ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how a Resilience Coordinating Coalition (RCC) can begin its efforts to enhance universal capacity for mental wellness and transformational resilience for the long climate emergency. It starts by discussing why, in severely distressed communities, a good way to start is to engage residents in trauma-healing gatherings because residents cannot focus on other issues until they begin to heal their suffering. The chapter then describes how, in communities that are not severely traumatized, an RCC can begin by engaging residents in discussions about the local issues they are most concerned with and linking those issues to mental health and psycho-social-spiritual problems. The process of engaging residents in mapping the local protective factors--or assets--that can be used to address their concerns and strengthen their capacity for mental wellness and transformational resilience is then discussed. The chapter moves on to describe how RCCs can use the information that is generated by both approaches to develop a Community Resilience Profile. It closes with examples of how different organizations have approaches these issues.
