Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Push on to boost mental health support for first responders

    The Peer Support Team at Northwest Fire District connects firefighters with a trained peer support specialist to talk confidentially about mental health. The program also connects firefighters in need with additional resources like therapy and counseling. In an effort to change the mindset most first responders have toward mental health, there are currently 50 trained peer support specialists throughout the state and more than 1,000 across the country.

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  • When two is a lonely number: Group aims to connect spousal caregivers, ease isolation

    Well Spouse Association helps spouses manage the mental and physical challenges of caregiving. The nonprofit offers support groups, respite weekends that give caregivers time to take care of themselves and other responsibilities, and other resources. The relationships members build with each other help combat feelings of loneliness and isolation. With just 20 chapters nationwide, many members travel long distances to access the support and services, though moving meetings online due to the coronavirus pandemic had the effect of expanding membership and several members have also started local chapters.

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  • How a Richmond nonprofit is breaking barriers to mental health access among youth

    ChildSavers is a Richmond-based nonprofit offering students access to mental health services. The organization has group therapy sessions specifically focused on race and race-based stressors, along with telehealth and outpatient services.

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  • As Michigan ages, one woman has made it her mission to train family caregivers

    After taking care of her own parents, Paula Duren started “boot camp” sessions for caregivers to share available resources, tips for self-care, and support. Drawing on her experience as a psychologist, Duren started the nonprofit Universal Dementia Caregivers to build and run the workshops, which have moved to zoom sessions because of the COVID-19. The all-day sessions provide information ranging from financial advice to how to access state and local services to stress-reduction tips. The overarching message throughout is that caregivers must take care of themselves to take care of their loved ones.

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  • Philly mothers of gun violence victims work to solve their children's murders

    Philadelphia police fail to solve most of the city's growing number of homicides, in part because of the no-snitching street code, a byproduct of the community's lack of trust in police. But the streets do sometimes talk when the mothers of murder victims do their own detective work. A number of cases were solved because mothers turned their grief into a resolve to hunt down evidence that they turned over to the police. Their work grows out of the many support groups they have formed to help each other, and from a YouTube channel that helps them draw attention to unsolved murders.

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  • From LA jail, two inmates pioneer care for mentally ill peers

    At the Los Angeles County Jail, two men incarcerated on pending murder charges created a homegrown approach to improving the care and conditions of confinement for people with serious mental illness. Their approach is simple: showing love and care for people whose illness makes them feel like outcasts. By helping fellow incarcerated men attend counseling and other programs, and by tending to their personal needs, the initiative has contributed to a significant drop in people harming themselves. Fewer restraints are needed, and the pods where the program operates are notably cleaner and calmer than before.

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  • Life after prison: Communities heal by helping former inmates succeed

    People returning home to Akron from prison step into a community that needs healing, work that the formerly incarcerated can help with because of the lessons they can impart to younger people. But first they need their own healing. South Street Ministries and Truly Reaching You, two nonprofits run by formerly incarcerated men, help people in re-entry clear the barriers to housing and jobs that can doom them to returning to prison. They also provide peer counseling and mental health care.

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  • Drug treatment program is helping local inmates overcome addiction

    The Bartholomew County Jail's drug treatment program started in January 2020 with a rigorous application process, followed by about 400 hours of group and individual therapy for incarcarcerated people with drug abuse problems. The therapy attempts to unlock the reasons why each person's previous attempts to get healthy have failed. All but five of the 49 graduates so far have stayed out of jail and stayed in touch with the program, which helps them after their release with housing and job searches.

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  • Sanbornton Connect(s) seniors aging in place

    Sanbornton Connect is a local information exchange and social network for aging residents who share advice about meeting the physical, mental, and emotional challenges of living out their years independently in their own homes. The network started just before the pandemic, but quickly filled a vacuum left by the community's shutdown. Three dozen residents gather monthly on Zoom to trade tips and hear from experts. The goal is to provide personal connections in a sparsely populated town, and in a way that helps people plan before they're in a crisis as their health declines.

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  • ‘Somebody cares': How schools are helping with student well-being

    To combat the mental health impacts of pandemic-era remote and hybrid learning, Palmer Middle School in Georgia established a grief-support group, a "stress busters" group, a book club, and a series of virtual lunch sessions with games and music to help students make connections and learn coping skills. More than 90% of students reported decreased stress levels after participating in the stress busters program, and their school attendance records also improved.

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