My name is Kimberly Pierce. I was a primary care provider for 35 years, working in the trenches in an underserved rural community. I was in one place seeing patients in a community space for 35 years, developing quite a connection with these people who were my patients and the people in my community—the teachers, the nurses, the farmers, and the artists. About 15 years ago, I learned about the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and how powerful it was as a determinant of your health. When the opiate crisis hit in the mid-1990s, my life kind of came crashing to a halt. My days literally changed to dealing with DCF, dealing with homicides, suicides, substance use, child abuse, and childhood sexual abuse. When I saw them suffering, my own mental health started to suffer.

When I learned about the science of trauma and the ACE scoring system, I thought, okay, this is information that they need to know. I felt like all humans deserve to understand this really, really important science of trauma, because once we understand it, we can actually do something about it. I implemented a pilot program integrating education as well as assessment about trauma within an office visit, and I suddenly realized how powerful it was. During that encounter, people would feel seen and understood for maybe the first time.

I had a vision that Vermont could and should become the first trauma-informed and ACE-informed state; if we could teach everybody about this—if I’m having these incredible, miraculous conversations one-on-one—imagine if we could double or triple or have a much bigger audience. It has to be that all of this starts with kindness: starts with kindness to ourselves, starts with kindness with whoever we’re talking about, creating more compassion for everyone through this science. And it became my spiritual path, honestly.