The TURN Model: Building Coalitions to Reduce Trauma and Create Safer Communities
Introduction to Pastor Chris Harris
Pastor Chris Harris speaks about Bright Star Community Outreach, NATAL Training, the TURN Center in Bronzeville in south Chicago, and the TURN Model of Coalition Building to Reduce Trauma and Build Safer Communities.
Are you looking for solutions for reducing crime and building safer, healthier, and more prosperous communities? If so, Pastor Chris Harris delivers valuable answers in this episode of Justice Voices.
The TURN Model and Community Coalition
Throughout this episode, Pastor Harris describes how he and his team built a dynamic community-based, faith-led coalition to deliver comprehensive services in the historic greater Bronzeville neighborhood of south Chicago. These services include, moreover, violence prevention, trauma counseling, workforce development, and other critical community needs based on the TURN (The Urban Resilience Network) model.
As the pastor at both Bright Star Church and St. James Church, Pastor Harris also serves as founder and CEO of Bright Star Community Outreach (BSCO).
International Partnership to Address Trauma
In this conversation with host David Risley, Pastor Harris initially explains how he developed a relationship with NATAL (the Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center), an organization in Israel providing treatment and support to victims of trauma. Subsequently, he describes how he brought NATAL trainers to south Chicago to train faith and community leaders and volunteers to deliver trauma-informed care to people in their communities.
Expanding Partnerships and Impact
As a direct result of his partnership with NATAL, Pastor Harris and his team developed the TURN model for addressing high crime community needs. Consequently, this innovative approach led to BSCO partnerships with over 70 organizations, including Northwestern University’s school of medicine, the University of Chicago, United Way, CIGNA, and the MacArthur Foundation.
Future Vision and Replication
Having successfully proven the effectiveness of the TURN model in the greater Bronzeville area, Pastor Harris furthermore shares his vision of expanding its implementation in other communities. Above all, he emphasizes it as a community-centered, data-driven approach to building working coalitions to address community needs.
Episode Details and Resources
Full transcript: https://justicevoices.org/ep-20-pastor-chris-harris-turn-model/
Index:
00:00 Preview clips (Pastor Harris)
00:59 Intro (David Risley)
02:12 Introduction of Pastor Harris and Bright Star Community Outreach
03:49 Trauma as carrier of violence; BSCO/NATAL partnership to reduce trauma
07:10 TURN Center — trauma help
09:12 Trauma in high crime communities 12:19 Bright Star Community Outreach (BSCO) beginning to present
15:07 Over 70 community partners and other support
18:43 Community coalition building — faith community
22:01 Results — crime reduction data 23:02 Coalition building includes sharing the benefits
25:16 Vision for future — TURN model works — replicate in other communities
29:40 TURN Center today
32:24 Upcoming episode about BSCO Behavioral Health Department
33:02 For more information
33:55 Call to action
BSCO website: https://www.brightstarcommunityoutreach.com/
NATAL website: https://www.natal.org.il/en/about-us/
Justice Voices website (all episodes and blog): https://justicevoices.org
