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Survivors of violence in the Milwaukee area have a new place to turn for help. Wisconsin’s first trauma recovery center (TRC) opened in September, offering specialized mental-healthcare services.
The Medical College of Wisconsin launched the clinic at ThriveOn King in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood. It’s one of nearly 60 TRCs across 28 states in the country.
“Our goal is to help people go from surviving to thriving,” said Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini, director of the Milwaukee TRC. “Mental health and mental wellness is a huge part of that.
“We know that when individuals are experiencing, for example, posttraumatic stress disorder, the way in which they look at the world is from an alarm and safety standpoint. … And it takes so much energy to fuel that alarm system that it prevents people from being able to focus on other things … and then it also puts people in a constant defensive mode.”
Pioneered in 2001 by the University of California, San Francisco, TRCs use an evidence-based model to reach communities, individuals and families who slip through the cracks of traditional services. Their holistic model includes outreach, therapy and case management alongside community partner support.
Milwaukee Fire Department assistant chief Joshua Parish is on the steering committee.
“Probably about five or six years ago, the fire department really got involved in looking at what systems-level approaches can we take to reduce the impact of a lot of the untoward things that would happen to people in the community,” Parish recalled, “and that spawned our engagement in programs like working with the TRC.”
He said the brief moments with patients at scenes have helped firefighters recognize that incidents can happen before and after these encounters that can also influence future trauma.
“Super simply, we know that hurt people hurt people,” Parish said. “That’s so profound in the research, and we see that in the community. So any way that we can help interrupt that cycle is beneficial.”
The Medical College of Wisconsin lists violence as a top-five leading cause of death in the state. While new data does show a drop in homicides and violent crime in Milwaukee, the city often trends higher than many others in the nation.
In Milwaukee, there are already organizations that provide trauma recovery services. Dr. deRoon-Cassini said the TRC will collaborate with these programs while supplementing gaps in care, especially for families.
“We’re kind of launching in two phases,” she explained. “Phase one is, right now, we’re taking referrals from the two trauma centers at Froedtert and Children’s [Hospital]. We are also taking referrals from two CVI [Community Violence Interruption] programs in the city — so 414Life and Advance Peace — that’s with the county.”
In line with the national model, all services are free and for the most part the Milwaukee TRC will help clients aged 14 and older. The goal is to grow the network and add self-referrals in early 2027.
That network includes the TRC steering committee, along with organizations such as the Milwaukee Police Department, Sojourner Family Peace Center, Milwaukee County and Milwaukee Public Schools. As Dr. deRoon-Cassini put it, “This adds to the ecosystem of everything else going on in Milwaukee.”
The TRC is grant-funded, supported by a two-year, $1 million commitment from the National Alliance of Trauma Recovery Centers and a $250,000 grant from the Advancing A Healthier Wisconsin Endowment. There’s also been considerable in-kind support to help reshape the impact of trauma in the Milwaukee area.
“This has so much potential to make a meaningful difference in the city,” Parish said. “Having those tools to know how to navigate the world from a standpoint of having experienced a traumatic event but also to have the tools to navigate the world to prevent those future events I think is really key.”
