Sonoma Valley’s Hanna Institute receives $30k grant

The Hanna Institute announced on Dec. 20 that it received a $30,000 grant from Community Foundation Sonoma County that will provide scholarships for Title I school staff and educators to attend the Hanna Institute Summit Jan. 29 through 31.

“The mission of Hanna Institute is to support parents and child-serving systems with resources that build resilience and hope,” said Erin Hawkins, co-director of the Hanna Institute in a press release. “The generous gift provided by the Community Foundation Sonoma County will allow us to extend trauma-informed care training to a greater number of educators serving at-risk youth in Sonoma County.”

Led by experts in the field, the three-day Summit will focus on learning and sharing new approaches to trauma-informed care. According to the release, they will focus on three major areas that include facing and overcoming trauma in communities and agencies; organizing organizations and supporting individual healing; and addressing trauma in individuals.

“One of the most widespread impacts from both the 2017 and 2019 fires was on our community’s mental health. Children are especially hard hit as they struggle to cope with fears over safety and loss,” said Karin Demarest, vice president for community impact for Community Foundation Sonoma County in the statement. “Unaddressed trauma has long-term effects on children’s security at home and performance in schools.”

The foundation funded the grant to Hanna through its Sonoma County Resilience Fund.

Title I is a federal program to ensure that public educational programs receive equitable access. To qualify to become a Title 1 school, there must be large concentrations of low-income students. These schools will receive supplemental funds to assist in meeting educational goals.

Space is limited and scholarships will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration for the scholarship and the institute can be completed online at thehannainstitutesummit.com. For the three-day pass use registration code SOCOSCHOOL, and for a single-day pass use the code SOCOl50. Additional funding is available to cover substitute teacher costs. Contact Hawkins at ehawkins@hannacenter.org for more information.