Where we step up to break down silos, align visions, and make healing the norm - not the exception - for every child, in every system.
Dr. Susan McConnell’s keynote at Braced for Impact focused on the children we too often only hear about when it’s too late. The ones who end up in foster care after trauma, abuse, and system after system failing to step in. These are children at the end of the line and Dr. McConnell helped us understand not just who they are, but why they’re there.
She shared high profile stories of children who should still be here. The signs were there. The gap in the process is obvious. These aren’t just tragedies — they’re symptoms of systems that somehow miss "it"...don't work together well... don’t connect.... and don’t act early enough.
What brought the message even closer to home were the stories shared by people in the room. Community members who trusted that the space we created for everyone is safe enough for them to speak up. Families who lived through the same patterns. No headlines. Just pain, and truth, and resilience. This is why we gathered. To listen. To be accountable. And to make sure fewer children ever reach the end of the line. ❤️
The participants and lawmakers in attendance didn’t just sit with folded hands. They took notes. Page after page. That kind of presence shows something important: these stories are shaping how we move forward. They’re not just being heard, they’re becoming the blueprint for change.
The gathering ended with a simple yet critical question from Katrina that started Project Unity for Children, "Is this the best we could do for a child?" I tried to challenged everyone in the room to ask the right questions. To challenge themselves. And to constantly ask if their efforts and understanding truly is the best they could do for children and their families.
My deepest gratitude to the keynote speaker Dr. Susan McConnell from Let It Be Us and our panelists - State Representative Mary Beth Canty, Adriane Johnson for Senate, Tammy Burns from Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, Aiyanna Emsun from A Safe Place, Andrew Shelton, LCSW from Harper College/Roots of Renewal Therapy, PLLC and Verda Bhatti from Between Friends.
Katrina