Voices Of September 11 Inc

In addition to attracting large numbers of participants from the 9/11 community, voices programs serve as professional learning opportunities for a wide range of individuals such as mental health clinicians, community stakeholders, ngos, and others in the support services space. Voices hosted our annual two-day always remember symposium on 9/9/2024 and 9/10/2024, both in-person and virtually. More than 1,300 individuals from 28 states and 16 countries participated, and the overall program provided critical information for our target audience - the importance of a victim-centered approach in planning and recovering from trauma through collaboration across providers. Voices has provided over 210,000 hours of direct social work support since 2019. Day two of our symposium on 9/10/2024 was again devoted to specific educational modules for 9/11 community members. All presentations were recorded and posted on the voices website available for anyone to view at no charge. Voices partnered with 9/11 day and americorps and we had individuals attending our symposium help create 500 preparedness backpacks for distribution.

Voices mental health programming continues to include case management, facilitation of focus groups, and virtual support groups utilizing zoom. In 2024, voices provided over 2,500 hours of support group services and made appropriate referrals for more intensive mental health supports as necessary. Our programs help participants learn about key issues and by coming together to do so helps build resilience. We estimate providing over 215,000 hours of direct social work services since 2001. In addition, voices continues to provide educational programming throughout the year, inviting subject matter experts to share their knowledge on topics such as, building resilience, coping with loss & grief, writing as a healing tool, and the latest in ptsd treatments. These workshops, which include breakout groups for participants to process new learning together, form a strong annual curriculum of support that is then archived on our website to be viewed by a wider audience. Peer support groups include survivors, victim's family, responders, bereavement, caregivers, and parents helping parents (php). Php is held in person twice per month for parents that have lost a child at any age.

Our mission includes helping other communities plan and respond to tragic events. This work is built upon a combination of lessons learned from lived experience, and from a body of research conducted to deepen our expertise on related topics. Research outcomes give us deeper knowledge to offer advice to communities planning for, or healing from, mass violence or terrorism. We continue the process of archiving our years of research, video content, and documents reflecting our advocacy work into the digital resource library. This content of over 5,300 evidence-informed resources is free to access and offers a robust and meaningful history for researchers, clinicians, and others wishing to learn more about any facet of our journey. Voices has formal training now developed which has been presented to a handful of pilot communities near our new canaan, ct office. This training will be expanded in the years ahead. Voices is proud of sharing this expertise.