What It Takes in Contexts of Chronic Traumas: Designing Place‐Based Programs for Social Capital, Community Resilience, and Economic Mobility

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how a 12‐month economic mobility intervention, Mothers Mobility Program (MMP), in Charlotte, NC, fosters usable social capital among single mothers facing systemic, financial, and personal stressors often associated with complex trauma. Using Braun and Clarke's (2006) Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), our interdisciplinary team conducted and analyzed interviews with a subgroup of 20 program mothers (ages 19–44) from six cohorts ( N  = 70) who completed MMP between 2021 and 2024. The analysis revealed the formation of bonding and bridging social capital among participants. These processes were sequenced and interdependent: bonding ties, fostered through program offerings and identity‐affirming spaces, first created trust and safety, which then enabled bridging connections to external resources. Shared staff‐client identities influenced engagement, but structural barriers limited the usability of newly formed networks. This study enhances social capital theory by detailing how single mothers experiencing chronic trauma develop, access, and utilize social resources within program settings, along with the program components that support these processes. When place‐based programs intentionally sequence bonding before bridging, provide identity‐affirming supports, and align external resources with community strengths, these processes become mutually reinforcing. Shared staff identity fosters trust and accelerates engagement, but structural barriers shape whether new connections translate into tangible benefits. Without this integrated strategy and attention to sequencing, efforts to build sustainable social capital and promote community resilience may be less effective in contexts of persistent inequities.