Eulanda began as the NC Center for Resilience & Learning program manager for the eastern region in 2021, primarily providing trauma-informed schools training and coaching in Pitt, Nash, and Edgecombe counties. As a former K-8 educator and school counselor, Eulanda has over 18 years of experience working in public education. She has a passion for using her gifts to serve vulnerable children and teens who are living in or experiencing stressful or traumatic situations. This passion continues to guide her toward opportunities to educate others on recognizing how trauma affects all individuals and how our bodies respond to trauma.
Eulanda received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and her master’s degree in Counselor Education from East Carolina University with a dual track in school counseling and clinical mental health. In 2018, she became a certified trauma-informed and resiliency focused educator through Reconnect for Resilience™.
While educating herself on trauma, resilience, and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs), Eulanda was selected as a board member of Rural Opportunity Institute (ROI). In this role, the mission is to support people’s healing process by educating, reshaping systemic practices, and fostering deep-rooted connections with individuals in the community at large. Eulanda has trained hundreds of individuals throughout Eastern North Carolina and beyond. Through these trainings, she has taught resiliency tools and built relationships which foster connection and healing. Eulanda’s work facilitating professional development and educating others has been featured in PACEs Connection (Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences) – a national social network for mental well-being. Through PACEs, Eulanda was recognized as a champion in building ACEs awareness.
Eulanda believes that resilience is an inner strength in all humans and that we as people need connection to support healing. She is committed to living life with an open heart to not only serve others, but to meet people where they are. Eulanda is now working to create trauma-informed – trauma-sensitive classrooms, and build positive relationships that focus on the whole child. Her deep passion for supporting the healing of children and educating others on what it means to be trauma-informed led her to compete for the pageant title of Ms. Black North Carolina USA. On March 6, 2022, she was crowned Ms. Black North Carolina – USA. Her platform is “Adverse Childhood Experiences; Fostering Healing Through Being Trauma-Informed.” In this role, Eulanda will volunteer her time to bring awareness to the public health crisis of ACEs and to educate the community at large on how we can promote healing from traumatic experiences.
As a former K-8 educator and school counselor, I have more than 18 years of experience working in public education. I have a passion for using my gifts to serve vulnerable children and teens who are living in or experiencing stressful or traumatic situations. This passion continues to guide me toward opportunities to educate others on recognizing how trauma affects all individuals and how our bodies respond to trauma. I find great joy and peace when educating others on how to stay connected, healthy, and resilient in the face of tough times and adversity. During stressful times, knowing how to self- regulate, restore self-compassion, and re-connect to others is essential in my life. It’s equally essential that I support others in these processes.
After working in the public school system as an educator for 14 years and while pursuing my master’s degree in counselor education, I attended a Reconnect trauma and resilience training which not only rekindled a fire within, but also changed the trajectory of my journey. In 2018, I began an in-depth study of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) along with trauma and resilience work. Shortly after, I became a board member of Rural Opportunity Institute (ROI) and a Reconnect educator through Resources for Resilience™.
Prior to joining the Public School Forum, I served as a school counselor while also passionately facilitating Reconnect trainings throughout eastern North Carolina. I believe what makes me stand out as a resilience educator is my open heart and my ability to connect with others. Living life with an open heart to not only serve others but to meet people where they are is important to me. I try to remember that everyone I meet has their own “stuff” to deal with in life and I never know how heavy or painful that stuff might be to carry. Additionally, healing from my own past trauma was accomplished by many factors including my innate resilience. My personal journey of healing enables me to offer support to others with letting go, connecting, and healing from the tough, heavy stuff. My gift is teaching by way of offering love, empathy, with a patient and compassionate presence to others, but first to myself.
The Passion Behind the Work
When I Google the term “passion” it is defined as “a strong and barely controllable emotion.” When thinking about the emotion behind this work and what drives me to support school systems, educators and students in building resilience – I can truly say I feel an emotion much deeper than joy alone. I feel a strong and barely controllable urge to offer support with my whole heart from a place deep within my soul. I believe this passion comes from a vow I made to God when I was a young girl. I made a vow that I would give the world the best I have — although it may never be enough. I remember asking God to “make me an instrument of His love.” I remember telling him that I would love others, serve others, and give with no conditions attached- simply because I genuinely believe as human beings, we are all connected. We are connected by our stories of triumph because we all have an area of our life which we have either overcome or are still striving to come out triumphantly. We are also connected by our stories of grief and/or pain. In the words of James Baldwin:
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
If we are indeed connected by our stories of triumphs and our stories of pain – it makes sense that we would also be purposefully and intentionally connected in our stories of resilience; those moments when we adapted well in the face of adversity.
So, where does my passion for this work come from? It comes from my strong desire to serve others in a way that allows them to feel valued, supported, cared for and connected. I enjoy educating others with empathy and compassion in a way that allows them to feel connected to what’s being taught.
When I speak about being connected I am referring to the state in which we feel more safety and trust in our relationship with others. That point in which we notice that we are not alone. We often connect in order to survive and thrive. From my own past experiences of not feeling connected, feeling alone and not valued – I am fueled with a strong desire to do my part in supporting others in their ability to adapt well, remain connected and feel supported during stressful times. Whether an individual is stressed while teaching a classroom full of students or stressed while trying to survive a pandemic- I believe we desire to feel supported and genuinely want to adapt well. Even as our students are growing and learning in a world filled with stress, I want them to know how to connect with others, and to build their resilience. My passion comes from a place of wanting others to feel connected and supported rather than alone.
My passion also comes from the ongoing mindfulness of how the life I live impacts my four children now and will continue to be impactful long after I’m gone. I want to leave a personal legacy for my children. I believe leaving a legacy also includes what I bestow personally to my children simply from the life I have lived. My children are always watching, listening, and noticing how I treat others. This in turn will impact how they choose to treat others and themselves. A lasting legacy is all about the actions I take during my life and the way those actions affect how others remember me. I want to ensure my loved ones will remember my life with love, not pain. I want the act of remembering me to bestow confidence, peace, strength, joy, love and connection.
What is My “Why?”
Why I do this work is very clear to me. Believing in others, caring for others, helping others see their strengths, providing support during tough times, simply showing up and being present brings me great joy that feels like contentment and peace within. I do this work because there is always someone who needs to know that no matter what they have been through or experienced, that pain or traumatic experience does not have to leave them stuck. We can make a conscious choice to grow through our adversity. Resilience is in all of us and I believe I have a gift within me that can serve as a source of connection, strength and safety when others are going through adversity. My “why” is because I believe love is the greatest power in the universe and love shows up in various ways. When someone is going through a tough time, being a source of love is something I believe can be very beneficial. I know that source of love lives within me and through that source of connection, resilience is built.
By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn. And so is this cycle of passion within me; I have learned how to build my own resilience so that I can teach others how to build theirs. And through teaching others, I am continually learning more to fuel the passion.
When I began learning about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), I learned this phrase “adversity is not destiny.” Knowing that my adversity is not my destiny is what keeps me going. Whether that adversity be the on-going difficulty of getting myself and my four children out of the house each morning for work/school or dealing with several health challenges- these tough circumstances do not have to dictate what happens next in my life. Each of us has the power to build on our strengths and grow. Safe, nurturing, and stable relationships can foster strength and healing. Self-regulation is possible. Restoring self-compassion is possible. Knowing this keeps me going in this work. More importantly, knowing that I have been given this beautiful and empowering opportunity to help educators, administrators, students and families know that adversity is not destiny is what keeps me going in this work.