Treetops Collective is a Grand Rapids-based organization dedicated to supporting refugees and immigrants during their transition to West Michigan.
The group has recently launched Circles of Support, wellness groups lead by new Americans to help others like them in processing and dealing with trauma.
Treetops will be holding training sessions to certify community leaders to facilitate their own peer support groups. Those groups will focus on the mental health and well-being of the immigrant and refugee communities. Corrective Care Specialist Salma Hassani explains the types of trauma some refugees may need help processing.
“The kind of trauma that they have, most come from the past that happened to them during the war, during when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.”
Program Operations Director Jenna Fiore says that each support group will be set up to meet the specific needs of its participants.
“This is lead by and for refugee and immigrant communities, so each facilitator is coming to lead a Circle in a language group for their community that they come from and that they serve.”
To register for training or the support groups, you can go to TreeTopsCollective.org.