OUR SONOMA-NAPA COUNTY FIRE RESPONSE
We Are Here for You
As a part of the Santa Rosa Junior College, we all realize the impact that the recent Sonoma-Napa County fires had on us. Everyone of our team felt the affects of the fire either personally or through our community. It is safe to say that we are all feeling the affects still even after the fires have died out.
We want to personally say that we are here for you, the campus is here for you. To be resilient to tragedy like this, we need to keep the momentum of the support that spawned during the crisis weeks, months afterwards. As one student who had previously lost a house to an electrical fire, "the easiest part of the fire is watching your house on fire." There will be tolls still to be felt, depths of loss still yet to be reached.
Use Us As a Resources!
Shifts in priorities occur, and sometimes we are left with no clue where we started and where to go next. Meeting with a Student Success Coach can help you regain focus and snap you back into the flow of school.
Campus Resources
- Student Psychological Services have a wide range of help both one on one and in group therapy.
- There are also more community based resources through the Santa Rosa Junior College, such as crisis assistance.
- Don't be afraid to reach out to our Disability Resouces Department if this tragedy has truly affected you heavily.
- Our House: Intercultural Center on the Petaluma Campus is an inclusive student lounge housed to many activities and is a nice place to relax and be with a community.
Resilience Strategies
According to the American Psychological Association, the following are 10 ways to build resilience:
- Make connections: Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important.
- Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems: You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events.
- Accept that change is a part of living: Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.
- Move toward your goals: Develop some realistic goals. Do something regularly — even if it seems like a small accomplishment — that enables you to move toward your goals.
- Take decisive actions: Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away.
- Look for opportunities for self-discovery: People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of their struggle with loss.
- Nurture a positive view of yourself: Developing confidence in your ability to solve problems and trusting your instincts helps build resilience.
- Keep things in perspective: Avoid blowing the event out of proportion.
- Maintain a hopeful outlook: An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life.
- Take care of yourself: Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience.
- Additional ways of strengthening resilience may be helpful: For example, some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope.
- The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you as part of your own personal strategy for fostering resilience: