On Wednesday Dec. 4, Brandy Loveland (pictured above) discussed her efforts working in community engagement. She specified the importance of providing people with a comfortable space to voice their concerns (Xavier Delcid / photo editor).
On Wednesday Dec. 4, Brandy Loveland, Director of Community Engagement at Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition, spoke at Geneseo about her work with community engagement and restorative practices in Buffalo, N.Y.
Loveland explained how she works with the city of Buffalo to combat some of the struggles its residents face. Out of 115 major cities, Buffalo has the third-highest poverty rate and is the tenth-most dangerous city in the United States. In addition, the city struggles with opioid overdoses (there have been more than 800 over the past two years) and violence in public schools.
“These are statistics people want to avoid for their city. Trauma can be seen all throughout [Buffalo] just from driving through… You see spots where houses used to be, you see teddy bears on street corners. You see homeless people panhandling downtown.”
However, Loveland is inspired to address the trauma in the city of Buffalo, which she sees as having much potential for change and improving the community at large.
“But there is something about Buffalo. The people of Buffalo have a great spirit. When you look at Buffalo, you can tell from the cheers of every Buffalo Bills fan. You can tell it from every native. Almost every native in Buffalo says that they want to stay because their family is there, or they want to stay because they remember a Buffalo that was.”
Loveland focuses on trauma-informed care, which promotes a healing-oriented atmosphere. She concentrates on “what happened to you” instead of “what’s wrong with you.” The healing-centered approach she uses moves past addressing trauma through “what happened to you” and focuses on “what’s right with you,” which enables those suffering from trauma to take control of their healing and well-being.
Loveland emphasizes reaching out to the entire community to create change which, in her work in Buffalo, involves meeting with law enforcement, political figures and community gatekeepers. In addition, she focuses on getting to know members of the community and those that experience the trauma she is trying to solve with restorative practices.
“Leading in a town where there is this type of trauma, where you have people who are afraid to cross to other sides of the community, it’s not just enough to meet with [law enforcement, political figures, community gatekeepers]. You actually have to take on their feelings, you actually have to take on their interests and you have to delve into what they’re interested in.”
Loveland uses restorative circles to sit down with members of the community and give people a voice to speak their concerns and build relationships with those they would not normally be able to interact with constructively. She does this with members of police forces, adults, children and others.
Restorative practices are derived from indigenous culture, where the practice was not named but simply a way of living. This was how people communicated and connected with each other. They used restorative circles to celebrate and to discuss important matters, among many things.
“They would come together in a circle because they felt that everyone in the community had expert knowledge and experience to not only improve themselves but improve the community at large.”
Loveland seeks to give people in the community a voice, and the power to enact meaningful changes.
“We take your trauma, and we take your knowledge from that trauma, and we empower you and give you the voice to learn from that, to move forward and make changes in your community.”