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Page 4
December 25, 2013
Healing H urt People
c o n t in u e d f r o m front
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personally received her degree in
biological sciences from Stanford
University and then her doctorate
of medicine from the George W ash
ington University School of Medi
cine and Health Sciences.
Now with Healing Hurt People,
she is looking to make good on her
dream of bringing more culturally
relevant care to the Portland area
with the assistance of the Healing
Hurt People team of medical and
social service professionals.
One of the members of the group
is C h ery l A. Jo h n so n , the
organization ’ s program manager and
the person who first envisioned a
cultural specific crisis-intervention
program for the Portland area based
on a national model.
Since its launch in early June,
Johnson says local hospitals have
been thankful for the added re
sources, appreciative of seeing ser
vices that work to break patterns of
violence instead of just patching up
victims and sending them into the
world without any follow up.
Now when someone of color be
tween the ages of 10 and 25 finds
themselves on the wrong side of a
knife or a bullet, Healing Hurt People
Celebrate
New Year’s Eve
safely.
is dialed up immediately from trauma
care facilities while the wounds are
still fresh.
Research shows that this is the
most critical time to reach out to
young people because th e y ’re
afraid, and often more open to make
a change in their life.
Josh Lathan, 35, a peer inter
vention coordinator with H ealing
Hurt People, grew up in an im pov
erished north Portland neighbor
hood which helps him relate to
young m ales who grew up disad
vantaged. He also has two broth
ers who were victim s o f gang vio
lence. Experiences like these help
him establish im m ediate connec
tions with m any o f his clients.
“I’m not a clinician, and I’m not
gonna talk to ‘em like a clinician,”
Lathan says.
In addition to easing the tension
for patients, he also hopes the cul
turally-tuned interaction is better
able to win more cooperation from
these young men as they work with
medical professionals and law en
forcement officials.
The families of the victims are
also highly engaged as part of Heal
ing Hurt People’s intervention; this
includes people whom aren’t nec
essarily relatives but whom are close
enough in bonds for that title.
According to Moreland-Capuia,
Portland’s program is the 23rd
“trauma-informed” clinic of its kind
across the country with similar coun
terparts in larger metropolitan areas
like Chicago, Philadelphia, and
Washington D.C.
The ultimate goal is to do what-
ever it takes to get to wholeness and
healing for all the people involved,
not just the individual but the family
as a unit.
“We don’t want them to have
any repeat emergency room visits,
we really don’t want them to be re
arrested or arrested,” Moreland-
Capuia says.
To help ensure the family is truly
being benefited by their work, Heal
ing Hurt People offers an array of
services, including but not limited
to housing, substance abuse treat
ment, and counseling.
And once the victim has passed
through the hospital doors, the treat
ment does not stop. For anywhere
from 6 to 12 months, these men can
expect to have Healing Hurt People
remain active in their lives.
The extended services include
showing up to their client’s lives,
anything from a basketball games to
a party, just to let them know there
are extra pairs of eyes looking out
for their well-being and looking for
them to stay on track.
Ultimately the team at Healing
Hurt People sees the effort as inject
ing positivity into the community.
“If y o u ’re a young man o f color,
unfortunately, the running them e
or the running conviction is that
you did som ething to deserve it,”
M o r e la n d - C a p u ia
la m e n ts ,
“T h at’s not how we operate. We
operate with m ercy. We extend
our grace. W e’re saying th ere’s
no judgm ent. Y ou could have been
my son, you could have been my
brother, you could have been my
co u sin .”
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