At the center of all harm is trauma. Survivors, of course, experience trauma from violence. However, the people who cause harm have often suffered from trauma too.  Trauma comes from toxic stress created by heightened fear, violence, and other severe challenges. Trauma can rewire a person’s brain and compromise education, employment, or financial stability. If it’s experienced at a young age, trauma can hurt physical and mental health or relationships. Healing trauma, especially for young people, is essential to rebuilding lives and breaking the cycle of violence and harm.

This is something Al-Tariq Best realized was far too common for young people in Newark, including himself. Newark police officers pulled over the car that he and his friends were driving to a music studio when they were in their late teens. As he shared this emotional story in Trauma to Trust, he got a new sense of just how deeply the trauma affected him, and just how deeply these interactions affect young people.

He started The HUBB Arts and Trauma Center to empower young people. The HUBB is the east coast’s first youth-focused trauma recovery center. The center will add a new healing dimension to an organization already serving hundreds of youth annually with entertainment arts therapy, educational supports, and mentoring and empowerment supports.

Healing trauma is a lifelong journey. The public safety ecosystem needs to support healing for all folks.