trainings

Trauma informed care is pivotal in creating stability for children in our community, improving family stability, increasing the well-being of staff and volunteers, and growing long-term family and community resilience. In this season of remarkable change and community power we commit to working closely with our partners and peers to increase the community’s capacity around trauma informed care and family resilience. People Serving People has hosted a Building a Trauma Informed Community Series for a three years now. Look for upcoming trainings on this page!

If you have questions about upcoming trainings contact Nicque Mabrey at nmabrey@peopleservingpeople.org

Geared to staff, community members, volunteers, partners and colleagues that work with families, people experiencing homelessness, children and youth, and people who have experienced trauma, this series will introduce you to trauma informed care principles and an opportunity to apply them to your unique context.

Previous Series Trainers

Nicque MabreyNicque Mabrey, Community Engagement Manager, People Serving People
Nicque is responsible for managing community engagement through our robust community partnership program, trauma informed care community capacity building, supporting guests in leading our Civic Engagement, and developing an organizing model unique to families experiencing homelessness. She is a Community and Cultural Organizer, proud to be building power in Minnesota for over 15 years. Nicque holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from The College of St. Scholastica.

Previously, Nicque served in Elections at Hennepin County, GOTV Coordinator with MN Voice, and Associate Director of Policy for Outfront Minnesota. She is passionate about healing work through intersectional, multi-generational racial justice movements that center youth and families. Nicque is a past Board Chair with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and Leader with Take Action Minnesota. She grew up in rural Wisconsin and now lives in St. Paul.

Erica ValliantErica Valliant, Whole Family Systems Manager, People Serving People
Erica is responsible for managing a Core Team of stakeholders in a learning process and partnership to explore the problem of family homelessness that overwhelmingly impacts African American and Native American families through a whole systems approach, exploring areas that include childcare and quality early-learning education and preventing the re-occurrence of the experience of family homelessness. She is a member of the Regional Expert Network for Heading Home Together: Minnesota, a table of public and private stakeholders responsible for executing the state’s plan to end homelessness.

Erica came to People Serving People after serving as a Community Engagement Specialist for the Science Museum of Minnesota, where she continues to support projects. She is also a parent organizer with Education Partnerships Coalition, a grantee through the StriveTogether’s Cradle to Career Community Challenge Strategic Initiatives Fund. Her professional background includes financial services, insurance, and  telecommunications.

Erica graduated from the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation’s Neighborhood Leadership Program and Community Equity Program. She is currently a Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute fellow at Nexus Community Partners and is the Chair of the Summit University Planning Council Board of Directors. She serves on Ramsey County’s Low-Income Committee Citizen’s Advisory Council, St. Paul’s Blast off to Kindergarten, Victoria Theater Community Engagement Committee, Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood’s Parent Council, and her children’s school P.T.A. She also is a trained circle keeper.

In 2018 Erica received an Unsung Hero award presented by Minnesota Communities Caring for Children. She is a mother of three and Chicago native who has lived in Minnesota for over 15 years.

Kelis Houston, Village Arms
Kelis Houston is Founder of Village Arms, a Christ-centered non-profit organization dedicated to aiding and assisting African American youth and families impacted by child protection. She serves as cultural consultant and small group facilitator to child welfare staff, students and service providers with training designed to bring a new level of cultural awareness to those working within the African American community. In addition to her full-time work and advocacy, she also serves as Chair of the NAACP Minneapolis’ Child Protection committee and board of directors of the MN Trauma Project.