At W.I.T.S. End- A Willfully Integrated Trauma Specialized Response to Crisis, Advocacy and Trauma

In a rural community crime, crisis and trauma are often so intermingled we can't afford and lack the resources to piece them apart. Generational trauma, cultural themes, unstable economics and geographical isolation mix with current societal norms and larger world events to create a perfect storm of interpersonal violence, behavioral health crisis and seemingly no way to meet the needs. At WITS End was literally created during a pandemic because we were at ours, and we refused to accept what wasn't working for the sake of ease. The innovative steps our agency, Open Heart Advocates took to create a holistic human centered approach to provide accessible. culturally responsive, trauma specialized services in survivor services have lead to improved outcomes for clients, and created systems wide change in our community. Developing and training staff as the situational experts in intervention and post-vention strategies in all the uncomfortable topics: suicide, substance use, trauma, crisis response and survivor advocacy by being 100% peer supported, client driven services that focus on curating all the same supports for staff has lead to a sustainable thriving agency.