Who We Are
The Chester Community Coalition started when volunteers from Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence noticed the heavy burden of grief carried by Chester residents impacted by gun violence at the t-shirt demonstrations they organized. Sr. Jean Rupertus, of The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia learned of a grant from Catholic Health Initiatives (now CommonSpirit Health) focused on violence prevention.
Through the Sisters, a group of volunteers, including cofounder and current Advisory Board member, Frances Stier, applied for, and received funding to provide trauma-informed counseling to children and parents who had lost a loved one to violence.
Additional funding from Congregation Ohev Shalom, The Foundation for Delaware County, The Community’s Foundation, and Swarthmore Presbyterian Church allowed us to add groups for teens, an art group for children 4 to 7 and a support group for people healing from violent assault and their caregivers. More recent funders include the Sisters of St. Francis Mission and Ministry Fund, the Scattergood Foundation, and the Green Family Foundation, who have helped us expand to hospital-linked violence interruption and strengthen our outreach capacity.
With a commitment to client-centered care and community-informed decision making, Chester Community Coalition continues to provide trauma-informed therapy, case management, and training services through a diverse, culturally competent, well-trained, and dedicated team.
What We Do
MISSION
To heal the psychological and emotional impact of homicides and reduce trauma-related reactive violence in the City of Chester, PA.
VISION
Provide compassionate counseling services and related activities to children and adults within Chester City who have been negatively impacted by violence to promote healing, peace and safety within their families, surrounding community, and the entire City of Chester and surrounding Delaware County area.
OUR CULTURE
Chester Community Coalition expects to achieve its vision by adhering to three core values: compassion, accountability and respect.
For us, it is critically important to have a team that incorporates these values and holds each other accountable for living this culture every day. It is these values that allow us to successfully fulfill our mission to heal the psychological and emotional impact of homicides and reduce trauma-related reactive violence in the City of Chester, PA.
Our values are expressed in the following ways:
- COMPASSION
- Respect the dignity of all the participants in our program
- Be sensitive to the trauma-centered nature of CCC work
- Display cultural humility and cultural competence in interactions
- Exhibit compassion towards the children and families who seek our help as well as fellow staff, trainees and volunteers
- Maintain a trauma-informed perspective when working with participants, team members and conducting work duties with other agencies
- Maintain appropriate boundaries
- Practice self-care
- ACCOUNTABILITY
- Be accountable to others and promote an accountable culture when working in teams
- Be willing to make appropriate sacrifices to meet team goals
- Maintain a high ethical standard, earn trust and maintain confidences
- Be able to work in a systematic manner
- Document key processes as needed to allow transparency with other team members
- Demonstrate an ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing environments
- Demonstrate tenacity and a willingness to take initiative and contribute to organizational and team goals
- RESPECT
- Demonstrate, through behavior and communication, a respect for the work environment and for fellow colleagues.
- Be inclusive and collaborative when making decisions in ambiguous situations
- Take care of communal space and consider how actions will affect others
- Help coworkers when you are able, to make the jobs of others easier or more productive
- Maintain enthusiasm for the work you do and the larger mission
- Prioritize tasks appropriately and focus on higher priorities to produce key results
