hfm prevention council · winter ‘17-’18 winter 2017—’18 volume 29, issue 4 hfm prevention...
TRANSCRIPT
Winter ‘17-’18
Winter 2017—’18
Volume 29, Issue 4
HFM Prevention
Council
Inside this issue:
Clubhouse News 2
Recovery Center 2
4 Rivers Alliance 3
ASAPP’S Promise 3
High Disguise 4
Happy New Year!
Let’s jump right in with the big news…after 12 plus years of service to the HFM Prevention Council
Ann Rhodes is stepping aside from the Executive Director role. Ann had planned on retiring later
this year, but has decided to become our new Family Navigator (she will be helping families under-
stand and navigate the addiction treatment and recovery process) starting this January. Ann will be
an amazing asset to the families in our area and it is an area that she cares deeply and passion-
ately about. We are blessed that she will be filling this role for the council.
Ann did wonderful work during her tenure as executive director. When she started in the fall of
2005, the council consisted of a staff of six individuals (and I don’t believe all of the positions were
even filled) and she has grown the council to 20 employees. In the last three years alone, Ann se-
cured funding for the Creative Connections Clubhouse, the RC Recovery Center, Peer Engagement
Specialists, Drug-Free Communities money for the Hamilton County coalition, StopAct money for
the Fulton County coalition, Family Navigator position, and Recovery Housing. Truly inspiring! Her
outreach to the community has changed many lives and she has become a state-wide voice for the
recovery movement. The long tenures of our staff shows the respect and dignity with which Ann
treats all people.
So we won’t say good-bye yet, but we will say thank you, Ann!
All of this means that I have very big shoes to fill! Fortunately for me, we have an awesome staff
that never fails to amaze me.
Our Creative Connections Clubhouse has in the past year tripled, almost quadrupled, the number of
students that attend the clubhouse on a regular basis. TJ, John, Dana, Sergio, Casey and Richard
work tirelessly to make sure that these teens succeed in school and life.
The Recovery Center opened in June and has been growing ever since. Ginger and Jason have built
an amazing center from the ground up. And with the addition of our peer specialist, Erinn, in Sep-
tember and the family navigator, Ann, in January, it will continue to grow and serve individuals and
families in recovery.
On the prevention side, our four educators, Margaret, Yvonne, Alicia and Paul, are incredibly busy
doing programs in schools across the three counties. During a regular school month they reach
over 1000 students (unduplicated numbers!) plus conduct presentations, attend community events
and countless other activities. Shawn has developed the Choices program into his own vision and
it is so popular that he has scheduling issues. Rachel L. works with the 4 Rivers Alliance in Hamil-
ton County and coordinates the myriad of great activities that the coalition is accomplishing.
Linda continues to hold us all together on the financial side of things. Without Linda we would not
be able to operate and function as efficiently as we do. But since we have grown so fast, in Novem-
ber we hired Rachel F. (yes, that is three Rachels) to help with the finances. Welcome, Rachel!
I look forward to working with all of you to make our communities healthier!
Rachel Truckenmiller
Executive Director
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receiving help, based on
shared understanding, re-
spect and mutual empower-
ment between people in
similar situations.” Erinn
and Jason have been an
example of that – through
the activities and support
groups offered at the
Center, to the sharing of
their experiences, the
relationships they’ve built
with individuals and groups
facilitated at the Center,
and mentoring and goal
setting with participants.
They have also built
relationships with agencies
including St. Mary’s Hospi-
tal, Inpatient and Outpa-
tient Addictions, Family
Counseling Center,
Victorian Manor, Fulton
County Drug Court and
Fulton County Correctional
Thanks to funding from
NYS OASAS, The Rob Con-
stantine Recovery Commu-
nity and Outreach Center
welcomed two Peer
Engagement Specialists
aboard in 2017.
Erinn Eschler and Jason
Woodard work within the
community as recovery sup-
port staff, using their own
experience with addiction
and recovery to be re-
sources for individuals and
families suffering from sub-
stance use issues. Jason
and Erinn work with emer-
gency departments, correc-
tional facilities, and other
points of entry where indi-
viduals may show signs of
wanting recovery and sup-
port.
Peer support has been
defined as “offering and
Facility.
Erinn and Jason have
been through a series of
trainings since September
of this past year to ensure
they have the knowledge to
meet all challenges and
competencies. These stud-
ies include Trauma
Informed Care, NARCAN
Training, Ethics of Recov-
ery Coaches, Medication
Assisted Treatment, Moti-
vational Interviewing,
CCAR Recovery Coach
Academy, Youth Mental
Health First Aid, and Man-
dated Reporter Training.
Our Peer Engagement Spe-
cialists are available
through a 24-hour hotline:
518-705-4627
-Erinn Eschler
On Tuesday November
21st, the Creative Connec-
tions Clubhouse hosted a
community Thanksgiving
Dinner. Over 150 commu-
nity members were in
attendance. Dinner was
cooked by the Sentinel of
Amsterdam and was served
by the Amsterdam High
School Academy teachers.
We would like to thank all
who helped us make this
evening a great success!
The Clubhouse enjoyed
decorating for Christ-
mas! Mrs. Gavry came in
and assisted Clubhouse
members in learning how
to sew stockings to deco-
rate the Christmas tree.
Furthermore, Robin Devito
and JeanMarie Reinke
came in and donated the
supplies and their services
to help Clubhouse mem-
bers create gingerbread
houses to take home!
-Dana Garguilo
The Creative Connections Clubhouse
Rob Constantine Recovery Community and Outreach Center
“Our Peer
Engagement
Specialists are
available
through a
24-hour
hotline:
518-705-4627”
Page 2 HFM Prevention Council
Four Rivers Alliance has
been working on a social
norms campaign. Using
survey data results, we
worked with a graphic de-
signer to create posters
with the messaging that
most kids don’t drink alco-
hol on a regular basis, nor
are they using marijuana at
high rates. This campaign
is targeting not just youth,
but the whole community.
Posters have been distrib-
uted throughout Hamilton
County. If you’d like to
hang posters in your Hamil-
ton County business, office,
etc., email Rachel Lauria at
rlauria@hfm-
preventioncouncil.com.
The coalition held
another successful Family
University Night, with
speaker Dave DeCelle, from
the National Center for
Missing and Exploited
Children. At Lake Pleasant
Central School, Dave spoke
to parents, community
members and school staff
about keeping youth safe
online. Mr. Parslow’s Home
& Careers class provided
dinner for anyone who at-
tended. Thank you Mr.
Parslow & students!
Four Rivers is also in the
midst of our annual Lights
on for Life Campaign. We
are again collaborating
with Hamilton County
District Attorney, Sheriff’s
Department, Stop DWI, and
Highway Department. This
year the displays will be
updated, but the messag-
ing is the same: Don’t drive
distracted. Distractions
could mean under the influ-
ence, or even distracted by
cell phones and other
Fulton County’s drug free coalition is always looking for new members. The more
members of the community that are represented, the better job we can do to
prevent substance abuse in our community. We meet the first Tuesday of every
month at 9:30am in the training center at the HFM Prevention Council.
Our members recently gave us quotes about why they are coalition
members. Here are a few of their responses:
The coalition offers an opportunity to participate with a variety of stake-
holders in one place to develop a comprehensive approach to prevention
activities for the region it serves.
ASAPP’s Promise is where I go to obtain information on my community and
how to assist that community even better.
One of my favorite aspects of the coalition meetings is the networking and
sharing with other agencies in the area.
Coming together to help one another.
-Rachel Truckenmiller
Four Rivers Alliance
ASAPP’S Promise
“This
campaign is
targeting not
just youth, but
the whole
community.”
Page 3 Volume 29, Issue 4
“The more
members of
the community
that are
represented,
the better
job we can
do to prevent
substance
abuse in our
community.”
High Disguise - This 1 hour program is geared toward parents and other caring adults in the
community (21 years of age and older). The presentation gives participants the opportunity to
explore a mock teen bedroom. Participants will search for hidden drugs and paraphernalia,
while learning about concealment methods and drug
culture references. This will be followed with an
in-depth discussion about the room and current trends.
An opportunity for questions and answers will follow.
If you would like to schedule this presentation for your
organization, please contact Paul Meher, Alicia King
or Ginger Cato at the HFM Prevention Council.