“I feel like my eyes have been opened.” The pastor had spent years serving vulnerable children and came to the training already deeply invested in helping the vulnerable. After two days of trauma training and learning trauma’s impact on developing brains, he viewed his life’s work differently.
“I thought we were helping,” he told Hope Garcia, Back2Back D.R. Co-Director. “But I see now there is so much more we need to do.”
He told her he felt like he needed to repent, and he was met with grace. “We don’t know what we don’t know,” Hope said with a smile.
Back2Back believes in sharing open-handedly because of this very reason – we will not gatekeep data, practices, and skills that work, because we want to see a world where children no longer live with, and survive from, trauma.
The Back2Back D.R. team, along with two social workers from Monterrey, recently completed a week of training to equip those already serving the vulnerable across the D.R. Their knowledge and tools allow every child and family to receive more effective care. The first three days focused specifically on social work: what it is, why it matters, and how strong social work practices can help organizations make more informed decisions on behalf of children.
26 people from across the island attended, representing a growing network of people who want to serve children and families with excellence. For some, the information gave language and structure to work they were already doing; for others, it introduced entirely new ideas. The attendees all shared they were leaving better equipped for the work ahead, whether the information was new to them or not. The lingering hope is that conversations don’t end once the trainings do.
The long-term vision is to help cultivate a community of practice. There is a need and want for a space where social workers can continue gathering, sharing what they’re learning, asking questions, and growing together.
Following the three-day social work training, the team hosted two days of Trauma-Informed Care training for 40 people representing NGOs, churches, children’s homes, and other organizations serving vulnerable populations.
“This training was one of my favorites we hosted,” shared Hope. People leaned forward in their seats; they asked questions and took notes. They absorbed everything handed to them. “They were sponges,” Hope recalled. The pastor was among them. He took everything in – how trauma affects the brain, behavior, relationships, and the sense of safety a child deserves. He took notes and processed the information, immediately thinking about the children he serves and how this would empower them. His realization wasn’t that the people around those children hadn’t cared enough, but that love can grow more effective when it’s paired with understanding. He spent the training considering what he could change and, at the end, expressed interest in a full training for his entire staff.
Another attendee began thinking differently about his own work, too. He leads a sports program for children and wanted to share with Hope. “When a child repeatedly misbehaves, a common response is to remove them for a week,” he explained. “This training has helped me realize I was asking the wrong question; I was responding in the wrong way.” The training helped him learn to ask something new: What if the child who is pushing us away actually needs to be pulled closer?
For a child whose experiences have taught them the world isn’t safe, rejection may only reinforce what they already believe. A safe, consistent adult can offer something different: connection in the middle of difficult behavior, boundaries without abandonment, and an opportunity to learn that mistakes don’t have to cost them relationship. He left the training realizing discipline and care could look different. This realization is where hope resides.
Across the Dominican Republic, churches, children’s homes, nonprofits, social workers, pastors, coaches, and caregivers are already showing up for vulnerable children. Back2Back knows this work doesn’t begin with us; instead, the team is asking how the hands already doing the work can be strengthened. Because no single organization can meet every need.
We need each other.
The needs facing vulnerable children are significant, but this week offered a glimpse of what is possible when people gather around a shared table, remaining willing to learn:
- 26 people left better equipped in social work
- 40 people learned to see behavior through the lens of trauma
- A pastor went home seeing the children in his care with new eyes
- A coach started wondering whether a misbehaving child needs connection more than exclusion
And dozens more walked away believing something important: There are things we can do differently, and there are things we can do better. We can do both of them together.
