CLEVELAND — Inside the four walls of Community of Faith Assembly near 55th and Broadway in Cleveland, Bishop Tony Minor said it's more than praise and worship going forth.
“The goal is to increase their [member’s] understanding of trauma and to give them a framework to respond to trauma," said Minor.
Minor told News 5 he is a trained grief counselor and offers trauma counseling to his members. He said he has also partnered with MetroHealth to train more than 50 Cleveland pastors on trauma counseling as well.
“We just provide a table, a platform for pastors to come, receive training, and to go back into their communities to help serve the people they care about,” said Minor.
Bishop Minor said the mental health ministry goes beyond the church’s four walls, and pastors are out in Cleveland streets where violence is happening.
“The most important thing that the church can do is provide love, compassion, and care to help deal with the collective impact of trauma that is in the community," said Minor.
Cleveland Councilman Blaine Griffin said the city has the same healing mission as Minor.
Back in June, Cleveland City Council announced it would spend nearly $3 million to offer trauma counseling at 22 rec centers across Cleveland.
News 5 asked Griffin if the counseling is working.
“We’ve heard some success stories, we’ve heard some areas where we can improve,” said Griffin. “The thing is how do we get to consistency? We have heard some success stories and breakthroughs.”
News 5 has reported extensively on the violent crime happening near Cleveland Recreational Centers lately, and that’s why Griffin said the city is focusing on healing those areas.
“There are kids getting killed in some of these areas and their friends witness it,” said Griffin. “Or the young man that's been shot recently near a rec center, the people that witness that are young people who experience trauma.”
Griffin said that parents or students who are interested in taking part in trauma counseling can head directly to their nearest rec center, click herefor a list of Cleveland rec centers.
Spiritual leaders interested in trauma counseling can contact Bishop Tony Minor at 216-883-5036
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
