The Need
Creating cultures that uplift communities.
Rev. Paul Abernathy, an Orthodox Christian Priest, was working in a predominantly Black underserved community in Pittsburgh and was regularly interacting with men, women, and children who had repeatedly experienced multiple forms of trauma.
Fr. Paul, also a combat veteran of the Iraq War who had first learned about PTSD in the Army, realized that trauma in the form of hunger, abuse, homelessness, lack of opportunity, racism, lack of health care, and violence greatly informed the worldview and culture of the community.
Understanding that trauma was the greatest barrier facing the development of his community, Abernathy began to ask the question, how do you heal an entire community that has been inundated with trauma for generations?