0:21

Welcome to the

0:21

Injury and Violence Prevention

0:23

INdepth podcast. My name is

0:23

Mighty Fine, and I'm the host of

0:26

this Safe States Alliance

0:26

production. In this space, we'll

0:30

engage in dialogue with IVP

0:30

professionals on a variety of

0:33

issues. To help inform our

0:33

listeners on the latest trends

0:36

and hot topics in injury and

0:36

violence prevention. Today, we

0:40

have a very special episode for

0:40

you because we're broadcasting

0:44

live from the Safe States Annual

0:44

Conference in sunny Orlando,

0:47

Florida, I had the chance to

0:47

chat with some folks in between

0:51

sessions and to catch up, since

0:51

it's been a while since we've

0:54

been able to meet in person due

0:54

to the COVID 19 pandemic. Before

0:58

we get into some of those

0:58

conversations, just want to give

1:01

a special shout out and big

1:01

thank you to our sponsors who

1:04

make activities like this

1:04

podcast possible. So let's get

1:09

right into it.

1:11

Hi, Mighty, it's

1:11

great to be with you. My name is

1:14

Laura Chisholm, I use she/her

1:14

pronouns. I'm the Section

1:17

Manager for the injury and

1:17

violence prevention program in

1:20

the Oregon Public Health Division.

1:22

So great to be with

1:22

you here, Laura. And thank you

1:24

for stopping by to chat with me

1:24

for the podcast. So we're all

1:27

here together for the Safe

1:27

States Annual Conference, which

1:30

I'm super stoked and excited

1:30

about. And it's great to be back

1:33

in person. I know we everyone

1:33

who has been passing by has been

1:36

saying that so sorry, folks who

1:36

are listening, and you're gonna

1:39

hear a lot of that, because

1:39

we're very excited. Right? And

1:43

just from your perspective,

1:43

what's the importance or the

1:46

significance not just for that

1:46

considering COVID? And as that

1:50

meeting in person, but why is it

1:50

important for us in this space

1:52

to come together to connect at

1:52

conferences like Safe States?

1:57

Well, um there

1:57

are the obvious reasons for for

2:00

coming together. Like you know,

2:00

being able to share all the cool

2:03

things that are happening. One

2:03

of the one of the things that I

2:07

always get the most out of with

2:07

meetings like this is just

2:11

finding my peers, reconnecting

2:11

with my peers, and particularly

2:15

getting that kind of moral

2:15

support. Because as a, as a

2:18

manager as an injury and

2:18

violence prevention person, you

2:22

know, we're we're relatively

2:22

small, but excuse the expression

2:25

mighty team. And, you know, and

2:25

it can feel a little lonely

2:29

sometimes out there, you know,

2:29

when we're doing our work. And

2:33

so it's just, it's wonderful to

2:33

get to come here, meet so many

2:37

smart, fun, enthusiastic people

2:37

and exchange ideas. And then

2:42

also just really feel, you know,

2:42

when I, every year when I come

2:46

home from from these

2:46

conferences, or, you know, the

2:49

last couple of years when we

2:49

were done talking on online, I

2:53

just feel really inspired, and,

2:53

and have a lot of new ideas and

2:57

also just feel grounded as well,

2:57

just like in you know, the

3:00

reasons that I do this work.

3:02

Absolutely,

3:02

definitely share that sentiment,

3:05

and an almost as if it sort of

3:05

rejuvenate as you are energizes

3:09

you reinvigorate you, and you're

3:09

like, Okay, you get to touch and

3:13

see and connect with folks who

3:13

are in shared spaces as you are.

3:17

You can talk about your victory,

3:17

some of the your triumphs and

3:20

some of your challenges and

3:20

things that you're working

3:22

through. Totally agree. And

3:22

there's something about that

3:25

person to person connection

3:25

that, you know, that obviously,

3:29

we know that virtually you just

3:29

can't mimic that, you know,

3:33

nonetheless, we here we are. So

3:33

thinking about us connecting and

3:38

collaborating and working

3:38

together, what's an area within

3:43

IVP that you think we're doing

3:43

really well in? Or you know,

3:46

there's some promising work

3:46

happening there. And how do we

3:49

continue to push that work forward?

3:52

Wow, it's hard

3:52

to even, like know where to

3:54

start. Because there's so many,

3:54

there's so many big wins. You

3:59

know, I think one of the things

3:59

that I've been thinking about a

4:01

lot lately as I work in overdose

4:01

prevention, and I'm privileged

4:06

to work with an amazing team of

4:06

folks from Oregon, but also from

4:10

across the country who have the

4:10

Overdose Data to Action grant

4:13

from CDC. And there's also a lot

4:13

of SAMSA funding that's

4:16

supporting that work. And one of

4:16

the big challenges that I've had

4:20

is, you know, because the

4:20

numbers keep going up. I

4:24

sometimes I feel like oh, my

4:24

gosh, this is just it's a rising

4:27

tide. But then I need to stop

4:27

and think about how much amazing

4:32

work we're doing. And frankly,

4:32

probably how much worse this

4:36

issue would be if we were not

4:36

out there. Doing this work every

4:40

day and continuing to, to come

4:40

at it with new ideas to to

4:46

really, you know, continue to

4:46

pivot because the the epidemic

4:49

is changing so quickly. And I've

4:49

just I've seen so much really

4:55

interesting and innovative work

4:55

happening and I've also seen a

4:58

real deepening of the work

4:58

related to equity. And I think

5:01

many of us who have thought we

5:01

were doing equity related work

5:05

have a really better sense now

5:05

of what that really means and

5:08

about how how the really

5:08

challenging conversations we

5:14

need to have with ourselves with

5:14

our teams, with with the people

5:19

that we work with, who help us

5:19

to decide how we're allocating

5:23

our resources, and really have

5:23

some hard conversations. And I

5:27

think those are happening. And

5:27

so I'm really excited about

5:30

that, because I think it's going

5:30

to really help us move to a

5:33

deeper and better and more

5:33

impactful place with our work.

5:37

Absolutely, totally

5:37

agree to that point about being

5:40

more intentional, right in the

5:40

work when it comes to equity for

5:43

certain. And then also I like

5:43

that to giving, giving kudos and

5:48

credit to folks in the space for

5:48

being flexible for being nimble.

5:52

And even when things seem like

5:52

they are falling apart. I don't

5:56

know how else to classify it.

5:56

But to remember, like, Hey,

6:00

we're here, we're doing great

6:00

work. And imagine if we had an

6:03

allocated resources and time and

6:03

build our capacity in these

6:06

areas, things would be even

6:06

greater, you know, in a worst

6:12

off way. But again, I think

6:12

that's great to take a step

6:15

back, and to really give folks

6:15

their kudos, because a lot of

6:19

people are doing a lot of great

6:19

work with a lot of things that

6:23

would work against progress, you

6:23

know,

6:27

Particularly for those of us who work in bureaucracies, we've really had

6:29

to learn to be nimble. And to,

6:34

you know, I think a lot of folks

6:34

that I've been working with,

6:37

and, and myself included, are

6:37

kind of asking questions that we

6:40

weren't asking before, like, why

6:40

do we do it this way? And just

6:44

because we've done it this way,

6:44

do we have to keep doing this

6:47

way and who wrote the rulebook,

6:47

and let's just chuck it out the

6:51

window. Because we can't afford

6:51

we can't afford really not to

6:56

take some, you know, things that

6:56

feel risky right now. But we

7:00

can't sit back and wait until we

7:00

have all the information, all

7:03

the data, all the best

7:03

practices, we have to you know,

7:06

sometimes we kind of need to go

7:06

with our, with our gut, and do

7:09

what we what we think is gonna

7:09

work, or, and even more

7:13

importantly, things that communities are telling us are gonna work, even considered.

7:17

Absolutely, totally

7:17

true. And I think I may have

7:19

said this on the podcast before,

7:19

certainly in a public space, I

7:23

hadn't, and I live by this

7:23

motto, she says, If it ain't

7:25

broke, break it. I want to hang

7:25

out with your arm. Because

7:30

sometimes we get so confined to

7:30

doing things because this is how

7:34

they have been done. And it

7:34

almost limits our ability to

7:38

say, hey, we can do this a

7:38

different way or let's at you

7:40

know, so totally, totally agree

7:40

with you on that. And thanks for

7:44

sharing that. And lastly, just

7:44

want to ask you as we think

7:47

about growing the capacity of

7:47

the field. And as a member of

7:51

Safe States, we've often talked

7:51

about engaging more students and

7:54

folks early in their careers, to

7:54

help them to understand the

7:57

totality of all of what IVP

7:57

encompasses. So just any tidbits

8:01

from your perspective as to what

8:01

more we can be doing to just

8:05

showcase the value of folks

8:05

being in the space of IVP.

8:10

I think, yeah,

8:10

again, that's a huge question.

8:13

But but the you know, the thing

8:13

that comes to mind immediately

8:16

is, I think, at least for those

8:16

of us who work in public health,

8:19

like I do, we're not very good

8:19

at tooting our own horn. We're

8:23

just really, really bad at that.

8:23

And, and I think sometimes we're

8:27

even apologetic for our

8:27

successes, and we kind of don't

8:32

want to stand up and jump up and

8:32

down and say, Hey, wait a

8:35

minute, we're doing amazing

8:35

work. We're so cool. We're so

8:39

we're so worthy of attention on

8:39

the respect and funding. And so

8:45

yeah, I think, I think whatever

8:45

we can do, also realizing that

8:51

I'm, I'm a Gen X er, so I'm sort

8:51

of, you know, in, in the middle,

8:56

early ages of, you know, getting

8:56

getting toward to be more of a

9:00

experienced person, shall we

9:00

say, Boy, that was like, really

9:04

a certain realization that

9:04

anyway, you know, realizing,

9:07

like, I don't necessarily know

9:07

how to connect with with, you

9:11

know, people who are really you're brand new in their careers, as well as somebody

9:12

who's younger does or who is

9:17

perhaps hipper. I don't want to

9:17

be ageist about it. But you

9:20

know, it's just, you know, I

9:20

realized, like, I'm not as

9:23

connected to some of them, maybe

9:23

some of the same social media

9:25

platforms. Just yeah, methods of

9:25

communication and messengers

9:31

important. Exactly. And so I

9:31

think I think building up our

9:34

messaging to the the folks who

9:34

are newer in, in the field by,

9:41

you know, helping to support and

9:41

empower people who are closer,

9:45

closer there to be messengers, I

9:45

think is, is really important

9:50

because it's one of the things

9:50

I've been learning lately.

9:53

related to a lot of things in my

9:53

work is that I'm often not the

9:57

best mass messenger.

9:59

I told I agree, I

9:59

think the messenger is even if

10:02

you know the message and the

10:02

content well, right. Sometimes

10:05

we have to ensure that you are

10:05

the most appropriate person to

10:08

be delivering it right if we

10:08

want to broaden the reach,

10:12

right, yeah. Awesome. Well,

10:12

thank you again for taking time

10:15

to chat with me. Looking forward

10:15

to spending some more time with

10:18

you over the next few days here,

10:18

Safe States.

10:21

Thanks so much Mighty.

10:21

And I just have to say, I'm a

10:23

big fan of your podcast, so I'm

10:23

having a fangirl moment right

10:27

now. So

10:30

that makes us feel

10:30

good. Thanks again. Thank you.

10:35

Super excited to chat with our

10:35

next guests. I'm going to ask

10:39

her to introduce herself before

10:39

we get into some questions.

10:42

Thanks, Mighty.

10:42

Hi, everyone. My name is Tosca

10:45

Cooper. I'm a Product Manager at

10:45

the University of North Carolina

10:48

at Chapel Hills Injury

10:48

Prevention Research Center.

10:50

Toska so happy to

10:50

be chatting with you today here

10:55

at Safe States Annual

10:55

Conference. And we've gathered

10:58

over ZOOM for the past couple of

10:58

years or so right? Here in

11:02

person in Orlando finally,

11:02

right. We're excited about that.

11:06

And so other than us being in

11:06

sunny Florida, what else are you

11:11

hoping to get out of your time

11:11

here at the annual conference?

11:14

I'm definitely here for the interaction. I mean, I feel like it's been so

11:16

long since we've been together,

11:20

seeing people outside of the

11:20

small little box. But I'm also

11:23

looking forward to building new

11:23

relationships with people. So

11:27

there's familiar faces, there's

11:27

new faces. And I'm also excited

11:31

for well, some of the things

11:31

that we've already experienced

11:34

for what we're on day, one and a

11:34

half now. So I've really enjoyed

11:39

what I've already gone to the

11:39

keynote speakers and some of the

11:42

breakout sessions. But then

11:42

also, this afternoon, the

11:46

welcome reception was fabulous.

11:46

to so many things I feel like we

11:50

always offer at the conference,

11:50

and even the lightning talks and

11:54

lightning talks are gonna be

11:54

great later on the day. And then

11:57

we have keynote closing keynote

11:57

tomorrow.

12:01

A lot. A lot. Yeah,

12:01

definitely a lot, a lot of good

12:05

things happening. I'm super

12:05

excited to be here as well. And

12:08

just thinking about us convening

12:08

around injury and violence

12:11

prevention, a lot of great work

12:11

happening. So some challenges

12:15

and things we need to overcome,

12:15

right. Just from your

12:18

standpoint, the work that you've

12:18

you're doing or things that

12:20

you've heard, what's something

12:20

that you are aware that it's

12:24

going really well in the injury

12:24

and violence prevention space

12:27

that you think we need to just

12:27

push a little further and

12:30

continuing doing work down that road?

12:32

Sure. So one thing

12:32

that I think we're doing

12:35

extremely well is conversations

12:35

around gun violence, okay. I

12:39

believe that we are moving so

12:39

much further ahead than we ever

12:43

have before, where there's

12:43

funding of air available to do

12:46

work around firearm safety. And

12:46

then even now just having

12:49

conversations in public spaces

12:49

about not just the, you know,

12:53

one off conversations on the corner of the room, like, hey, we need to do this, but we're

12:55

actually doing it or working

12:57

towards doing it. So that's

12:57

something that I've seen evolve,

13:01

you know, due to several

13:01

unfortunate circumstances and

13:04

what we've been watching in the

13:04

world, but I think that there is

13:07

some light in that, in that is

13:07

having these discussions having

13:11

policies being put forward and

13:11

we're moving fluffer little

13:17

Before I think,

13:17

absolutely, and I think that's

13:20

a, that's due to a lot of the

13:20

hard work of folks who are

13:22

members of Safe States, working

13:22

tirelessly to really showcase

13:26

the importance of us using a

13:26

public health approach to tackle

13:30

gun violence. So those are the

13:30

questions that I have for you.

13:34

Thanks for stopping by to chat

13:34

with me today. If there's

13:37

anything else you want to tell

13:37

our listeners, I'll open it up

13:39

for you to do that. Or I'll let

13:39

you get back to the rest of the

13:42

conference. Um,

13:44

I think the only thing that I would add is, you know, if you're not connected

13:46

with Safe States, you know, find

13:49

a way to get connected with us.

13:49

Whether you want to become a

13:52

member or subscribing to the

13:52

podcast, or, you know, how are

13:55

you gonna follow us on Twitter,

13:55

LinkedIn, whatever your

13:57

adventure is, find a way to stay

13:57

connected to all of the great

14:00

things that we're doing here. I

14:00

love it. You're welcome.

14:07

So tell us who you

14:07

are, where you're from and what

14:10

you do.

14:11

Alrighty, Hey

14:11

there, my name is Claire Stroer.

14:14

I work with the National Safety

14:14

Council, which is based in

14:18

Chicago, Illinois, technically,

14:18

Itasca, right by the airport.

14:22

But I live in the city of

14:22

Chicago. And I'm actually from

14:24

Atlanta. So kind of popping

14:24

around all over the place. But

14:28

like I said, I'm a program

14:28

manager with NSC, and I work on

14:31

our impairment team. So it's a

14:31

little bit different for injury

14:35

violence professionals on the

14:35

term impairment and why we talk

14:38

about that. But the foundation

14:38

of what NSC does is really

14:42

workplace and occupational

14:42

safety and also roadway safety.

14:45

So impairments kind of a part of

14:45

that on how we're helping to

14:47

make sure people are able to be

14:47

fit for duty. And what that

14:51

means that it's anything from

14:51

addressing things like substance

14:54

misuse, but also things like

14:54

fatigue and mental distress, and

14:58

how we can be present and safe

14:58

but also addresses wellbeing and

15:00

root cause issues that can lead

15:00

to those things.

15:04

Thanks for that

15:04

very, very comprehensive. So

15:06

we're here gather for a safe,

15:06

safe annual conference, folks

15:10

from all aspects of injury

15:10

violence prevention have

15:13

convened here to do lots of

15:13

things right to learn network,

15:17

etc. So just curious, what is it

15:17

that you're hoping to get from

15:20

the conference? or what have you gotten from it thus far?

15:23

Sure. Yeah. So I

15:23

think so far, you know, the main

15:26

reason I love participating with

15:26

Safe States in general, is that

15:30

it grounds me in my public

15:30

health routes, I wasn't trained

15:33

in injury and violence prevention. It's something that I think a lot of us probably say

15:35

on this podcast. You know, we

15:38

didn't start with this. But I do

15:38

a public health background. And

15:41

a lot of what I do in my day to

15:41

day is with workplace

15:45

professionals and safety

15:45

professionals, and they

15:47

obviously bring great expertise

15:47

to the table. But it's really

15:50

great to be surrounded by public

15:50

health professionals and refresh

15:53

myself on the roots where I came

15:53

from, and what I can bring to

15:56

the table and working with

15:56

different partners that we have

15:58

at NSC. So I love learning from

15:58

everybody here, and just kind of

16:02

taking ideas back with me to

16:02

really just refresh what I'm

16:06

doing.

16:07

I love that refresh

16:07

has been coming up re-energize.

16:11

So all of those all of those

16:11

things for sure. Thinking about,

16:15

as you mentioned, some of us

16:15

have not been trained per se in

16:17

injury and loss prevention. What

16:17

else do you think we can be

16:21

doing other fields to get folks

16:21

who may be interested in IVP,

16:24

but not really know that there

16:24

are things that you can be

16:27

doing, like what we're doing. So

16:27

again, just what do you think we

16:30

can be doing to be more

16:30

intentional about showcasing and

16:33

communicating what the

16:33

opportunities are in this field?

16:37

That's a tough question. I think, you know, something that I'll put a plug

16:39

in for is I'm the chair of the

16:42

Membership Development Committee. And something that we're excited about is the new

16:44

students special interest group.

16:47

And so really engaging with

16:47

students more and even before

16:51

that, I know we've had some

16:51

conversations, and even the

16:54

plenary session on the first day

16:54

about really engaging with young

16:57

folks way before they're even

16:57

thinking about, you know, what

17:00

jobs are going to have the probably not there, but really talking about these issues early

17:01

on, I certainly did get exposed

17:06

to this in school. So something

17:06

that we could be doing better is

17:09

working with schools, to just

17:09

even showcase job opportunities

17:13

that are out there. Just

17:13

because, you know, most people

17:16

fall into it. So what can we do

17:16

better to just open up people's

17:20

eyes to what those jobs look

17:20

like? And I think that's just

17:25

the most obvious answer, but I

17:25

think it's somewhere that we

17:27

could still be certainly

17:27

spending more energy on.

17:30

Absolutely. I

17:30

think, uh, you know, you've, I

17:33

don't know, if you've seen some of the commercials, and it's like, if I see it, I can be it,

17:35

you know, saying, I like that

17:38

guy, you know, it's like, oh,

17:38

you know, injury folks and doing

17:41

epidemiology. They're doing

17:41

health education they're doing,

17:44

you know, so I think, helping

17:44

them to see the broad array of

17:49

work that we're doing in this

17:49

space and tapping into some of

17:52

the work that they're doing or

17:52

their interests or their

17:54

experience in as you know, our

17:54

collectiveness is what really

17:58

makes us shine in this space of

17:58

IVP, or public health more

18:01

broadly. So those are all the

18:01

questions I have for you. I know

18:05

you're busy here learning and

18:05

networking, and just open it up

18:09

to to you if there's anything

18:09

else you want folks to know,

18:12

that are listening about the

18:12

injury, violence prevention,

18:15

sort of what's going well, the

18:15

work that you're doing, or you

18:17

know, anything you want to say in closing.

18:20

Oh, wow, there's so many things I want to say. But I'm just excited to be here

18:22

and appreciate you, you know,

18:26

having a conversation with

18:26

everybody here. And I'm looking

18:28

forward to listening to the

18:28

episode just to hear what

18:30

everybody's up to. But I think

18:30

one plug I'll just I'll give is

18:34

just to encourage folks to work

18:34

with workplace, workplaces, in

18:38

their communities and other

18:38

business associations. I know

18:41

there's been some sessions here

18:41

on that. And Safe States has

18:43

done some work in this space on how to partner with organizations. It's not always

18:45

the avenue we think of when

18:49

we're doing our public health

18:49

work, but they're a captive

18:51

audience. And we spend a lot of

18:51

our time at work. So how can we

18:54

use that as an avenue to do our

18:54

work? So that's just the one

18:57

plug I would add in there. So

18:59

it's a great plug. Thanks, play. Appreciate you stopping by. Thanks.

19:03

Hi, Mighty. I'm

19:03

Commander Kinzie Lee. I am the

19:07

lead for the strategic

19:07

partnership team at CDC Injury

19:11

So glad to be here

19:11

with you in person Kinzie at the

19:11

Center. Safe States Annual Conference.

19:15

And just curious from your

19:18

standpoint, why is it important

19:18

for medicine, public health or

19:21

IVP? To come together at

19:21

conferences like Safe States?

19:24

What? What's in it for you?

19:24

What's in it for us collectively

19:27

as a field?

19:28

Yeah, I mean, I

19:28

think relationship I it's just

19:31

at the very basis of all that we

19:31

do and injury and violence

19:35

prevention and public health as

19:35

a whole. And I think that we've

19:39

done a really great job as we

19:39

can over the last couple of

19:44

years. But you know, there's no

19:44

substitute for being with

19:49

somebody being able to give them

19:49

a hug or a fist bomb, or

19:53

whatever it is that makes you

19:53

connect with folks around you

19:57

and that's how, you know, peace.

19:57

by piece by state by state and

20:01

community by community, we just

20:01

move injury and violence

20:05

prevention along.

20:06

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more that connection piece is so paramount

20:08

to the work that we do, and just

20:12

sometimes commiserating where,

20:12

but connecting around some of

20:17

our challenges with

20:17

opportunities, and how we can

20:20

better collaborate and connect

20:20

to move the work forward. And

20:24

speaking of moving the work

20:24

forward. There's a lot of great

20:27

work happening in this space of

20:27

IBP. Just from your vantage

20:31

point, what do you think is

20:31

something that we're doing

20:33

really well, and we can just do

20:33

even more and scale it up?

20:37

Yeah, I think that

20:37

over the last couple of years,

20:40

it's become even more obvious

20:40

and important, this connection

20:46

between state and local public

20:46

health and community based

20:50

organizations. And while I know

20:50

that community based

20:54

organizations have always been a

20:54

staple of the work that we do,

20:58

just the degree to which we

20:58

needed to lean upon as

21:02

organizations throughout the

21:02

COVID pandemic, I think really

21:06

just highlighted the need for us

21:06

to pour into those connections

21:12

as we move forward from the

21:12

pandemic. And I think there's a

21:15

lot of amazing work that's

21:15

happening now, especially

21:20

between those local public

21:20

health authorities and community

21:25

based organizations. And I think

21:25

as we continue to just grow,

21:28

build those relationships,

21:28

understand how one can benefit

21:32

the other, that will just

21:32

continue to see positive impacts

21:36

for injury and violence prevention.

21:38

Absolutely, folks,

21:38

since this is a podcast, and you

21:41

can't see me, but I was shaking

21:41

my head as he was speaking,

21:45

because I totally agree. And I'd

21:45

even say even leaving in DC and

21:49

working with some of the local

21:49

communities, they're initially

21:52

going to talk about COVID. And

21:52

some of those things, we ended

21:55

up just addressing the multitude

21:55

of other issues. And they were

21:59

just experts in a lot of the

21:59

work. You know, I'm trained in

22:02

public health, yada, yada, yada.

22:02

But I found myself really

22:05

leaning on down and leading into

22:05

the expertise, because we

22:08

ultimately had a common goal.

22:08

And I think having gone in with

22:13

one purpose that may not have

22:13

appreciated, you know, so I

22:17

totally agree that that

22:17

connection is paramount, and

22:20

require that you go and get back

22:20

to the conference, is there

22:22

anything else that you want to

22:22

share with the listeners about

22:25

the work that you're doing about

22:25

injury, Violence Prevention, or

22:28

just anything?

22:30

I think I will just

22:30

ask folks to continue exploring,

22:35

making sure that people with

22:35

lived experience and who are

22:38

impacted by our topics are

22:38

always part of the conversation

22:43

always have a place at the

22:43

table. And that they, what they

22:48

have is valued not only by

22:48

their, their local communities,

22:54

but by the organization's by the

22:54

federal government by all of the

22:59

organizations. I think that

22:59

that's the real way that we

23:03

continue to build public health

23:03

and injury balance prevention as

23:07

a whole.

23:08

Absolutely. Very

23:08

well say, as always a pleasure.

23:12

And I'm glad that you had a

23:12

chance to sit down and chat with

23:14

us today.

23:15

Appreciate it. Thanks, Mighty.

23:17

Hello, my name is Eva

23:17

Bland, and I'm a Program Manager

23:20

here at Safe States.

23:23

And it's Julie

23:23

Alonso, Senior Manager at Safe

23:26

States.

23:26

Hi, Julie, so great

23:26

to be here with you both in

23:29

person after what three years. A

23:29

lot of zoom time together. But

23:34

bodies. Yeah. It's amazing what

23:34

you find out when you're not

23:40

behind a computer screen.

23:40

Alright, so some questions for

23:42

you. You both have this insider

23:42

knowledge. But we're here

23:46

convened for Safe States on

23:46

behalf of the organization. And

23:49

what are you hoping to get out

23:49

of this convening as staff

23:53

members of the organization that's hosting it?

23:55

Yeah, I mean, I'm

23:55

just I'm excited to see

23:57

everybody. I'm excited to see

23:57

everybody in person. I think

24:00

that having those one on one

24:00

conversations in the hallway is

24:03

always helpful. And you that's,

24:03

to me, that's where you get a

24:08

lot of the takeaways, not only

24:08

personally about people and

24:11

being able to connect with them,

24:11

but also professionally hearing

24:14

where they're at and what they've been through in the last two, three years. You know, it's

24:16

been difficult on all of us. So

24:19

just having a one on one time

24:19

with each other in the hallways

24:22

is what I've been looking

24:22

forward to.

24:25

Totally, totally agree. And, Julie?

24:28

Well, I don't know how much more I can add to that, because I think that's probably

24:29

where everybody's at, but I

24:32

think definitely the energy.

24:32

It's been three years I can't

24:36

believe it's been three years. I

24:36

mean, there are people here that

24:38

now have like other humans in

24:38

their life that they didn't have

24:42

the last time we saw them. So

24:42

just kind of passing that on and

24:46

then so many new faces and then

24:46

yes, getting to see the bodies

24:49

attached to faces that you can't

24:49

see. But I totally agree that

24:54

getting that time to talk to

24:54

people and like really think

24:59

about and reflect back and forth

24:59

on what you're learning in the

25:03

sessions, I think is kind of

25:03

invaluable.

25:06

Absolutely. And

25:06

when you say energy dances song,

25:09

it dances a track on Beyonce.

25:09

Yeah, so that people listening

25:14

listen to this podcast shelling

25:14

the bad, the sound broke out by

25:27

moving to 32 are both very busy.

25:27

And I just have one more

25:30

question for you. I know, as a

25:30

member of Safe States, we've

25:33

talked about this for some time

25:33

really engaging, or the career

25:36

professionals or students and I

25:36

just want to hear from your

25:39

perspective, what more can we be

25:39

doing to get folks interested in

25:43

injury violence prevention early

25:43

on in careers?

25:46

Yeah, you know, I

25:46

think what I often think back of

25:49

when I got introduced to injury,

25:49

violence prevention, it was

25:52

actually kind of at a Safe

25:52

States Conference. And I came in

25:55

and I didn't know anybody, and

25:55

somebody sat beside me and

25:58

introduced themselves and, you

25:58

know, told me how they got into

26:02

this, this whole field. And I

26:02

think that, to me, is the most

26:05

interesting thing is sharing and

26:05

hearing how people get into this

26:09

field and what different things

26:09

have brought them here. Because

26:13

we all have a different paths,

26:13

we all have a different journey.

26:16

It's kind of what we were

26:16

thinking when we thought of this

26:18

theme destination, you know, we

26:18

all have a journey on IVP. And

26:22

so I would just say, you know,

26:22

to new people, introduce

26:27

yourselves say hello, and to

26:27

people who have been in the

26:29

field for a while, the same

26:29

thing, introduce yourself and

26:33

tell them your journey did tell

26:33

them how you started. Show them

26:37

where you are now and just let

26:37

them know that there's lots of

26:40

opportunities and lots of

26:40

different ways you can go with

26:42

this field. So yeah, that's

26:42

that's definitely one thing.

26:47

Totally, totally

26:47

agree. I think if people were

26:49

here and they recognize like

26:49

zero or not, there's not a

26:51

tradition or only a senior the

26:51

way to get here, they can

26:54

realize that they can be in the

26:54

same positions that we

26:57

Occupy. Absolutely,

26:58

yeah, yeah, I

26:58

think just even to piggyback on

27:00

that is that I think as people

27:00

in IVP now is being open to like

27:07

visiting with people that aren't

27:07

on a, maybe a traditional track,

27:10

they haven't chosen IDP and do a

27:10

better job at connecting the

27:14

dots for them. Because it's not

27:14

always obvious that go talk to

27:18

people that are working in substance abuse prevention, because guess what the risk for

27:20

high risk and protective factors

27:23

for injury and violence and

27:23

substance abuse, the same thing,

27:26

the risk factor, you know, talk

27:26

to people in chronic disease,

27:29

because if you're doing right

27:29

disease prevention, a lot of

27:32

that translates over to IVP,

27:32

because that was kind of my

27:35

journey. I did substance abuse

27:35

prevention work, ended up with

27:38

chronic disease. And then I was

27:38

like, take both of those

27:41

mentioned together, what do you

27:41

have? But I think we could do a

27:47

better job at helping people a

27:47

lot that you don't have to take

27:51

very specific courses while

27:51

you're in school. That all of it

27:55

kind of prepares you for a path

27:55

IVP

27:58

Absolutely, very

27:58

well said thanks again to you

28:00

both, and then you get a scurry

28:00

out of here to take care of some

28:02

business. So appreciate you

28:02

stopping by and chat with me.

28:09

Okay, now, I know I keep saying

28:09

this, right. But I am even more

28:13

excited. The more people that

28:13

come by, the more excited I get.

28:16

And I have the pleasure right

28:16

now speaking with some staff

28:19

members of Safe States Alliance,

28:19

so I'm going to ask you all to

28:21

introduce yourselves. And then I

28:21

have a question for you. Sure.

28:25

I'm Amy Bailey.

28:27

And what do you do here at Safe States?

28:29

I'm a Program

28:29

Coordinator. Next,

28:32

I'm Christina Anyanwu, and I'm a practicum student.

28:35

And last but

28:35

certainly not least,

28:37

I'm Taylor

28:37

Mayberry health equity fellow.

28:40

Awesome. Great.

28:40

Thanks again for stopping by to

28:42

chat with me and as staff

28:42

members, and you've obviously

28:45

helped put together this awesome

28:45

conference. So just from your

28:48

perspective, what are you hoping

28:48

that us as members will get out

28:52

of attending?

28:54

Well, I'm hoping

28:54

that members are able to take

28:57

away something new from what

28:57

they're learning from the

28:59

speakers that they can use in

28:59

their everyday work life.

29:04

I'm hoping that everyone can make new connections like as a first time

29:06

attendee, I'm like meeting new

29:09

people and getting to interact

29:09

with new people and see, like

29:12

their perspectives and

29:12

expertise. So it's really fun,

29:14

and I hope other people get that opportunity as well.

29:17

I think on top

29:17

of just like general connections

29:20

and learning new things, I think

29:20

I would really enjoy to see the

29:25

takeaway of actually like new

29:25

built partnerships, like within

29:28

actual organizations, and like

29:28

you're using the new knowledge

29:31

instead of being like, I learned

29:31

just for professional

29:33

development, and just kind of

29:33

making larger strides and entry

29:37

in violence prevention.

29:39

Absolutely, that

29:39

that operationalizing what we

29:41

learned, right and seeing it in

29:41

action is certainly helpful

29:45

making those connections and

29:45

just again, being with folks,

29:48

and I know for myself, sometimes

29:48

even seeing someone's name on a

29:51

research paper and then getting

29:51

to chat with them after a

29:53

session you like, wait a minute,

29:53

did you just write you know, and

29:57

it's almost like public health

29:57

or IVP supers ours. And it's

30:01

great to see when they're so

30:01

knowledgeable like you all are,

30:05

and yet still so humble and able

30:05

to engage you in conversation so

30:08

we can really think about how we

30:08

can collectively address some of

30:11

the more challenging issues that

30:11

we're facing in injury and

30:14

violence prevention. I know you

30:14

all have to get out of here. But

30:17

again, thank you for taking a

30:17

minute to chat with me for the

30:20

podcast today. Thank you,

30:20

yourself, and then I have some

30:26

questions for you.

30:28

Great. My name is

30:28

Leanne Sestak. I am a public

30:30

health educator in Erie County,

30:30

Pennsylvania.

30:34

Nice to meet you.

30:34

Liana. Actually, you still live

30:36

in western PA? By Erie,

30:36

actually. So cool. Great that

30:41

that connection? So Rumor has it

30:41

that this is your first Safe

30:45

States annual conference. So

30:45

very curious to hear how you

30:49

learned about Safe States and

30:49

what you're hoping to gain from

30:52

attending this year?

30:53

Yeah, so I have a

30:53

new public health educator, this

30:56

is part of my job duties to come

30:56

here. And I'm very excited. One

31:00

of my focus areas is falls

31:00

prevention. So it's nice to be

31:05

here and get a even broader view

31:05

of injury prevention in my in

31:09

context of my little scope of

31:09

work involves prevention,

31:14

your big scope of

31:14

work. Fall Prevention is

31:17

critically important. And just

31:17

curious, recognizing that we

31:21

know that injuries enact a huge

31:21

burden on society. What, what

31:26

got you interested in fall

31:26

prevention or injury prevention?

31:29

We're curious how you get here.

31:32

I'm here because

31:32

injury prevention, we have the

31:36

tools to do it. It's just

31:36

reminding people what we need to

31:39

do to prevent injury and to

31:39

prevent violence. I'm just

31:43

excited to see what other people

31:43

are working on and how that

31:46

might benefit my community when I go back home.

31:48

Great, great. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners

31:50

before I let you get back to the

31:53

conference? Sure.

31:55

I also focus on

31:55

physical activity. So please me,

31:58

vericut guidelines get 150

31:58

minutes of moderate cardio

32:02

today. It's a strange dream.

32:04

And I'm actually

32:04

going to go for a walk tomorrow

32:07

morning. So maybe you should We

32:07

should go. Absolutely. Well.

32:10

Great to have you. Thanks. And

32:12

thanks, mighty, of course.

32:15

Both. Thanks for

32:15

joining me for the podcast

32:17

today. I know you all are busy

32:17

enjoying the annual conference.

32:21

So I'll just take a little bit

32:21

of your time. But for starters,

32:23

let me know your name and where

32:23

you're from. And then we'll go

32:26

from there.

32:28

Hi, this is Angela

32:28

Marr. I am the chief of the

32:31

program implementation and

32:31

evaluation branch at CDC Injury

32:34

Center. And I'm thrilled to be here.

32:37

Hi, Amy Wolken, our

32:37

chief of the data analytics

32:40

branch division as injury

32:40

prevention and also with

32:43

the Injury Center and CDC.

32:45

So thanks Amy - Amy

32:45

and Angela - AA. MAA as well.

32:48

They can have like a group name,

32:48

you know, a MAA on if I want to

32:52

be a MAA, hey. So we are all

32:52

assembled at the Safe States

32:56

annual conferences, we haven't

32:56

been together some time and

33:00

first time attendee for you at

33:00

any rate. And just curious, from

33:04

your perspective, what has been

33:04

going well, so far, or what were

33:08

you looking forward to getting

33:08

out of the conference this year?

33:13

Well, many of you said it, it's the connections across the board, we haven't had

33:15

a chance to come together with

33:17

our partners in the field

33:17

research partners, state

33:20

practitioners, all the fantastic

33:20

folks who are here. But even

33:23

beyond that Amy and I were just

33:23

talking earlier, it's the

33:26

connection with even our CDC

33:26

colleagues that we haven't seen

33:29

in years. So it's just been

33:29

fantastic. We are glad to have

33:32

this opportunity. And I think

33:32

the the networking and

33:35

connecting and all the fun

33:35

little pop up adventures that

33:38

are happening here at the

33:38

conference within my favorites.

33:40

I like that I'm

33:41

going to have to

33:41

use that to pop up adventure.

33:43

True. In between sessions, we

33:43

get a chance to chat with folks

33:47

learn about the work that

33:47

they're doing and reconnecting

33:50

almost reinvigorating,

33:50

certainly, if you

33:54

agree with Angela's

33:54

putting faces to names, so I

33:57

joined the injury field three

33:57

years ago, and I never met

33:59

before because it's been COVID.

33:59

So it's really nice to finally

34:02

put a face to a name, make the

34:02

connection and really hear from

34:06

the state see what they need,

34:06

how we can better help them.

34:10

Physically nice to just sit in a

34:10

session and hear what's out

34:13

there, what's happening and how

34:13

we can be better systems.

34:17

Great. Thanks, Well I appreciate you both for stopping by enjoy the rest of

34:19

the conference. Ok - thanks for

34:22

having us. Thank you. Thanks for

34:22

stopping by. I'll have you start

34:26

by introducing yourself. Let us

34:26

know your name and where you are

34:29

joining us.

34:31

My name is Ashlyn

34:31

Lamar. I am a injury prevention

34:34

specialist from Fort Worth, Texas.

34:37

Welcome Ashley.

34:40

Mary Ann

34:40

Contreras, Injury and Violence

34:42

Prevention Manager in Fort Worth, Texas.

34:47

It's been some time

34:47

actually this is our first time

34:49

right?

34:51

No, the

34:51

first conference in I think it

34:55

was but it was

34:55

okay. And we were we've been

34:57

doing this for as well, with

34:57

that being said, I would love to

35:03

hear from you all, what are you

35:03

hoping to get out of the

35:05

conference this year? or what

35:05

have you gotten out of it thus

35:07

far,

35:08

I can say

35:08

that I have learned so much.

35:10

There's so many IvP things going

35:10

on around the United States. And

35:15

it's just been really

35:15

interesting to hear all the

35:18

different programs and projects

35:18

and funding opportunities that

35:20

have come out of all of the IVP

35:20

work that's been going on. So

35:24

that's been one of the things

35:24

that's been super special here

35:28

this year. And just being in

35:28

person and connecting with

35:30

people seeing that everyone has

35:30

legs, and really enjoying

35:34

networking, and just getting

35:34

more tools to take back to my

35:39

own organization. Absolutely.

35:42

So I am loving, just seeing

35:42

everyone after being isolated

35:45

for so long, and hearing what

35:45

they've been doing and hearing

35:48

what some of their ambitions

35:48

are, as well as some of the

35:51

special speakers that have come

35:51

in to address violence. Because

35:54

we're certainly seeing a whole

35:54

lot more of that. And and I'm

35:57

really thankful that some of the

35:57

community and the cultural

36:02

perception of violence is

36:02

looking at, oh my gosh, why are

36:06

people acting like this? It's

36:06

because of their social

36:08

determinants is where they live,

36:08

it's the things that they don't

36:11

have. And it's really turning

36:11

injury prevention into such an

36:15

opportunity with looking at root

36:15

causes that will not only

36:18

address injury and violence,

36:18

it's going to address health

36:20

care as well.

36:21

Absolutely. That's

36:21

so so well said. And I think

36:24

about it, too, when you watch

36:24

the news, which I've tried to

36:29

balance that, right, always

36:29

something happening. And you

36:34

sort of can get bogged down, and

36:34

when you see the increase in

36:38

incidents, and this or that, or

36:38

whatever. And I feel like coming

36:41

here and connecting with your

36:41

colleagues and learning about

36:43

the great work that's happening

36:43

in a most reinvigorates hope, at

36:46

least for me, because you

36:46

recognize that, collectively, we

36:49

are extremely powerful. Yes, we

36:49

do our work in our silos in our

36:54

day to day, and sometimes we

36:54

lose sight of the importance of

36:57

them. And I think coming here,

36:57

you have to remember the

37:01

importance of the work that

37:01

we're doing individually. So

37:05

with that being said, you'd have

37:05

done this a little bit already.

37:09

What is something that you think

37:09

that's going really well,

37:11

spacing and potential that

37:11

you're excited about, you're

37:14

proud that you're doing or

37:14

involved in something, or

37:17

someone else is doing it, just

37:17

again, to inspire this idea of

37:20

holding that there is, you know,

37:20

the sun is shining, and rainbows

37:24

are in the clouds and the room

37:24

bloom and all that. But again,

37:28

just something that you feel is

37:28

doing well, that we almost need

37:31

to pat ourselves on the back

37:31

for, you know, in the IVP space.

37:35

Yeah, I

37:35

think one of the big things is

37:38

the collaboration that is

37:38

happening. I know that we all

37:42

work in silos. But I think that,

37:42

for the last couple of years,

37:46

injury prevention has been

37:46

moving to where everyone is

37:48

working together so much. And

37:48

not just working with

37:52

conventional other IBP partners,

37:52

but working with unconventional

37:56

partners too, and bringing other

37:56

people into the public health

37:59

IDP fold. And so it's really

37:59

encouraging to see how we're

38:03

able to really cross those

38:03

different barriers and break

38:09

down some of those walls, and

38:09

accomplish more than we've ever

38:12

been able to and have the

38:12

support of the public and those

38:16

kinds of things. So I'm just

38:16

really encouraged to see all the

38:18

collaboration that's happening. Exactly, exactly. And what

38:22

actually said and what I also

38:25

like, is it we're also not only

38:25

are we collaborating with other

38:28

different professionals and

38:28

other different organizations,

38:31

but we're actually doing more

38:31

listening to our community

38:34

people, which is something that

38:34

has been a little bit neglected

38:37

in the past. But now with these

38:37

opportunities it has, it's

38:41

really come to the forefront to

38:41

understand what other people are

38:44

experiencing.

38:46

Oh, yeah. A little

38:46

birdie told me that you got our

38:54

Rising Star Award for Safe

38:54

States. So kudos for that.

38:57

Congratulations for that. And

38:57

how does that make you feel, you

39:00

know, someone rising in the

39:00

space of injury loss prevention?

39:03

Where would you like to see to the field,

39:05

I will say it

39:05

makes me feel a little bit

39:08

embarrassed but excited. I love

39:08

all the praise that comes from

39:12

and I love that people are

39:12

recognizing the work that's

39:15

being done. And so it's really

39:15

encouraging to you know, keep

39:18

going and and take it even

39:18

further than I have previously.

39:22

And so and I mean Safe States

39:22

has such a such a unique and

39:26

special place in my heart. I

39:26

really love this organization.

39:28

So as far as where I want to see

39:28

IVP go, I'm really interested to

39:36

see where and how far we'll be

39:36

able to get with violence. I

39:40

think that the work that has

39:40

been been done, the recognition

39:44

that violence statistics have

39:44

been getting lately is going to

39:48

be really incredible for pulling

39:48

together just different

39:52

disciplines and really diving

39:52

into, you know, decreasing

39:57

violence in our communities.

39:57

Going across the United States,

40:01

and just seeing how much we can

40:01

bring our entire country and

40:07

hopefully be a model for other

40:07

countries in relation to

40:11

violence.

40:12

Absolutely. Thank

40:12

you. In that rising star moment

40:15

you tap into it, Mary Ann talked

40:15

about and making those

40:17

connections. And I'd like to say

40:17

there's no such thing as a non

40:21

traditional partner anymore,

40:21

right, because we've seen that

40:23

by has an injury, even if we're

40:23

not directly impacted, it

40:26

impacts us in some way,

40:26

socially, politically,

40:29

economically, etc. So I think

40:29

that's very well received in

40:32

that those connections and

40:32

helping us all collectively to

40:36

understand how it impacted by

40:36

and then maybe that will

40:38

incentivize us to participate

40:38

more actively, as an individual

40:42

collectively as a field. So

40:42

thanks to you both for stopping

40:45

by to chat with me a pleasure

40:45

and look forward to engaging

40:49

more as we close out issues.

40:49

Thank you. All right. I know you

40:54

all gonna continue to hear me

40:54

say this. But I'm really excited

40:57

about this next guest that I'm

40:57

speaking to. So I'll ask you to

41:01

introduce yourself. Tell us your

41:01

organization, your title, your

41:04

name?

41:05

Absolutely. Hey,

41:05

my name is Ina Robinson, I'm a

41:08

Safe States staff member, Senior

41:08

Manager for programs and health

41:11

equity.

41:13

Hi, I'm so glad

41:13

that you stopped by to chat with

41:16

us for IVP in depth, few

41:16

questions for you. So we're here

41:19

gathered at the Safe States

41:19

annual conference, and I've been

41:22

pulling people and asking them,

41:22

you know, why are you here with

41:25

the talk to the listeners about

41:25

the importance of us gathering

41:28

and coming together as folks in

41:28

the field of public health and

41:31

dream violence prevention, etc?

41:34

Well, you know, I think this is a very exciting time for Safe States, it's with

41:35

the annual conference is

41:39

something that we always look

41:39

forward to, on an annual yearly

41:42

basis. Of course, with COVID and

41:42

the impact, you know, the

41:45

pandemic being in the mix, we

41:45

kind of been on a sabbatical

41:49

doing things virtually for the

41:49

last couple of years. So it's an

41:52

exciting time for us, because

41:52

it's an opportunity for us to

41:55

see some faces in person that

41:55

we've been seeing in little

41:58

boxes and squares and zoom, and

41:58

just reconnecting and catching

42:02

up on life events with different

42:02

folks that we work with in the

42:05

field, you know, at establishing

42:05

some some new partnerships and

42:10

opportunities to collaborate

42:10

with folks who are doing some

42:13

amazing work in the field of

42:13

injury and violence prevention.

42:16

And then we have so many of our

42:16

members, and partners and

42:18

stakeholders also coming as

42:18

well. And in sharing the work

42:21

that they're doing, which again,

42:21

provides a very phenomenal

42:26

opportunity again, for just that

42:26

connecting and that

42:29

collaborating that networking

42:29

and continuing to build upon the

42:33

work and the evidence that we do

42:33

in the field of IVP.

42:36

Absolutely. And

42:36

just looking around and being

42:39

here I can tell that Safe States

42:39

is growing in general, right.

42:43

And then it also seems that

42:43

people were very eager to come

42:45

back in person, because you

42:45

know, that we were we're

42:48

certainly filling up the space

42:48

of this hotel. So it's exciting

42:51

to see such a good showing for

42:51

the meeting. And I think because

42:55

of a lot of what you have just

42:55

shared and thinking about us our

42:58

collectiveness and us coming

42:58

together as a field, what's one

43:03

area or project or program that

43:03

you think that folks need to

43:07

hear about that you think's

43:07

going really well, and as an

43:10

IVP, sort of needs to pat

43:10

ourselves on the back and say,

43:12

Hey, good job. But let's

43:12

continue to grow this and do

43:15

more of that. You know,

43:17

I think as of late

43:17

in the field, again, going back

43:20

to the pandemic, and even with

43:20

some of the resurgence of some

43:25

of the events that we've been

43:25

seeing sort of in the social

43:28

justice arena, I think a lot of

43:28

IVP professionals in the field

43:32

have been taking the time to

43:32

focus on self care, mental

43:36

health, focusing on resiliency

43:36

and what that looks like on an

43:40

individual and or community

43:40

perspective, and how do we

43:44

implement those those types of

43:44

strategies and approaches to

43:48

ensure that we're not only

43:48

taking care of ourselves and our

43:51

IVP workforce, but we're also

43:51

taking care of the needs of the

43:53

communities that we serve. And

43:53

then getting back to the point

43:57

that I made about social

43:57

justice. The field has been been

44:01

moving, I think, for for several

44:01

years, right in the direction to

44:06

ensure that the programs that we

44:06

implement and the way that we

44:11

view policy, and strategies

44:11

around policy, ensuring that

44:15

they have a health equity or

44:15

racial equity lens, and

44:19

viewpoint. However, again, we've

44:19

really been mobilizing over the

44:23

last two to three years. I'm

44:23

concentrating our efforts in

44:27

that regard. And just speaking

44:27

as a Safe States member in some

44:30

of the work that we've done collectively over the last couple of years, we've really

44:32

been taking the time to assess

44:34

what's happening in the IVP

44:34

field, excuse me, IVP field with

44:38

regard to racial and health

44:38

equity, and figuring out what

44:41

are some opportunities that we

44:41

can continue to serve our

44:45

members and our partners in

44:45

helping folks sort of connect

44:48

those dots from an upstream

44:48

perspective on how to address

44:51

some of the inequities that we

44:51

so often see, when we're looking

44:56

at the burden of injuries and

44:56

violence among community

45:00

Particularly those that are

45:00

marginalized or those that have

45:03

been disinvested in

45:06

absolutely very,

45:06

very well put. I know you're

45:09

busy, and you're running around

45:09

and taking care of visits here

45:12

at the conference. But again,

45:12

thank you for stopping by to

45:15

chat with me. And I look forward

45:15

to engaging with you more over

45:18

the next few days or so.

45:21

It's been a pleasure, thank you Mighty

45:28

All right, why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners, let us know your

45:30

name, where you're from, and a

45:33

little bit about what you do.

45:35

So my name is

45:35

Michele Schombs. I am a

45:37

registered nurse by professional

45:37

trade. I work in New York

45:41

Presbyterian in Queens, New York

45:41

City, as the injury and violence

45:46

prevention coordinator for our

45:46

level one trauma center.

45:50

Great pleasure to

45:50

meet you from the New Yorker.

45:52

I'm from Brooklyn. I live in DC

45:52

now, but from Brooklyn. So you

45:55

know. And we both are here at

45:55

the Safe States annual

46:00

conference, and it's been going

46:00

well for me thus far. And we'd

46:03

love to hear from you. What are

46:03

you looking forward to for the

46:06

remaining portions of the

46:06

meeting, or what has been

46:09

something that's been of

46:09

significance to you thus far.

46:13

So my passion

46:13

and the work that I do, and that

46:16

I bring to injury prevention is

46:16

health equity and health

46:19

disparities. So every time I'm

46:19

at a conference, that's always

46:23

my focus, I am very happy to see

46:23

that it is heavily focused on

46:27

here at this conference, I just

46:27

attended the panelist section of

46:32

today. And it was unbelievable.

46:32

I met with Tony R. Jones, who is

46:39

doing a lot of the work that I'm

46:39

looking to create within our

46:42

community. He has an urban

46:42

program focused on youth rather

46:48

than incarcerating people or

46:48

sending them to detention, he is

46:52

addressing the root causes of

46:52

the things that lead to that,

46:56

you know, pipeline to prison

46:56

issue or right, and had success

47:00

with that. And so there are

47:00

plenty of grant opportunities

47:03

out there. But it requires a lot

47:03

of knowledge that he has an I

47:07

don't. So I met with him after

47:07

and I made that connection. And

47:10

it was huge, like beyond my

47:10

wildest dreams. I think I have

47:16

met my needs for this

47:16

conference. And beyond that I am

47:20

a student, Sig member of

47:20

excellent student chair, it's

47:24

brand new, for me is a brand new

47:24

part of this organization. And

47:28

so I'm here representing that,

47:28

and looking to, you know, help

47:32

our student members to really

47:32

embrace their power and the role

47:37

of injury prevention and to

47:37

navigate the things that have

47:40

been difficult for me navigating

47:40

in my current role, because I'm

47:43

a student, but I'm also a professional.

47:45

Sure. Awesome,

47:45

that's so great to hear that you

47:49

made that connection, and that

47:49

there's a way forward, and

47:51

there's gonna be some

47:51

partnership that comes out of

47:54

that and some collaboration. So

47:54

I love to hear that. I agree

47:57

with you. That's one of the

47:57

greatest things, I think about

48:00

being able to come together.

48:00

Obviously, Zoom plays, or any

48:04

sort of virtual connection to

48:04

allows us to connect remotely.

48:08

And yet there's still no

48:08

replacement for that in person

48:11

connection, hearing someone talk

48:11

about a program or project and

48:15

then being able to figure out

48:15

how you can use that to enhance.

48:19

So you mentioned your role as a

48:19

student and as a professional.

48:23

So wearing both of those hats, I

48:23

think you're the perfect person

48:26

to answer this question. What do

48:26

you think we can be doing more

48:29

of I do differently to get more

48:29

students involved in entering

48:33

violence prevention, and help

48:33

them to even think about it as a

48:36

potential career choice?

48:38

So I think

48:38

really what injury and violence

48:41

prevention is, is this public

48:41

health model we talk about, you

48:44

know, public health is the view

48:44

from a system. Sure, right. It's

48:47

not an individual level issue,

48:47

like you came here. My husband

48:49

said, Oh, if somebody falls, are

48:49

you gonna take care of them? I

48:52

said, No, that's an individual

48:52

ideals population. And it's the

48:55

same thing. When we talk about

48:55

recruitment, I don't think there

48:58

is a lot of large level work on

48:58

injury and violence prevention,

49:03

we have a lot of great programs

49:03

that are kind of small pockets

49:07

in different regions with

49:07

different funding. And I think

49:11

we need to come up with a larger

49:11

narrative to represent all of

49:14

the work that we're doing. So

49:14

that collaborative effort right

49:17

me meeting, Tony Jones isn't

49:17

just Michele from New York

49:20

Presbyterian meeting. It's a

49:20

larger levels of national level,

49:24

and that Violence and Injury

49:24

Prevention isn't their problem.

49:28

It's our problem, even if I'm

49:28

not the one getting injured

49:31

today, right? Because we talk

49:31

about older adult falls, just

49:35

because I'm not an older adult

49:35

yet. I will be an older adult

49:38

one day short, right? So it's my

49:38

risk then, just because I'm not

49:41

living in a community with

49:41

violence doesn't mean I can't,

49:44

right doesn't mean it won't

49:44

impact my family, my loved ones,

49:47

my community. And if we don't

49:47

address the root causes and

49:50

other those problems, then we

49:50

won't really address them and

49:54

they will continue to plague us

49:54

and have economic impacts in all

49:58

of our communities. Right? So

49:58

it's not others province, it's

50:01

our province. And that's what

50:01

injury and violence prevention.

50:04

And that work does. It's about

50:04

the whole community, regardless

50:08

of where you come from or who

50:08

you are. And we need to elevate

50:11

that narrative, that message to

50:11

really engage our communities,

50:15

in wanting to fund the church.

50:15

Funding is a huge issue.

50:19

Collaboration is a huge issue.

50:19

So it's everyone's, yeah,

50:22

everyone should be passionate

50:22

about it, not just us.

50:25

I love that. And so

50:25

it's really the reframing of it,

50:28

so folks can see where they fit

50:28

in, irrespective of their direct

50:32

connection to that injury, that

50:32

violence or whatever, I love

50:35

that I'm gonna I'm gonna tap

50:35

into that, myself. And those are

50:40

the questions that I have for

50:40

you. Thank you for stopping by.

50:43

But I'll pass you the mic. And

50:43

if there's anything in addition

50:47

that you want to share with folks that are listening in to the podcast?

50:50

No, I think

50:50

this is great. And if you're not

50:53

a student member, you definitely

50:53

should be. Student members are

50:57

really affordable. And as most

50:57

organizations can be pricey

51:00

student members the way to go.

51:00

So become a student and injury

51:03

violence prevention, join the

51:03

membership.

51:06

Second.

51:09

Hi, my name is

51:09

Torine Creppy and I'm president

51:12

of Safe Kids Worldwide in

51:12

Washington, DC

51:15

Torine, such a pleasure to meet you happy to be with here with you at Safe

51:17

States annual conference. And

51:20

you know, we haven't met in a

51:20

while because of COVID. And

51:23

we've been engaging over zoom

51:23

and other ways and just want to

51:26

hear from you as an exhibitor.

51:26

As an attendee, why was it

51:29

important for you to be here at

51:29

the meeting this this week,

51:32

This has been a

51:32

fantastic opportunity for Safe

51:35

Kids Worldwide and the staff at

51:35

Safe Kids. You know, as mighty

51:39

just mentioned, we haven't been

51:39

in person, although we've been

51:42

zoom in it. I think it's been

51:42

fantastic just to be back in the

51:46

room with colleagues to really

51:46

be able to strategize and really

51:49

look to what the future holds

51:49

for us. We know right now, an

51:52

injury prevention, as well as

51:52

violence prevention, all about

51:56

mental health is very important.

51:56

And so getting back together

51:59

allows us to foster those

51:59

relationships, collaborate and

52:03

really see greater things

52:03

happening in the future, not

52:07

just for our children, but for

52:07

adults as well.

52:09

Absolutely. And I'd

52:09

be remiss if I didn't

52:11

congratulate you on behalf of

52:11

Safe States and Safe Kids

52:15

Worldwide for winning Partner of

52:15

the Year. Just talk to us about

52:18

what that means. And and why is

52:18

that significant? For what the

52:21

work that you all are doing in injury prevention?

52:25

Well, let me just

52:25

first say, I was like, over the

52:28

moon. Oh, my goodness, how

52:28

fantastic was it to be

52:32

recognized by Safe States. I

52:32

mean, that was an honor and a

52:36

privilege. I think just setting

52:36

the tone for our organization

52:40

where our focus has been

52:40

primarily on injury prevention

52:43

is just spoke volumes that while

52:43

we don't really do much in

52:47

balance prevention, the work

52:47

that we are doing in injury

52:50

prevention is recognized and

52:50

fostering the strong

52:54

partnerships that we've been

52:54

able to do through Safe States

52:57

has been a fantastic,

52:59

awesome, awesome,

52:59

and and just building upon that,

53:01

where do you see Safe Kids

53:01

Worldwide going are the field of

53:04

injury and violence prevention

53:04

going in, and just continuing to

53:08

shore up our resources, our

53:08

efforts, our capacity to make

53:12

sure we're meeting the the

53:12

burden of injury that we see

53:14

enacting a toll on the public?

53:17

Well, I think

53:17

first, you know, we can do more

53:19

together than apart. And I think

53:19

this week speaks volumes to that

53:22

just to see that having over 250

53:22

attendees, let you know that

53:27

it's a priority for us and

53:27

injury prevention. I think there

53:30

are three things that I'll leave

53:30

with the group here today, and

53:33

that is equity. We talk a lot

53:33

about diversity. But I think if

53:37

we can start with equity will be

53:37

inclusive. And I think diversity

53:41

of all things we sometimes look

53:41

at race as being the priority

53:45

around diversity, but we don't

53:45

know someone could be sitting

53:47

there and could be in a

53:47

wheelchair or to have a hearing

53:50

aid on so I think we need to

53:50

meet families meet each other

53:54

where we are and address the

53:54

burden of injury where we can

53:57

make the biggest impact together

53:57

than being apart.

54:00

Absolutely. And

54:00

that has been a thread that has

54:03

been woven throughout the

54:03

conversations I've been having

54:05

this week is the collectiveness

54:05

that the collaboration, the

54:08

partnership, and recognizing the

54:08

supreme power of that we have as

54:13

a collective as opposed to what

54:13

we're doing individually, not

54:16

undermining the great work that

54:16

we each are doing by recognizing

54:19

the again the supreme power that

54:19

we have when we come together.

54:22

So thanks again for stopping by

54:22

and looking forward to seeing a

54:25

little bit more as we conclude

54:25

the meeting. Thank you. Thanks

54:28

for listening to IVP endeavor,

54:28

be sure to subscribe and listen

54:32

to us on Apple podcast, Spotify

54:32

or Google podcasts. You should

54:36

also follow safe states on

54:36

Twitter at Safe States same for

54:40

LinkedIn. And don't forget to

54:40

check out our website www dot

54:45

safe states.org For more injury

54:45

and violence prevention, tools,

54:48

resources and so much more

54:48

information. Again, I'd like to

54:52

thank all of our sponsors for

54:52

supporting Safe States and

54:55

helping us to create space for

54:55

programs such as this. This is

54:59

your host mighty fight I'm

54:59

signing off and until next time,

55:02

stay safe and injury free.