll be back! 

We at Teach Resilience are fully committed to create more opportunities for community learning, conversation and action across the region. There’s so much to do. Stay tuned!

Thank you to the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area for believing in this project and the Sisters of Providence for generously supplying the financial resources to bring our community together. 

A huge thanks also to Bridget Glassco (ARC Project Manager) and Anne Marie MacDonald (ARC Co-Chair) for their contributions before, during and after. You’re both awesome and everyone needs to know it! 

AND A heartfelt thank you to the following organizations for their invaluable support in making this symposium possible. Your contributions have been instrumental, and we are deeply grateful for your partnership.

Charting the Course

Navigating Adversity Through the Power of Community

There is a movement to build community resilience underway in our community right now. Agencies and organizations all over the region are making a shift to a more sensitive approach to policy and procedure. Here's the thing; our collective map has a lot of blanks. It's time to get the lay of the land, so to speak; chart the coastline of our collective activity.

Calling all cartographers! 

Teach Resilience, as part of a working group with the ACEs and Resilience Coalition of KFL&A (ARC), invites you to a morning of map-making.  We called it Charting the Course: Navigating Adversity Through the Power of Community. It' was the morning of May 16th.

Kristopher Tharris will facilitate and together we will better understand the trauma-responsive contours of Kingston and the surrounding area; and mark out the topography of our community resilience. We will make connections and identify opportunities to support one another and work together. We'll ask questions and take time to listen. We'll fill in some blanks. Please come! Bring your biggest heart and best intentions. Space is limited, so confirm your spot today.