The journey to revive PACEs Connection has been both challenging and inspiring. Earlier this year, the platform, which serves as a vital resource for communities to connect and raise awareness about adverse and positive childhood experiences, went dormant due to funding challenges. For long-time staff members Carey Sipp and Dana Brown, letting the platform fade away was not an option. Recognizing its importance to thousands who rely on it for information, support, and community engagement, they were determined to bring PACEs Connection back.

Over the past six months, Carey and Dana dedicated countless hours to ensuring the platform’s revival. With the invaluable support of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC), along with PACEs Connection’s previous fiscal sponsor, Third Sector New England (TSNE), and many individual supporters, PACEs Connection has found a new home as a division of NPSC. This partnership secures the platform’s immediate future and aligns it with a broader mission to translate scientific knowledge into effective practices, systems, and policies.

Today, PACEs Connection is thrilled to welcome back its community of over 60,000 members. While the platform is operational, critical work still needs to be done. To sustain operations through March 2025, PACEs Connection needs to raise $15,000 by November 5th. Community support is essential to help keep the platform thriving, enabling it to continue its mission of preventing trauma and fostering resilience through awareness and positive experiences.

This announcement shares more about the journey to revive PACEs Connection, the partnerships that made it possible, and how supporters can contribute to the future of this essential platform:

EXCITING NEWS – PACEs Connection is BACK!

 

We’re revitalizing PACEs Connection!

Great news: We’ve partnered with a new organization to help raise awareness about the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) and ensure it’s embedded in policies and practices across healthcare, education, economics, climate change—every facet of life.

Urgent Support Needed: Help Us Keep PACEs Connection Alive!

While we’re thrilled to be back, we need your help to keep PACEs Connection running. Our previous fiscal sponsor generously keeps the platform online until November 11, but we need to raise $15,000 by November 5 to stay operational through March 31, 2025.

We’re already hearing from past donors who are eager to help, but we need more support to reach our goal.

How You Can Contribute:

• Online: Fill out our donation form to contribute effortlessly.
• Check: Make payable to National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (write “PACEs Connection” in the memo section) and send to Dana Brown at 4364 Bonita Road, PMB322, Bonita, CA 91902.
• Wire: Email Carey Sipp at carey.pacescommunities@gmail.com for wire transfer or electronic fund transfer details.

❤   DONATE NOW

Every contribution helps keep PACEs Connection a vital resource for our community. No donation is too small!

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A NEW CHAPTER WITH NEW PARTNERS

Thanks to the support of two key organizations—the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) and our former fiscal sponsor, Third Sector New England (TSNE)—and many individual supporters, PACEs Connection is back!

Diana Fishbein, PhD, founder and co-director of NPSC, shared her thoughts: “We recognized the importance of PACEs Connection having a nonprofit home with aligned goals, enabling it to secure funding and continue its crucial work.”

NPSC is a professional organization committed to translating prevention science into sustainable policies and practices. PACEs Connection’s new division within NPSC is a perfect fit, given our history of collaboration.

One of our key supporters is Jesse Kohler, NPSC board member and executive director of the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP). Jesse will serve as the liaison between PACEs Connection and the NPSC board. We’re excited to continue our work together!

WELCOME BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY!

To our 60,900+ members: Welcome back! We invite you to start posting, share your stories, and let the PACEs community know what you’ve been up to. (Posting instructions and trauma-informed community guidelines remain the same.)

SPREADING THE WORD

We’re also grateful to our content contributors who are helping to build momentum. Dr. Lori Dorfman, director of the Berkeley Media Studies Group, shared her excitement about our return, noting the significant impact that media coverage of ACEs science has had on raising awareness.

We look forward to adding new blog posts and resources to our site, highlighting research on media coverage of PACEs and other vital topics.

OUR PERSEVERANCE: WHY WE DIDN’T GIVE UP

The past few months have been challenging, but we persevered. We didn’t give up.

The “we” is Carey Sipp and Dana Brown. As long-time staff members of PACEs Connection, we were determined to bring the website and its invaluable resources back to life after it went dormant in April when our funding dried up.

We both knew the importance of PACEsConnection.com. The information about the lifelong effects of positive and adverse childhood experiences—and the ways to foster nurturing environments for children, families, and communities—was too vital to lose. Over the past six months, we’ve worked tirelessly to keep the site and organization alive.

We remain committed to raising awareness about the lifelong impact of childhood experiences—positive and adverse—and the importance of preventing trauma. This work must be at the forefront of decisions made by parents, educators, policymakers, and organizations of all kinds.

As Dr. Fishbein said: “We’re excited to play a role in keeping this vital network online, as it serves as the primary source of news and connection for the trauma prevention community.”

For more on the history of PACEs Connection and its roots in the groundbreaking ACEs study by Dr. Vincent Felitti.