Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, have a tremendous impact on lifelong health and opportunity. ACEs can include things like physical and emotional abuse, neglect, caregiver mental illness, and household violence. The more ACEs a child experiences, the more likely he or she is to suffer from things like heart disease and diabetes, poor academic achievement, and substance abuse later in life.

Disturbingly, Black and Hispanic children and youth in almost all regions of the United States are more likely to experience ACEs than their white and Asian peers. To some extent, these racial disparities reflect the lasting effects of inequitable policies, practices, and social norms. Discriminatory housing and employment policies, bias in law enforcement and sentencing decisions, and immigration policies have concentrated disadvantage among Black and Hispanic children, in particular, and leave them disproportionately vulnerable to traumatic experiences like ACEs.

Assess your ACEs score to see how childhood trauma may be impacting your life. Then, assess your resilience score and explore resources on how to support yourself and others by building resilience. Consider reading My Grandmother’s Hands and reflect on how trauma has shaped your responses to inequity.

See Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris on the TED stage explain how the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. Reflect on your won coping skills during the most difficult time in your life experience, and any privilege that may have helped you cope. Consider how different the outcome may have been without that privilege.

Watch the Michigan ACE Initiative video to learn about statewide ACEs awareness, interventions and recommended state policy. Explore ways you can help magnify their work.

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United Way of the Lakeshore is partnering with the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance to hold a town hall discussion to reflect with other participants taking the challenge. These town hall meeting will happen on Wednesdays at 12:00 PM via Zoom throughout the challenge. We'd like to thank Gloria Lara for being our facilitator for these discussions.

United Way of the Lakeshore is offering a safe and secure place for you and other in the challenge to be able to reflect and discuss about what you read today. These reflections are optional but a great way to connect with others.