Springing Into TBRI!

In our Year-End Letter of 2019, Jake shared with us some of the promising opportunities coming to us in 2020. One we are especially excited about is TBRI, Trust-Based Relational Intervention:

In a nutshell, TBRI training and techniques allow our staff to better connect with children from hard places, those who have experienced immense challenges and trauma and coach them to regulate their emotions and behavior to become responsible, positive, and healthy adults. This researched and systemized approach to behavior development is exactly the “next level” thing we’ve been looking for in improving the quality and effectiveness of the services we provide to our community."

Now that March is upon us there are only a few short weeks before our two selected staff members will travel to Anaheim, CA, for the full week-long summation of their ten-week training process. Anna Jennings, our Program Manager and RISE After School Director, along with Jessica Mathias-Henderson, our THRIVE Kids and Development Director, have been working hard since the start of the new year to keep up with all the training leading up to the on-site training in California later this month.

Anna Jennings (far left) and Jessica Mathias-Henderson (far right) will be attending a TBRI Practitioner Program in Anaheim, California

​The strategic potential of this training is immense, particularly as Anna’s role as Program Manager continues to grow and develop. Anna has been with us for almost 7 years now, faithfully working in our After School program, teaching during Summer School, and assisting however she can. She brings with her years of experience working in pre-school environments and a four-year degree from Oregon State in Human Development and Family Science. Not only that but Anna is a natural with kids and leads her program with gifting recognized by everyone around her. Adding the TBRI Practitioner certification to her repertoire will only add to the quality of our largest arm of programming (RISE) and help pave the way for future development. We are confident that TBRI will bring needed and decisive direction for the future of our programming. Ultimately, and most importantly, this leads to more and better strong, young lives!

So by now, you may be asking, “What can I do? How can I help expand the reach and critical impact of SSYO?”

Firstly, we would love your prayers. Prayers for wisdom and safety over the entire TBRI endeavor would be greatly appreciated. We need insight into how to implement TBRI in our programming. We need wisdom for what, if any, changes need to be made in the near future. We need safety as our two staff members travel to and from California.

Secondly, we need more financial support. Between the training and travel, TBRI Practitioner certification will cost us $10,000. We were graciously awarded scholarships totaling $5,000 and were able to pull together $2,500 from a grant and donations. We are 75% of the way to fully funding this! If you have the ability to, your over and above financial contribution could play a critical role in changing how effectively we are able to build strong, young lives in the future! Please consider paving the way for future good in our community by donating today.

Lastly, please consider sharing about SSYO with friends and colleagues who may be interested in our work of building, strong young lives in Corvallis. We are seeking like-minded people who believe in transforming children's lives.  Sharing this blog post, our website, or any other content from SSYO allows us to bring people together to address the challenges facing the youth in our city. We would love to collaborate with as many people as possible, especially those with a passion to help children from hard places. Sharing our mission and impact with others is a great way to do that!

We’re excited to have Anna and Jessica share with us all they’ve learned from the TBRI training when they return in late March and we’re even more excited for what this could mean for the future impact of SSYO.
Thank you for being on board this mission with us. We could not do this without you. As our Executive Director always says, “the future is ridiculously bright here at SSYO!”

Justin Talbert

Is the Operations Manager for SouthSide Youth Outreach. 

To contact him, you can email him at [email protected]