When Madison Tribley walks through the doors at Wildwood Programs, the staff development specialist knows she's walking into a safe space.

"We can't force people to apply, we can't force people to work in our field, but what we can do is keep the staff that we have happy," said Tribley.

Wildwood is one of 130 organizations across the state that have sent staff to the Tending the Roots Instructor's training through the Trauma-Informed Network Resource Center, exploring how racism, trauma and social factors impact health.

"It looks at its practices, policies, and procedures from a trauma-informed lens to create environments that are supportive and that can help mitigate the trauma that people may be coming to work with," said Marianne Simon, the director of behavioral and therapeutic supports at Wildwood.

Sixty-four percent of people have experienced at least one adverse childhood event, according to Simon, and that number jumps to 75% for employees in the human services field.

"It really starts with training and educating everybody from the top down on what trauma is and recognizing that we all probably come with we call it stuff here just in its simplest form. So, approaching people from empathy and a curious mindset instead of judgment."

"We are a whole person who experiences a whole lot of stuff outside of work,” said Wildwood Strategic Director of Organizational Development Tracy Blowers. “Of course, those thoughts, those feelings, that impact are going to go with us."

Tribley, Simon and Blowers are among the trainers educating Wildwood staff.

"Our job is not to help people through therapy or in a therapeutic way,” said Blowers. “But, what we can do is create a really safe environment where people feel that it's transparent. They can trust each other. There's a sense of collaboration and peer support. And also we want to do all we can to set the table for you to work on yourself as much as you want."

Blowers considers the culture shift a continuous journey, one she believes more businesses and organizations should consider.

"People prioritize their mental health and feeling good about walking in the door at work, and if they don't feel that way, they'll walk in somebody else's door,” said Blowers.