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History of PACEs Connection

August 12, 2026Uncategorizedart, books, history, jane-stevens, paces-connection, travel, writingcareysipp

NOTE from Carey on 8.12.26 : The PACEs Connection social network was replaced by a splash page on August 10, 2026. Knowing this was happening, I urged leadership to let the most prolific content providers and donors know, and started saving blogs I’d written over my 13-years of knowing Jane Stevens, founder and publisher of PACEs Connection and the now disappeared ACESTooHigh.com. This history, written by Jane, is saved on my site now for posterity. Someday the history of how this movement came about, who led it, who funded it, how it grew, expanded, contracted, and more, will be told. Saving this and other information on my careysipp.com site is an attempt to capture as much of this information as possible. It’s here for use while the PACEs Connection site is revitalized, and here in case some of this information doesn’t make it to the new site. AGAIN, this is a limited selection of article I deemed most important, and is in no way a comprehensive or fair representation of the wide scope of PACEs Connection in its heyday, when we had about 20 staffers and were offering frequent “A Better Normal”, “Historical Trauma in America” (by region), “Connecting Communities One Book at a Time”, and other webinars and events. For more of the history, another separate site, https://www.pacesconnectioninfo.com/ is still up. I will try to add more content from it, hoping that if it is saved in several places, it will be available for the revitalized site and/or posterity.

Jane Stevens launched PACEs Connection in January 2012 with ACEsConnection.com, now PACEsConnection.com, a community-of-practice social network and ACEsTooHigh.com, a news site for the general public. The intent was to inform people, organizations, and communities about a new understanding of human behavior that had been emerging since 1980s. It was clear that this new knowledge had the potential to solve our most intractable problems. The network was designed to connect the pioneers who were integrating trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on PACEs science across sectors. This included pediatricians, educators, business owners, judges, community activists, people participating in associations, people working in juvenile justice, social workers, people in the faith-based community, emergency medical technicians, etc.

In 2014, PACEs Connection received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment and began operating as a nonprofit through a fiscal sponsorship with Prevention Institute. At that time, a small team of people began working with Stevens to grow PACEs Connection. In March 2016, PACEs Connection received another round of funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which sunsets in 2021, and TSNE MissionWorks, which is a 501c3, became our fiscal sponsor. Subsequently, at the end of 2016, PACEs Connection received a second round of funding from The California Endowment. In 2017, the Lisa & John Pritzker Family Fund, and The George Sarlo Foundation provided two years of funding. Genentech’s Resilience Effect philanthropic initiative began providing funding, which mostly supports a reporter who covers pediatrics. In 2020, Blue Shield of California Foundation began providing funding for work in California.

PACEs Connection has become the hub for the PACEs movement. Between 2012-2021, PACEsConnection.com grew from 200 members and no community sites, to more than 52,000 people from every state in the U.S. and more than 40 countries, with more members joining daily. More than 400 communities representing PACEs initiatives have launched in nearly every state in the U.S. and in several countries, with more community sites launching weekly. The community sites can be thought of as mini-PACEsConnections that support PACEs initiatives in cities, counties, regions, states, and nations. The network also supports interest communities such as PACEs in Education, PACEs in Pediatrics, and Parenting with PACEs, and organizational groups such as California Essentials for Childhood.

On ACEsTooHigh.com, articles receive from a few hundred to more than two million page views. Since its inception, ACEsTooHigh.com has also grown: in 2012, it had 471,000 page views and 3,600 visitors; by 2021, it had nearly 10 million page views and six million visitors.

Since 2012, PACEs Connection has used Marshall Ganz’ five-pronged approach to grow the PACEs movement — relationship building, storytelling, structure, strategy, and action. Our initial strategy focused on educating people and organizations about PACEs science, telling stories about people and organizations in different sectors who developed practice-based evidence that inspired others to take action, connecting people who were doing similar work, and developing a networking structure to support all this.

In our next phase, we are focusing focus on systems and policy change. That means creating a national scaffolding using distributed networking technology that links the “mini-movements” taking place in thousands of geographic- and interest-based communities, providing them tools to support their work, and then scaling up that approach. To accomplish this, we launched the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities for communities that need advanced tools to measure progress, as well as more guidelines and services.

From these communities will emerge new healing-centered systems that integrate PACEs science from the start (for example, creating a healing-centered system that merges schools and healthcare…something that the State of Oregon is developing) and that can be replicated throughout the world. Our relationship-building and storytelling continues; we have seen those elements light a fire of participation, innovation and sea-change across the world.

Dave Ellis put NJ on solid footing to advance PACEs science practices, policies

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbook-review, book-reviews, books, dave-ellis, fiction, jane-stevens, new-jersey, writingcareysipp

Jane Stevens 5/17/223:36 PM

Two years ago, instead of retiring as planned, Dave Ellis decided to apply for the new position of “executive on loan” to create and lead the New Jersey Office of Resilience (OoR) in the Department of Children and Families (DCF). It is the first state-level office to integrate policies and practices based on the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences. His appointment electrified the national PACEs movement, not only because he was a pioneer in the movement, but because the state was willing to make some bold moves.

On Friday, DCF announced that Ellis is leaving May 31, at the end of his two-year contract. Although he may be leaving New Jersey, his commitment to integrating policies and practices based on PACEs science, especially in communities, hasn’t waned. He’s already received inquiries from other states and is adding to his busy consulting schedule.

In reaction to the announcement, a chorus of “oh nooooo’s” began echoing throughout New Jersey as well as other states. Yesterday, Ellis and I had a Zoom call to talk about his tenure and departure.

“I refuse to be upset,” says Ellis, a plain-speaking, truth-talking, advocate with an insatiable curiosity, “mainly because I knew from the very beginning that this was a two-year opportunity. It’s always been two years. I kept telling folks, it’s a two-year grant position.”

His intention for the two years was simple: “To come to New Jersey, to recognize the great work already happening, to move the state into a position of national recognition and to give the community the ability to actually implement things that it believes will work. I also wanted to give local communities a voice. With the $3-million micro-grant process that we’ve launched, the amazing ideas that communities have come up with, and the upcoming People’s Gathering in September, the state is poised to truly exhibit what it looks like to partner with communities most impacted by adversity.”

How NJ laid the groundwork

Three foundations and DCF created a sound foundation for Ellis arrival so that he could hit the ground running. In 2018, The Nicholson Foundation, the Burke Foundation and the Turrell Fund worked with DCF to begin the process of launching the Office of Resilience. Ellis was chosen to lead the office; he is not a state employee—his salary is paid by the foundations. His five team members are paid by the state.

In two short years, the Office of Resilience developed the NJ ACEs Statewide Action Plan; a statewide awareness campaign, Actions4ACEs, that targets educators and law enforcement; a healing-centered education pilot in 75 school districts; and has provided in-depth training for around 4,000 people through ACE Interface.

When they began their work in 2020, “DCF had little contact with the Native American community,” says Ellis. “Not until Dwana Young on my staff went out there and kept beating on doors. Now we’re connected to all three tribes and the New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs. That’s important because the Indigenous populations across the country are No. 1 in being disproportionally impacted by ACEs.”

Great accomplishments, and more work to do

“We’ve done so much, and yet there’s so much left to do,” says Ellis.

Ellis worked with DCF’s grant and contract units to use $3 million in federal funding to design a system of awarding microgrants. “We awarded $3 million to three nonprofits to distribute through a process that will allow small agencies and individuals to submit their ideas for consideration,” says Ellis. “A selection committee made up of Office of Resilience staff, DCF staff, the three awarded agencies and community members will select the ideas to be funded.”

The reporting process will be unlike most grants, notes Ellis. “I told them it’s quite simple,” he says. “I’m interested in what we are learning. Whether you fail or succeed, that’s the wrong question. It’s not about how many you served. If you’re succeeding, I’m more interested in what are you learning? If you’re failing, what are you learning? And how do we share all of that with community so that we all learn, and we can all move forward together?”

All people who participate in the grants— funders, organizations and individuals alike—have been or will be trained in PACEs science, so that it becomes part of the DNA of the work, he says. Unless people who administer the funds and carry out the projects do the difficult work of understanding their own childhood trauma, they can’t be as successful as they could be. Training will continue to expand: With the support of two small grants from foundations, a cohort of trainers is being coached to train all 6,700 DCF staff in PACEs science.

Long-term goals for a long-term effort

Ellis’ main concerns are ensuring sustainability of the work over the next couple of decades and making sure the work is centered in communities. “How do I put this office in a position so that 10 years from now, 20 years from now this is still relevant work? That’s why I wanted things grounded in community so that whatever we did, the community then had the ability to do it themselves.”

The state, foundations, communities need to invest in integrating PACEs science in communities and state agencies for the next 10 to 20 years, he says: “You have to invest for the long haul. We tend to invest for the short term rather than looking at the long game which, in this work, is required to actually prevent ACEs and increased PCEs (positive childhood experiences.” Only in this way can the state solve its most intractable problems.

“There’s a request into the governor for a $10-million allotment over three years of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to stabilize this office outside of DCF,” says Elllis. “Because if this effort stays only in one state agency as a statewide initiative, it becomes associated just with that agency. The design, from my perspective has always been, that the OoR in DCF would continue, but that there would be a statewide, much larger umbrella that would be outside of DCF.” The working name of the organization is the Healing NJ Together Technical Assistance Center. Suggestions for its location include being housed at a university, creating it as a standalone nonprofit, or as part of the state extension office. That will be determined after Ellis’ departure.

He would like to see more involvement from the legislature. “There is no state appropriation at this time,” he explains. And yet, this is a statewide initiative. It began as a governor’s initiative. A lot of the work going forward will require state support specifically to support the office.”

And, above all, communities need to continue to be at the center and foundation of the work. “You know who I mean by community,” he points out. “Those people who are most directly impacted need to be involved in all decisions about them. That’s not what the traditional model is, but I believe that unless until we engage with them, this change isn’t going to happen.

“What I really want to see us figure out is how to move from a place where we’re doing harm and to think about how we prevent it,” he continues. “How do we not just heal from childhood adversities and their effects, but how do we prevent them from occurring? That is the ultimate goal. It’s the one thing that I won’t stop fighting for. We can’t focus on only healing because that means that we’re allowing all of these things to continue.”

As we talk, in the background Ellis’ wife is busy packing boxes. “Somebody asked me the other day: Are you okay?” Ellis muses. “I’m better than okay. I feel good that when I leave here, and there’s somebody younger who comes in, I will certainly work to help them transition and give them whatever I can. But I’m not going to tell them how to do this job. I want them to do it their way.”

Over a relative short time, he, his team, the state departments he’s worked with and the communities he’s inspired have made huge strides in New Jersey. At the end of this month, he and his wife will move to Arizona where they’re building a house. And after a two-week vacation in Portugal, he’ll return to figure out his next challenge.

Jane Stevens
Publisher, ACEsTooHigh.com
Founder, PACEs Connection

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Andrew J.S. WillisMember

A hero of the movement.

5/18/228:37 AM

Sanghoon YooMember

Thank you Jane for the report. Dave has done amazing work, leaving a legacy. Exchanged brief messages a couple of days ago. Met him at my conference in February here Arizona, and he is coming here… interestingly small world and the movement advances wherever he goes!

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Comments

Carey Sipp commented:
Thanks for posting, Laura! For posting this, and so many more blogs over the years. I’m thinking of the ones YOU’VE written (you are…

Carey Sipp commented:
Thanks, Jeoff. A lot of great relationships and ongoing work came from this incredible gathering. It laid the groundwork for deepening…

David Dooley commented:
Thank you for commenting, Mr. Holmes. I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Can you give me an example?

Tommy Holmes commented:
I loved how you highlighted the connection between ACEs and community resilience! It’s so important to empower people with this…

Patrick Anderson commented:
This one landed, Dr. Long. What I’d underline is that you’ve framed being pushed out as a pattern rather than a run of bad luck — and…

Robert Hawk commented:
That story is heartbreaking and really shows how history and present-day realities can intersect. Reading about Black history in China…

David Dooley commented:
Thank you for writing, Mr. Anderson. You wrote… “Your instinct that the utopia requires entirely new forms of parenting education that…

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Christine “Cissy” White, December 7, 1966—April 2, 2023

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbook-review, books, cissy-white, fiction, jane-stevens, mental-health, paces-staff, writingcareysipp

Note – This is another post by Jane. It is about a fellow staffer whom we adored. We also lost Elizabeth Prewitt to cancer in 2025, and then Jane herself, also in 2025. This was following the death of Dan Press, founder of the Campaign on Trauma Informed Policy and Practice, a “sister organization”, in, I believe, 2022. Their obituaries are all posted on this careysipp.com site, as I wanted to save them, to remember these amazing people. With help from some of Jane’s friends and fellow PACEs staffers, I crafted Jane’s obituary, which I will try to link here once I fiture out more about wordpress. Also in the mix is the obituary of my dear friend and partner in Neuro Nuturing, Deborah McNelis, who also died of cancer in 2025. I did not post, unfortunately, the obituary of another dear friend of PACEs Connections, Robin Cogan, author of “The Relentless School Nurse.” I regret not posting about her untimely life and death in a fitting post on PACEs. Her death was stunning and grieved by literally thousands of nurses across the country. Too many wonderful people in this field die early and of cancer. I wonder about the connection. Knowing the stories of some of these people well, I could say their “numbers” told the tale. AND knowing some of these people so very well, I would say that were I to say this, that their ACEs spelled their death sentences, I know they would be PISSED. Because all of these people also believed in the power of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and found and lifted up the positive as a part of their healing. It was remarkable and wonderful to witness; to be a part of their work to help prevent children from having their lives altered by toxic childhood stress. Again, not everyone I’ve mentioned here had a high ACE score. Their own writings reveal those facts and are their stories shared. Bottom line? I am grateful to have known each of the people mentioned, and Cissy, who was the first among the group to pass away, lived fully and was grieved mightily.

Jane Stevens 4/5/2312:08 PM

Our beloved friend and former PACEs Connection staff member, Cissy White, died peacefully in Weymouth, MA, on Sunday morning, surrounded by family and friends.

This the obituary the family wrote that appeared here.

So many people are holding this angel of grace, strength, beauty, intellect, humor, and compassion in their hearts right now, remembering Cissy’s deep kindness and generous, brave heart. She taught us all how to live.

Cissy leaves daughter Kai Schildmeier, mother Nancy Atwood and her husband Chip (Cissy’s stepfather), sister Karyn Doherty and her husband John, brother Joseph Atwood and his wife Mindy, stepbrother Dan Coxall, nieces Rachel and Catrin Doherty, nephews Zane and Kindred Atwood, beloved aunt and uncle Mary and Jimmy Moy, aunt Diane Shaughnessy, uncle Eddie Moy, cousins Jeffrey, Michael, Stephen, Danny, Jennifer, Jamie, Andrea, Chris, Corey, Teddy, Ryan, and Katie. She also leaves her co-parent, her former husband David Schildmeier, as well as many devoted friends, including caregivers Beth O’Malley, Heidi Aylward, Kathy MacDonald, and Lynn Tryba. Cissy’s biological father was the late Frank White of Boston.

Although she left us much too early, Cissy never viewed her diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2019 as a tragedy. In her own words: “If I die soon, it will be too soon but it will also not be tragic because I got peace and a sense of closeness and acceptance of myself. I still feel triumphant and joyful about this life and I do not feel diminished.”

Cissy’s life was a triumph. Her only regrets were that she couldn’t be here longer for her daughter and that, as an activist, she didn’t always prioritize having fun. In recent years, Cissy made a practice of “joy stalking,” a phrase she coined to describe fiercely appreciating “the small and delicious delights” of everyday life. [Here is her post “Professional Joy Stalker”, and here is a link to all of Cissy’s posts on PACEsConnection.com.]

Before getting into Cissy’s many accomplishments, we want to take a moment to remember her one-of-a-kind laugh (her brother-in-law John describes it as a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Arnold Horschack); the warmth, safety, and acceptance she offered; the long conversations over glasses of iced coffee; the way she could be so open and verbally appreciative of others’ gifts and talents; the way she built connections among her many and assorted friends; the creative moments, gathering sea glass and making art; the way she spoiled her pets unapologetically; the way her daughter, Kai was always her number one priority.

Cissy was an outspoken and passionate advocate for trauma survivors, most recently working at ACEs Connection (now PACEs Connection), a social network that recognizes the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in shaping physical and emotional health. Her roles included Northeast Region Community Facilitator as well as Community Manager, Parenting with ACEs.

“It’s not trauma-informed if it’s not informed by trauma survivors” was her motto; she always said that healing tools should be affordable, accessible, and appealing to survivors and that patient-centered care should center patients’ voices, experiences, and collaboration, otherwise it was hypocritical and silencing. Cis would not stand for anyone being silenced. Her survivor-led advocacy work earned her the Touching Trauma at its Heart Award from the Attachment and Trauma Network, the VOICE for Traumatized Children.

Her work was written about in the Atlantic Monthly, the Boston Globe, and other outlets. She appeared in the December 2020 PBS News Hour series “Invisible Scars: America’s Childhood Trauma Crisis,” in an episode about how treating trauma early can help kids cope down the line.

She was a guest on podcasts such as Cancer Connections by the Clarity Foundation and Trauma Therapist Podcast with Guy McPherson. She was a sought-after speaker on issues related to PTSD and childhood trauma. Herself a childhood trauma survivor, Cissy knew first hand the power of writing to heal. She began sharing her journey on her blog healwritenow.com in 2013. In 2014, she collaborated with artist, writer, and professor Margaret Bellafiore to create Body Language: An Interactive Installation Exploring the Impact of Trauma, which was shown in Cambridge, MA. The installation gave visitors the chance to viscerally experience the changes that occur in the body as a result of surviving trauma.

Cissy realized a longtime dream in 2015 when she opened the Heal Write Now Center in Weymouth. That experience was a powerful way for her to step out into the world, saying she believed in the healing power of words, community, truth-telling, and safe and affordable spaces for people to create and share. Cissy’s journalism and essays were published in Ms. Magazine online, Elephant Journal, the Boston Globe, Spirituality Camp; Health, PTSD Journal, PsychCentral, To Write Love on Her Arms, ACEs Connection, PACEs Connection and ACEs Too High, among others.

After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019, Cissy became involved in patient advocacy work, volunteering for the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) as part of the Survivors Teaching Students program. Her hope was that future medical professionals better understand the early symptoms of ovarian cancer in order to prevent misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and a poorer prognosis, as there’s currently no way to screen for ovarian cancer.

After Cissy was herself misdiagnosed, she was dismayed to learn that ovarian cancer survival rates were no better than they were decades ago when she had been a caretaker for her beloved maternal grandmother, Edna “Nan” Shaughnessy, who died of ovarian cancer in 1990. Cissy’s first-person
account of what it was like to be involved in cancer drug trials, “The Clinical Trial Treatment Train,” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 23, 2022. Throughout her rigorous and often disheartening treatment, Cis felt seen and supported by the team at MGH, and especially by her oncologist, Dr. Richard Penson, who knew her as a writer, not only as a cancer patient. It was their discussions that led to her essay in the NEJM.

Though Cis was proud of her published writing, equally important to her was the expressive creative writing she did right up until the last week of her life in her weekly writing circle. As she did her entire life, she leaned into the healing power of writing to hold her in joy and sorrow. She considered this practice, and the love of her family and friends, her medicine after treatments failed her.

From 2000 to 2003, Cissy worked in the Communications Camp; Events Planning department for Wide Horizons for Children, an adoption agency in Waltham, MA, that works with orphaned children worldwide. In 2003, she and her then-husband David Schildmeier traveled to China to adopt Kai, the love and light of Cissy’s life. In her own words: “My daughter brought the world to me. My daughter is a beam of sunlight brought to my soul.”

Cissy was an amazing parent who devoted her life to ensuring Kai had everything she needed to become the smart, caring, kind, and impressive young woman she is today, taking an active role as a parent advisor and
member of the board of trustees for the South Shore Charter Public School, and later through her years as a devoted and proud dance mom at the respective dance academies for which Kai was an avid dance team competitor. This culminated in Cissy’s great pride in Kai’s admission to Boston University, where she is a STEM student hoping to become a physician.

Cissy graduated from Bromfield High School in Harvard, MA, in 1985 and earned a BA from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, in 1991. Her focus at Hampshire was social psychology and creative and critical writing. Cis appreciated and supported the work of Beth O’Malley’s Adoption Lifebook’s for children and teens who were either adopted or live in foster care; when she discovered O’Malley and her work, she made a lifelong friend.

She found inspiration in the work of psychotherapist Serben Fisher; guided imagery pioneer Belleruth Krepon Naparstek; science journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa; and writer Nancy Slonim Aronie. Cis always said
Nancy’s writing workshops were where she found her voice.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend a visitation for Cissy on Saturday April 15, 2023, from 11-1pm in the CC Shepherd Funeral Home located at 134 Pleasant St (Columbian Sq.) Weymouth. A service for Cissy will take place immediately after the visitation in the funeral home. Cissy asked that family and friends wear bright colors if they choose. Hot pink was her favorite, but all colors are encouraged. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

Please visit Cissy’s tribute page at https://give.ocrahope.org/cissy. Checks
may be mailed to Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, PO Box 32141, New York, NY 10087-2141.

Jane Stevens
Publisher, ACEsTooHigh.com
Founder, PACEs Connection

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Connecting Communities One Book at a Time launches July 13: Register now to learn from our national and Georgia partners how to lead a book study of ‘What Happened To You?’

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbook-review, book-reviews, books, bruce-perry, carey-sipp, childrens-trust-fund-alliance, deborah-chosewood, mental-health, writingcareysipp

Natalie Audage 7/5/229:30 AM

After more than two years of a deadly pandemic, a racial reckoning laying bare gross inequities, historic environmental catastrophes, and record-breaking gun violence and mental health challenges, could the first known national study of “What Happened to You?,” by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey, help us heal our collective trauma, one relationship and community at a time?

Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 2.44.50 PM

That’s the question Carey Sipp, PACEs Connection director of strategic partnerships, hopes will be answered with a resounding “yes” in the months and years following the July 13 launch of our Connecting Communities One Book at a Time reading initiative.

“I believe ‘What Happened to You?,’ a New York Times bestseller, is one of the most important works ever written on our collective public health crisis of trauma,” Sipp said. “This book is a readable and relatable way to learn about trauma, its enormous impact in human suffering, loss of life and promise, economic costs and more. Whether you read it or listen to Perry and Oprah have the conversations, which I recommend, this book makes the science easy to understand. It is full of stunning insights, remarkable stories, and applicable solutions.

“Our hope is that asking ‘What happened?’ in community will lead to truth, empathy, compassion, connection. We hope that reading and studying the book together can help people process current and generational experiences, and learn about the science of PACEs – positive and adverse childhood experiences – and that this will lead to family and community efforts to prevent future trauma, and heal from past trauma,” she said.

PACEs Connection has partnered with the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance (CTF Alliance) and Georgia Essentials for Childhood, which is coordinated by Prevent Child Abuse Georgia and the Georgia Children’s Trust Fund, to organize six events (detailed below) related to the book study of “What Happened to You?” These events will be centered on helping people explore and share the book’s lessons on relational healing, intergenerational trauma, and community. The program will begin with a conversation between Perry, PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren, and Mathew Portell, director of communities, on June 28 that will focus on historical trauma.

Georgia Reads was the inspiration

Sipp said the PACEs Connection initiative was inspired by the Georgia Reads “What Happened to You?” program, in which over 40 community book clubs, including the Georgia Parent Advisory Council group, met to discuss the book in 2021.

“I learned about the success of the Georgia program, started by Deborah Chosewood and Jennifer Lee Stein, in a LinkedIn post from Deborah, who is also a community manager for Georgia PACEs Connection. She explained that the PAC book club used a multi-session guide for parents developed by the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance and now promoted by Perry, while the Georgia Reads book clubs used a one- or two-session discussion guide developed by Georgia Essentials for Childhood. Both guides will be highlighted and shared – at no cost – in our July 13 webinar, when we officially launch the book study and begin registering book study leaders,” Sipp said.

As a part of her work at PACEs Connection, Sipp leads the launch of the Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative with me, Natalie Audage, the PACEs Connection family and community resources lead. Our partners for this project include Teresa Rafael, Chloe Corrion, Kara Georgi, and Maureen Hollacker of the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, and Deborah Chosewood and Jennifer Lee Stein of Georgia Essentials for Childhood.

“Our partners have been incredible in offering their time, the guides they created, and their experience to help lay out a series of events, including two support sessions for book study leaders and a follow-up session on protective factors, that we believe will help make this entire effort have a lasting impact in communities,” Sipp said. “We are hoping new PACEs Connection communities will form as the result of the study, and study leaders and participants will connect and become involved with some of our more than 400 geographic and 40 interest-based communities.”

Perry’s reflections on the national book study

Perry said he finds the national book study a very exciting opportunity. “I don’t think that there has been anything like the scale and scope of what you have planned,” he said.

“Certainly, the impact of stress, distress and trauma has been all over the news recently, and, over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have experienced the dysregulating impact of unpredictability, relational disconnection, chronic vigilance, decision fatigue and, for some, serious traumatic loss,” Perry said. “So in some ways, the time is right to better understand and address these issues.

“In reality, however, all of human history has been characterized – and shaped – by traumatic events of all sorts, natural disasters, war, misogyny, racism, and so much more. But, as Maya Angelou said, ’I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.’ So let’s help people know better so we can all do better.”

He added that he hopes the book study ”helps stimulate a bit more curiosity and kindness, which will lead to more conversation and connection.”

Our partners hope their groups will join in

Chloe Corrion came up with the idea of creating a detailed chapter-by-chapter study guide of the book. “As Dr. Perry, says, ‘Healing happens in community’,” she said. “I’m so excited for this work to continue spreading so that more individuals and communities can begin or continue their healing journeys.”

“This book club is about building relationships while learning, growing and healing with others as we celebrate the effect protective factors can have on our lives,” said Kara Georgi, Corrion’s partner on the guide and co-facilitator of the Georgia Parent Advisory Committee book study. “It’s not about a single journey or solution. It is about us all being able to approach a great piece of science and personal narrative where we are at. We can then decide what intention we will take as we move forward in our lives and communities in strength-based ways.”

Join us!

Register now to attend the upcoming “What Happened to You?” events. Please see the attached flier for more information about each event.

Meet the Author: a discussion of historical trauma in America with Bruce Perry, PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren, and director of communities Mathew Portell on Tuesday, June 28, 1:30-3 p.m. ET
Lead Your Own What Happened to You? Book Study on Wednesday, July 13, 2:30-4 p.m. ET
Book Study Leader Training by Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Wednesday, July 27, 3-5 p.m. ET
Book Study Leader Check-In with Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 3-4:30 p.m. ET
Moving Families from Surviving to Thriving: Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework Overview by Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Tuesday, Aug. 30, noon-1:30 p.m. ET
Book Study Leader Check-In with Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7-8:30 p.m. ET

We hope you will join us on this journey, and we look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events!

In the meantime, stay tuned for future blog posts from PACEs Connection about our Historical Trauma in America series, and from our partners about the impact of Georgia Reads, the compelling story behind the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance guide, and more.

Here are additional resources:

“What Happened to You?” by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey: a book that resonates with us in the PACEs world – book review by Carey Sipp
Georgia Reads “What Happened to You?” and Parent Leadership Month – by Deborah Chosewood
Georgia Reads Book Club
Book Club Guide for Parents

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Natalie Audage, MPH
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Tags: Georgia Reads, Bruce Perry, Carey Sipp, Book Study, Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, “What Happened To You?”, Prevent Child Abuse, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, Natalie Audage, Georgia Essentials for Childhood, Oprah Winfrey, Ingrid Cockhren, Connecting Communities 1 Book at a Time

Successful launch of our first Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative: “What Happened to You?”

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbook-review, book-reviews, books, reading, writingcareysipp

Natalie Audage 9/28/2210:55 AM

PACEs Connection is thrilled to share that our first-ever Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative involved thousands of people; scores of book studies! The PACEs Connection’s Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative helps people bring their community together around books that help us have critical conversations about trauma, racism, inequity, protective factors, positive childhood experiences, and the role community plays in preventing and healing trauma and creating resiliency.

Our first book was What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry, MD PhD, and Oprah Winfrey. We’re excited to report that a total of 4,454 people registered for at least one of the six What Happened to You? book study events, and 136 people signed up to lead book studies in their communities.

We want to extend our gratitude to our wonderful partners in this effort: Children’s Trust Fund Alliance (CTF Alliance) and Georgia Essentials for Childhood, which is coordinated by Prevent Child Abuse Georgia and the Georgia Children’s Trust Fund.

Together with our partners, we hosted six book study events:

Meet the Author: a discussion of historical trauma in America with Bruce Perry, PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren, and director of communities Mathew Portell on June 28
Lead Your Own What Happened to You? Book Study on July 13
Book Study Leader Training by Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on July 27
Book Study Leader Check-In with Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Aug. 10
Moving Families from Surviving to Thriving: Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework Overview by Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Aug. 30
Book Study Leader Check-In with Children’s Trust Fund Alliance on Sept. 20

As we wrap up our efforts, we want to share some next steps:

1. If you hosted a book study, please tell us about it in our What Happened to You? Book Study Evaluation.

2. It’s not too late to host a What Happened to You? book study in your community! You can still learn from all of the recordings and resources below and register to lead your own book study!

Past What Happened to You? events

Meet the Author event recording: On June 28, PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren, director of communities Mathew Portell, and Dr. Bruce Perry, co-author of What Happened to You?, met to discuss historical trauma and What Happened to You?
How to be a PACEs Connection Connecting Communities Book Study Leader for “What Happened to You?”: On July 13, we heard from experienced book study leaders and participants from Georgia Reads and the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance as they shared how to lead a community reading initiative as well as how to use their study resources, supports, lessons learned, and the free study guides!

What Happened to You? book study guides and resources

3. Join us for our next book study in the Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative!

Our next book is Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Jackson Nakazawa will join PACEs Connection for our second Connecting Communities One Book at a Time book study webinar to discuss the book, why she wrote, it, and why it is so vitally important. The webinar is on October 12, 3-4:30 p.m. ET.

Register for the free webinar here, now!

You can also learn more about the book and why we chose it. Please share the attached flier widely!

If you are already involved in our book study initiative, we look forward to seeing you at our next event on October 12! If you are not, we invite you to join us as we work to Connect Communities One Book at a Time!

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Natalie Audage, MPH
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Ready to take your ACEs initiative to the next level? Click here!
#ACEsDataMatter

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Tags: Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, “What Happened to You?”, Georgia Essentials for Childhood, Georgia Reads, Bruce Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Book study, Connecting Communities 1 Book at a Time, Children’s Trust Fund Alliance

Trauma-Informed Money Management: ACE Score of 7+; Gaining Clarity in My Third Act (careysipp.com)

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbook-review, book-reviews, books, fiction, writingcareysipp

Carey Sipp 7/24/174:56 PM

I almost felt slapped in the face – a wakeup slap; not a punishment – when I read Cissy White’s groundbreaking post describing her joy in finding out her “ACE score.”

Her writing about her elation at learning about the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study and questionnaire was an unintentional throw-down on her part. As I read her post I was compelled to reframe my shame, fear, and overall sense of dread about my own high ACE score. (Cissy has given me permission to use her name and to mention her writing.)

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Carey Smith Sipp

carey.pacescommunites@gmail.com

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Robert OlcottMember

Carey,

I’m quite certain that “Fore-Shortened Sense of the Future” PTSD ‘symptom’, was a ‘contributing factor’ in some of my own adolescent ‘Independent Living’ challenges, such as moving into my own apartment during my Senior Year of High School, after ‘couch surfing’ with friends, for a couple months. …

I wonder what in the World Health Organization’s ACE Screening Tool might address this, as it’s quite a bit more extensive than the CDC/Kaiser 8/10 question ACE Screening tool. It’s called the ‘WHO ACE International Questionaire’, and is available in over 100 languages on the WHO main page: lower Right corner-last time I checked.

7/25/174:53 PM

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Christine Cissy WhiteIt’s not trauma-informed unless it’s informed by trauma survivors.

Carey:

You bring up such an important topic and you write so well. It’s a little strange to read my name in your piece but if I helped provoke thoughts, feelings or writing in any way – that makes me so happy.

You wrote:

“Do you think, possibly, that people with high scores who have money issues could be spending money quickly because we think, on some deep level, we might not live to see the next day?” I asked.

Isn’t it cool how we get that aha awareness when curious and open and we feel safe? And when we feel we can talk and think and share about our actual issues and experiences? I think there’s so much freedom and relief in that even if we have to face uncomfortable stuff.

I can’t wait to learn more from you about trauma-informed approaches to money and security and finances!. Lots of us have been, will be or are in the same boat or one like it floating on the same ocean

Thanks for sharing. I love this passage, too.

It was a soul-searing moment, as I let what I had asked sink in. The resulting pain and my awareness of it led to the realization that I needed to do more work on my trauma issues and start managing my finances in a “trauma-informed” way, as I realized, on a deep level, that have been a fear-based spender and under-earner most of my life. How to get to the solution? Sometimes we have to look backward to go forward.

You are a beautiful writer and have so much insight, honesty, and passion. I’m glad writing and this page helped us get to know each other better. Thank you for helping all of us all better understand this issue.

THANK YOU!

Cissy

7/25/175:19 AM

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ACEs Connection Central Florida Launches at First Annual Conference

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedaces-central-florida, art, books, entertainment, florida, food, rachel-allencareysipp

Carey Sipp 4/4/1910:25 AM

Photo by James Encinas

Raising yellow “Visions & Commitments” cards, 550 attendees at yesterday’s Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference pledged their enthusiastic support to create a more resilient Central Florida.

The standing-room-only crowd heard Dr. Vincent Felitti deliver a morning keynote address detailing the findings of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study). He also shared moving testimonials of people who are realizing the effects of the toxic childhood stress they reported more than 20 years ago.

The event, presented by the Peace and Justice Institute of Valencia College, the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, and the Florida Department of Health Orange County, was spearheaded by Rachel Allen, director of the Peace and Justice Institute.

Event sponsors included Orlando Health; Central Florida Foundation; the National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter; and the Kamran Farid Foundation.

A panel of speakers included Clayton Lodes, president of First National Bank & Trust of Ardmore, OK; Lucy Morse, executive director of Family Hui in Sacramento, CA;

Robin Saenger, founding director of Peace4Tarpon, the first trauma-informed community in the nation; and Candice Jones, a practicing general pediatrician in Orlando, FL.

As a part of the day’s events, Allen introduced the community’s new ACEs Central Florida community site on ACEs Connection and let all attendees know they would be receiving an invitation to join. The site is described as: “A network for community members, professionals and leaders to collaborate across sectors in a movement to prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), heal from trauma, and build resilience in Central Florida. We encourage the use of this network to collaborate across sectors and communities and to transform our region into one of hope, healing, and resilience for all..”

Within 18 hours of the invitation being sent, more than 100 people have joined the group’s online community. They can post events, ask questions of the community, and share what they are learning about ACEs science and creating resilience in their all parts of their community.

For more information about the event, please see the event program posted below.

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Tags: Peace and Justice Institute, ACEs Central Florida, Valencia College, Rachel Allen, Vincent Felitti

Trauma-informed policing: Learn how three highly experienced community leaders strengthen ties between police and community

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedbecky-haas, black-lives-matter, books, faith, fiction, george-flod, law-enforcement, life, mental-health, renee-wilson-simmons, tennesse-association-of-chiefs-of-policecareysipp

Carey Sipp 7/24/203:29 PM

ACEs initiative participants in communities where there is tension between the community and law enforcement will want to join Becky Haas in a compelling conversation on law enforcement, ACEs science, COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement and protests. Haas is a nationally recognized adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) science initiative builder and trainer. She and colleagues Renee Wilson-Simmons, the head of the ACE Awareness Foundation of Memphis, Tennessee, and Maggi Duncan, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, will share a vision of trauma-informed law enforcement and answer your questions on Friday, July 31 at noon PDT; 3 p.m. EDT.

Wilson-Simmons and Haas will discuss, among other topics, how parents are the key to preventing many ACEs, and give an in-depth look at the ACE Awareness Foundation’s signature program, Universal Parenting Places (UPP), where parents can receive professional counseling, information, and emotional support for family-related issues or concerns, no matter how small.

Haas and Duncan will discuss how their mutual passion to reduce childhood trauma has led to their work on behalf of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to launch, statewide, the Handle with Care (HWC) law, an innovative partnership with law enforcement and education.

In 2016, when Haas was working for the Johnson City Tennessee Police Department, staff was approached by HWC developer, Andrea Darr, about launching the program. Since Haas was simultaneously beginning to train her community about ACEs she knew that HWC was what they needed in her area of Tennessee, ravaged with opioid addiction, to help prevent trauma for children there.

Haas had started sharing ACEs science with her community shortly after learning about it in 2015. Getting the word about HWC was another step in a long path toward helping the state of Tennessee, and now communities throughout the United States, become more trauma-informed.

“When children have seen parents fighting, or acting out in other ways on drugs or alcohol, to the point that law enforcement comes to their home, these children are in no shape, emotionally, physically, or mentally, to perform at school the next day. This law helps prevent already traumatized kids from having to take tests or go through other stressors at school. There is little learning done when a child is not rested, fed, regulated, and connected to his or her teachers. This law is about not re-traumatizing already traumatized children, by forcing them to perform when they are wrung out and dysregulated,” Haas said.

“By having law enforcement communicating by email to the child’s school, with only the child’s name and the words ‘handle with care’ on the email, school administrators, teachers, and counselors now know to give a child who needs it some safe and nurturing space and time to rest and recover,” Haas said.

HWC was among many topics discussed when Haas and her partner in community building, Dr. Andrea Clements, a psychology professor at East Tennessee State University, hosted two governor’s wives, representatives from Tennessee and 20 other states at a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration forum (SAMHSA) forum in Johnson City in September 2018.

It was at that forum that several of Wilson-Simmons’ staff members from the ACE Awareness Foundation in Memphis shared about what they are doing with regard to the innovative UPP program, based on the work of international speaker Robin Karr-Morse, founder of “The Parenting Institute” based in Portland, Oregon.

Haas wanted to know more about this program with four sites in Memphis and one in Leland, Mississippi, and reached out to Wilson-Simmons.

During the webinar, Wilson-Simmons and Haas will discuss the work done by the ACE Awareness Foundation and the UPPs. She will also ask Wilson-Simmons to share the latest on the work the foundation is doing to develop a partnership with the City of Memphis to ensure that the city’s police officers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are aware of ACEs and the important work of the UPPs, and are prepared to share information about the UPPs and make informal referrals to the UPPs.

Webinar participants will also be invited to ask Wilson-Simmons questions about the origin of the partnership, and her advice on how such a partnership might be replicated.

Haas and Duncan met at the 2018 Tennessee Governor’s Summit, where Haas was speaking. Fellow Summit attendees from the Office of Criminal Justice Programs introduced the two women and Duncan, knowing of Haas’ work in crime reduction and with the Johnson City PD, she knew she wanted her assistance when the time came. Duncan and the TACP have been providing training on the West Virginia HWC model for a few years but now were ready to look at launching HWC throughout Tennessee and asked Haas to help train law enforcement. This program of the Tennessee Association of Police Chiefs was set to begin this past spring, but was tabled, for now, by COVID-19.

Today Haas consults with leaders in law enforcement, juvenile justice, corrections, education, healthcare, and communities of faith. Her work to help create groundbreaking programs, including Building Strong Brains Tennessee and the Building a Trauma Informed System of Care toolkit, has led her to speaking and meeting officials throughout the country.

Haas and Duncan say that during the webinar they will talk about how HWC is a good starting point for community sectors such as education, police, and child services to begin working together to the benefit of all. They will also

Discuss the importance of police understanding trauma/ACEs science
Share tools to help reduce trauma on-scene for children
Give examples of trauma-informed policing and officer self-care
Paint a picture of some solutions for what has been happening in policing for the last couple of months, since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, including the worldwide protests against police brutality and for defunding police forces
Do a reality check on the challenges of taking trauma-informed policies into a police department
Share the benefits of what an informed partnership between officers of the peace could mean for officers and communities

Click here to register for the Trauma-Informed Policing webinar.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetin…lI2bOoTcbYkz8_tuS_y2

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Tags: Becky Haas, Tennessee Association of Chiefs of polic, police chiefs, police, George Floyd, Protests, chiefs of police, Black Lives Matter, Building a Trauma Informed System of Car, law enforcement, ACEs Awareness Foundation, Strong Brains Tennessee

Blue Shield of California Foundation awards $500,000 grant to ACEs Connection

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedblue-cross-foundation, books, equity, grant-to-end-domestic-violence, jane-stevens, movies, news, photos, prevention, rescinded-grantcareysipp

NOTE FROM Carey Sipp on 8.9.26 – This grant, announced in September of 2020, was ultimately rescinded. Right now I am uploading stories I wrote or posted on for the social network over the course of nine years. There was a post subseqent to this one in which Jane Stevens shared that the grant was rescinded. If/when I find it, I will do my best to link it back to the post below. Following the Pandemic, there were many shifts in priorities by grant-making organizations and funding became harder and harder to secure.

Carey Sipp 9/22/207:58 PM

ACEs Connection — the digital catalyst, information exchange and resource uniting the people, organizations, systems and communities in the worldwide adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) movement — was today awarded a $500,000 grant from Blue Shield of California Foundation for its work to support communities and families in these challenging times.

“This inspiring and impactful grant supports our mission to make California the healthiest state and end domestic violence,” said Debbie I. Chang, MPH, foundation president and CEO.

“Prevention, equity, and changing systems so that they support the needs of individuals and families are key elements of health. We are proud to contribute to collaborations and organizations like ACEs Connection that address critical issues today while also building a better tomorrow,” said Chang.

ACEs Connection was among 20 organizations receiving grants that totaled $10.6 million. (ACEs Connection’s award is listed as TSNE, which is ACEs Connection’s fiscal sponsor.) Those organization’s missions include preventing domestic violence, strengthening the economic position of childcare workers and families who rely on them, and enabling multi-sector collaborations that drive health equity.

“We are honored, grateful and thrilled to receive a grant from Blue Shield of California Foundation,” said Jane Stevens, founder and publisher of ACEs Connection. “ACEs Connection is working at the nexus of the most pressing issues of the day. Racism, the inequitable response to the pandemic, lack of healthcare, lack of childcare, domestic violence, affordable housing …. ACEs are at the root of all of these challenges and more, and the pioneers in the ACEs science movement have already shown that incorporating ACEs science into organizations in any sector can solve communities’ most intractable problems. We are overjoyed to work together with Blue Shield of California Foundation on this mission to build a healthier and safer California for all.”

ACEs Connection has nearly 9,000 members in California, the most in any state, and all 58 counties have ACEs initiatives at various stages of development. The social journalism network has nearly 47,000 members total and provides guidance and tools for more than 300 communities with ACEs initiatives. Its staff and members post solution-oriented articles, essays and videos, and contribute to resources and calendar sections. The network also posts a daily digest and weekly roundup. For an overview of ACEs Connection, please go to ACEsConnectionInfo.com.

Carey Smith Sipp

carey.pacescommunites@gmail.com

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ACEs Changemaker matching grant campaign and year-end updates: We’re at the half-way mark!

August 10, 2026Uncategorizedaces-connection, books, donors, fiction, fundraising, health, jane-stevens, reading, writingcareysipp

Carey Sipp 12/15/205:12 PM

“We are grateful for your support,” said members of the ACEs Connection staff on a recent “all staff Zoom call”. L-R (top row) Laurie Udesky, Carey Sipp, Gail Kennedy, Lara Kain (second row) Cissy White, Rafael Maravilla, Donielle Prince, Jenna Quinn (third row) Ingrid Cockhren, (off camera) Alison Cebulla, Jane Stevens. Out that day, and grateful all the same, were Karen Clemmer, Dana Brown, Elizabeth Prewitt, Marianne Avari, and Samantha Sangenito

‘Tis the giving season, and as of mid-December ACEs Connection is at the halfway mark — $25,000 — toward our goal of raising $50,000 in donations to match the contribution of a generous funder.
Screen Shot 2020-12-15 at 9.44.23 PM
“We are thrilled that our community has responded so generously to our requests for donations,” said Jane Stevens, founder and publisher of ACEs Connection. “Your gift is important because If we raise $50,000 in member donations, a generous anonymous donor will match the amount, dollar for dollar, so your gift will be doubled.”

More than 110 members of ACEs Connection have used the online giving option to make their donation. Gifts have ranged in size from $1000 to $5. As Stevens says, “No gift is too small. Our matching gift donor is looking at this as another way to build community, in addition to our ability to raise the $50,000, so I want members to know that a gift in any amount is appreciated.”

While ACEs Connection staff will be taking a break during the holiday season — our Daily Digest and Weekly Roundup will go on hiatus until Jan. 4, 2021 — our online donation option remains active.

“We want to model what a trauma-informed organization looks like by truly taking some well-deserved time off during the holiday season,” said Stevens,

“This year proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is at the nexus of the loss of life during the pandemic, the racism driving civil unrest, and the wrenching fear, poverty and despair experienced by millions due to the economic downturn,” said Stevens.

“We have been out front during this time. Our staff has been posting reports on the ACEs, resilience, the pandemic, racism, and poverty from every corner of our nation and the world. We’ve been gathering the stories from your communities; researching and reporting the data that show how being a person of color and living in poverty — both environmental ACEs — has disproportionately affected Black, Latinx and Indigenous people,” Stevens added.

In March, ACEs Connection responded to the popular question of “When will things get back to normal?” by saying “We need a better normal.” “The normal we had wasn’t working for most people in the U.S. So, we created ‘A Better Normal’ webinar series to shine a light on the problems being surfaced by the pandemic and the death of George Floyd so that we could share solutions, expertise from our vast community of members, and hope,” said Stevens.

“We hosted more than 65 webinars over the last nine months, in addition to several more on starting and growing ACEs initiatives, the Community Resiliency Model. Of those, 27 ‘Better Normals’ focused on re-imagining education in our ‘Education Upended’ series,” said Stevens.

In addition, the ACEs Connection “community of communities” has grown during the pandemic, now totaling 348 geographic communities and some 40 interest-based communities.

“In short, it has been a demanding year. We’ve grown our membership base to almost 49,000 members, and added to our followers on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook and Instagram.

We’ve worked hard on reporting about policy and advocacy, science and community successes. It’s time for us to practice what we preach and take a rest, and we encourage members to take time to rest and recover from the challenges this year brought, too, if possible.” said Stevens.

ACEs Connection will share its last Weekly Update for the year Wednesday, December 16, and its last Daily Digest on Friday, December 18.

“The website will be up and monitored. It is likely that members will continue to post, and that despite time off, some staff will be compelled to post updates as well,” said Stevens. Further, “The matching grant campaign will be extended to January 31, 2021, so we will start the new year with new videos and stories on why our supporters support us.”

For those of you who would like to mail a check, here is that information:

Please make the check out to TSNE (For Third Sector New England, our fiscal partner) and on the “for line” please note “for ACEs Connection.” The address to send the check is

Christine Carreiro
ATTN: ACEs Connection
TSNE MissionWorks
89 South Street
Suite 700
Boston, MA, 02111

If you would like to post a two-to-three minute video about “Why I support ACEs Connection,” you are invited to do so. If you’d like to make a video, please use Zoom to record it, and email it to Carey Sipp at csipp@acesconnection.com, for review and posting after January 4, 2021. Please put “Why I Support” video in the subject line of the email.

Speaking on behalf of the ACEs Connection staff, Stevens said: “We wish all of you health, peace and happiness as 2020 draws to a close. We know that 2021 will be a better year.”

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