DC3 brings helping agencies together to ‘collaborate and listen’ Published Dec. 28, 2015 By Karen Abeyasekere 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs RAF MILDENHALL, England -- The new year brings together a new collaboration of helping agencies on RAF Mildenhall, in the form of the "DC3," or Square-D Center for Character and Culture. An open house, held Dec. 17, 2015, introduced Team Mildenhall members to the four entities of the equal opportunity office, chapel, sexual assault prevention and response office, and the community support coordinator as they join together in one facility, located in Building 670. "We bring in and involve other helping agencies such as Airman and Family Readiness Center and mental health; the idea is to collaborate on activities and initiatives that promote a culture and builds character in Airmen and families as a primary prevention strategy," said Dr. Ivonn Ellis-Wiggan, 100th Air Refueling Wing sexual assault response coordinator. "It's a conservation of resources - we're all responsible for building the culture of the base, so if we do it together it produces a better product because we all bring different ideas and strategies and skill sets to the table, along with subject matter experts," explained Dr. Ivonn. "The idea behind this was to have one center - essentially, a hub - where we would promote and push those products out." The mission of the center is to "engage Airmen, foster resilience, and promote healthy relationships through education and advocacy" and the vision is to "create the best assignment ever! A culture where Airmen and families thrive and build lasting relationships." The collaborative themes, which will be spread throughout the year, are as follows: · Living a balanced life · Being physically fit · Mindfulness and gratitude · Developing character · Dignity and respect Integrated delivery system meetings are held monthly at the DC3, when representatives from each of the helping agencies get together to strategize and synergize ideas and plans. Each agency within the DC3 will work together to provide activities and events to highlight the various themes and for Airmen, civilians and their families. "We're not trying to lose the autonomy that each of the agencies has, so there are still things that they will do at their own facility," said Dr. Ivonn. "Part of the reason that EO, a chaplain, SAPR and CSC are here is because the work that we do often puts people off, and people don't necessarily want to talk to these agencies, yet we have a responsibility for hearing from Team Mildenhall members and seeing what are some of those risky behaviors that we need to respond to. "But if people don't want to come into our building because of fear or whatever, then we're not hearing that. So one of the other reasons for changing our name, housing us together and having activities that are held here - such as yoga and lunch-and-learns - is to bring people in to reduce the stigma that exists around us, so they will feel more comfortable talking to us," continued the SARC. "You could be coming here for a lunch-and-learn, or you could be coming here to see EO or SARC. Our aim is to remove barriers to access us and to increase our visibility. It allows for there to be a comfort level when people are talking to us, so we can respond to whatever we're hearing before it's an issue." The new DC3 facility offers many escapes and ways to destress for those needing it, whatever the reason. A break room is available along with couches, TV and coffee, for visitors to take advantage of some quiet time in a private space. There is also a "soft room," painted in calming colors which provides another private area which is used for anyone needing to talk confidentially to the SARC, chaplain or any other of the agencies, making it easier to relax and talk rather than sitting across a desk. Another opportunity that is available for anyone needing to just take some time out and clear their head during the work day is "adult coloring" - printed mandalas are a proven stress reliever and provide an opportunity for people to do self-care by just sitting, coloring and talking, explained Dr. Ivonn. "When people are engaged in a task like coloring, they're not so focused on their problem, but find it easier to talk about it," she said. "People can come over here at any time during the day." Yoga is also offered to promote mindfulness and as a form of stress relief, which Dr. Ivonn said has shown to be effective for post-traumatic stress disorder. Jiu Jitsu self-defense classes are scheduled to start Jan. 8, to aid in promoting protective factors and mitigating risks to foster safety. The chaplain is also a major part of the DC3, and is available to talk to Team Mildenhall members whenever needed. "We have an office over here that a chaplain and chaplain's assistant can work out of, and counsel and meet for planning and programs with the other DC3 teammates, such as IDS meetings where we plan how to support the base and take care of our Airmen," said Chaplain (Maj.) Randy Croft, 100th ARW deputy wing chaplain. "We're all working hard with initiatives and programs to promote healthy relationships, to lower some of the impulsive behavior, strengthen Airmen and their families, and we need to talk on the same page sometimes. "When we collaborate we can do much more," he said. "A lot of people are familiar with the IDS agencies such as A&FRC and SAPR, but we're trying to not just do our programs on our own, but to understand what other agencies are doing, so we can come alongside each other and help each other. For example, we did a family care retreat earlier this year and Airman and Family Readiness came and did a piece on communicating with your children, health promotions talked about being fit for your family, and the chapel did a piece on what values your family has, so we made family crests." Chaplain Croft explained that the retreat wasn't specifically a chapel program as other agencies could be subject-matter experts with experience they could all draw on. "So we don't have to do all of our programs solo - we can support each other and hear each other, and collaborate on some initiatives so we have more resources for people to tap into," he said. Dr. Ivonn added that the DC3 allows the agencies to become more proactive. "Having people coming and talking to us allows us to focus more on prevention," she said. "That's mainly our charge addressing risky behaviors; but it is true that other helping agencies such as A&FRC are also offering programs and services that promote protective factors, such as improving interpersonal communication skills, and it is important for us all to work together so that we can combine our individual efforts to prevent risky behaviors before they escalate." "For me, joining forces has been great because it's changed the conversation to allow there to be much more authenticity and comfort around it. Bringing people here to this environment means we have the ability to have conversations with people that don't cause fear. We talk about preventing sexual assault or preventing harassment, from the perspective of promoting healthy relationships, and it's much more palatable and a less-threatening environment so it's a much more positive message," said Dr. Ivonn. The DC3 is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The SAPR hotline is available 24/7 on DSN 238-7272 or commercial at 07876 148603. EO may be reached at 238-2468. The chaplain is available at 238-7777, 238-2822, or after hours at 238-2121.