Applying Trauma Informed Principles to Food Security and Basic Needs

With the passing of AB 132, California has launched efforts to establish Basic Needs Centers across its community college campuses by June of 2022. Incorporating trauma informed principles into basic needs work is a critical part of helping students feel heard and supported while maintaining essential human dignity and cultural connections.

The first part of the webinar features practical strategies on how to integrate a trauma informed approach to food security, as applied by Leah’s Pantry, a leading voice for trauma-informed nutrition education. This portion of the webinar also features brief presentations by Mt. San Antonio College and San Diego City College practitioners that speak to how each campus has integrated trauma informed principles into their basic needs framework.

The second portion of the webinar takes a closer look at how basic needs work has informed the conversation on each campus around equity and access including topics around staff training and evaluations, community inclusion, and financial aid policies.