The Harriet Initiative

The Empowered Trauma Recovery Group 

  • The Harriet Initiative Is A Hospital-Based Program for Survivors Impacted by Gun Violence
  • Consists of 12 group sessions designed to educate, explorer and create plan to address issues related to gun violence trauma.
  •  Group sessions are facilitated by culturally responsive menta health practitioners who have experience with working with trauma survivors in high stressed communities. Sessions will be included.
  • The group concepts focuses on discussing the greater context that perpetuates generational trauma.
  • The group also offers ways to address trauma through strength based approaches  that are preventive rather than reactive.

Read the StarTribune Article Here

Program Goals:

  • Increase participant engagement in trauma recovery.
  • Increase participant understanding of impact many areas of their life.
  •  Increase participants ability to manage symptoms related to the traumatic event.
  •  Increase participants access to community based providers

Target Population:

Next Step Program participants


The Harriet Initiative Is A Hospital-Based Program for Survivors Impacted by Gun Violence. Empowered Trauma Recovery Group consists of 12 group sessions designed to educate, explorer and create plan to address issues related to gun violence trauma. The group concepts focuses on discussing the greater context that perpetuates generational trauma. The group also offers ways to address trauma through strength based approaches  that are preventive rather than reactive.

Explore:

During the session participants are able to explore their feelings about being a survivor of a traumatic event and discuss how it has impacted their lives and others that are close to them.

Participant also are encouraged to learn about the process of transcending through trauma by understanding the deeper narrative through journaling 

Creating a Plan

 Trauma plan that includes self-resilience and community assist people with  recovering  from  traumatic events. The participants will be given the tools and support needed to identify crucial community  resources that will assist in reducing challenges related to their  trauma

Harriet Project Minneapolis Supporting Victims of Violence

The Harriet Initiative Is A Hospital-Based Program for Survivors Impacted by Gun Violence . Wellspring’s  Anger Management Series consists of group sessions and activities that assist participants to develop the life skill sets, knowledge, and values necessary to eliminate some of the elements/barriers to success and lessen their likelihood of becoming involved in the legal system or falling prey to being incarcerated. 

This series was designed to provide participants with a foundation that will assist them in developing a skill set to have healthy relationships. The skills taught, and information shared will assist participants in making a rational decisions as they are presented with various situations in their daily lives.

Participants will learn that Anger is a natural human emotion and is nature’s way of empowering us to “ward off” our perception of an attack or threat to our well-being. The problem is not anger, but the problem is the mismanagement of anger. Mismanaged anger and rage are the major cause of conflict in our personal and professional relationships. It can cause us to make irrational and irresponsible decisions

This anger management series wills assist participants in understanding the origin what anger and learning techniques and appropriate ways to deal with it, which will help them live a healthier lifestyle. 

The participants will be taught how one’s identity development begins with the emergence of a clear sense of self. Participants will explore how race, gender, values, sexuality, and spirituality play into who they are or want to be. The men/women will learn how past trauma affects current behavior choices and behavior. How effects of chemical dependency impact our decision making. They will learn how the past hurt and how we respond to it.

It is expected that we pay attention to the beliefs and values of them and their families about how they find themselves in adjudication and subsequently on probation. We pay attention to the cultural variations of the participant’s and family’s experience and the trauma their response to trauma.

This is an exploration of self and how family structures assist us as we develop throughout our lives. The group is an interactive group designed to help participants become comfortable with other group participants and build a positive self-image. The group can also be restructured to address any pressing issues participants may be experiencing now.

It is our belief with the above services will help participants find their way to a bridge of recovery and living a more happier and healthy lifestyle. 

In the culturally informed framework for understanding how to treat or provide intervention services to African American males, we place emphasis on the ethnocultural factors that may affect their attitudes towards their intervention and the reasons for their being referred to such programming, and their responsiveness to the intervention. As we try to help restore a sense of safety through trust-building for the African American participants and their families. We need to be able to attend to the stress of the family and the African American individual in a way that they define the problem while working within and through the family, structure to promote emotional and social support and the utilization of coping resources, as the health and well-being of our African American individuals that are at risk