Michelle - 1

Michelle McDaniel

AIM Expansion

Biography

Michelle McDaniel has been serving Denver’s most disenfranchised and vulnerable communities since 2007.  She began her work with at-risk youth and human services as a student at the Community College of Denver, earning an Associate of Applied Science in Human Services degree, and graduating Cum Laude with Honors.  While in school, Michelle interned at the Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP), a place that once helped her as a troubled adolescent, and where she found her true calling.  Over the last decade, Michelle has taken her passion to serve and further developed her expertise and skill set in youth and human services.  Michelle began working for GRASP as a community outreach worker, and was then hired as an intervention specialist for patients presenting to Denver Health’s Level I trauma center emergency department with violent injuries.   

In 2016, due to her unique life experience and skill sets, Michelle was selected to manage Colorado’s only hospital- based violence intervention program housed at Denver Health, At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring (AIM). As a witness and survivor of violence, Michelle understands the impact trauma has on Denver communities.  She strives to stop the cycle of violence at the hospital bedside at Denver Health, drawing from her own experiences and using the teachable moment, when youth and young adults can recognize the concrete consequences of their risky life choices.  Michelle also facilitates therapeutic and culturally sensitive healing circles for survivors of trauma as well as hospital personnel.  Michelle is a member of Denver Health’s Violence Prevention Committee and The National Network of Hospital Based Violence Intervention Programs, wherein she provides insights and support for providing trauma-informed care.  As AIM’s program manager, Michelle has successfully collaborated with the departments of Surgery, Pediatrics, Social Work and Adolescent Psychiatry to expand outreach services, incorporate transformative culturally-relevant healing methods, and promote the philosophy of Cultura Cura (a.k.a. Culture Heals).   

Michelle leads with her heart and works tirelessly to end violence and heal those who suffer, so that like her, they can help heal others. Overall, Michelle exemplifies the belief that Healed People, Heal People

 

Michelle McDaniel

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