Nov 22 2022
Violence Intervention in Hartford | Hartford Communities that Care
When gang violence claims a victim, there's always the chance that somone will be looking for payback. But who's responsible for stepping in and preventing more bloodshed? The medical staff who are busy treating the wounded? Law enforcement who are busy investigating the crime?In this episode, Andrew Woods, Founder and Executive Director of Hartford Communities That Care (HCTC), joins the podcast along with two staff to talk more about HCTC's work responding to more than 2,000 violent crimes, providing crisis counseling, mental health support and access to wrap-around services in order to improve the lives of youth and adult victims of crime and their families.Guests: Andrew Woods (Executive Director, HCTC), Shenell Benjamin (Response Team Director, HCTC), Tyrone Bynum Jr. (Senior Intervention Specialist, HCTC)Learn more about Hartford Communities That Care and all the amazing work they are doing by visiting their website, following them on Facebook, or getting directly in touch by emailing: info@HartfordCTC.org-- -- -- -- -- Introduction (00:00)Welcome (01:04)History of HCTC, services they offer, and how those services have grown or changed over the years (01:36)Andrew’s background and HCTC timeline (05:00)What is the Response Team within HCTC that Shenell runs, who all is a part of that team, and what services are they focused on offering (07:30)What actually happens from the moment the call comes in from the hospital to when their services to the victims are complete (10:35)What’s the state of mind entering a heightened emergency situation (14:38)The training that HCTC provides its team and how those training best practices were developed (15:57)Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) trade association and what they can offer anyone wanting to get involved in the industry (18:10)Establishing their response team as an authoritative organization within the community and building the necessary partnerships to do their work (19:00)What kind of people are their teams looking for, and what qualities make for a great intervention specialist (21:45)Starting a violence prevention organization (23:17)Demonstrating value to the community and quantifiable impact to possible funding partners (25:45)Opportunities for HCTC to scale, what their goals are, and how they plan to get there (30:25)An experience from the field that hit close to home and why the information and data an organization like HCTC offers a community helps so much (35:13)-- -- -- -- --Support the show-- -- -- -- --HOST Jason Friesen is the Founder and Executive Director of Trek Medics International, a 501c3-registered nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to improving access to emergency response networks in communities across the globe through innovative mobile phone technologies.Learn more about Trek Medics International by visiting their website, and for more info on the Beacon Crisis Response Platform visit here. Follow Trek Medics on: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedInTheme song: "Happy Feliz" by ¡Big Grande! (used with permission).