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Nothing About Us Without Us!
VOCAL's Mental Health Recovery
News for April 23, 2012

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VOCAL Conference Registration Form Available for Download
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http://www.vocalvirginia.org/#/vocal-conference/4534274248

and scroll down to the bottom of the page to this section shown below, and click on 'here'. You will be able to download and print the form!!!

How Do I Register for "Strength and Diversity and Purpose"???
For a conference registration form, click here.

NOTE: This link may not work from cell phones, but does work from a computer.

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Conference Registrations and Scholarships Requests Due Thursday
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If you plan to attend the VOCAL Annual Conference in Harrisonburg on May 21-23 (or any part of it), please send in your registrations and payments this week! For those of you who are interested in scholarships, we must receive your payment before we can fully process your scholarship application. We have only 70 scholarships to give this year, and as always, those who send in their registrations and payments first receive the scholarships.

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"Recovery Connections" Starting in Charlottesville
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"Recovery Connections" is a social club (for individuals in their 20's and 30's) who are in recovery from a mental illness.  The social club provides many bi-weekly/monthly social and recreational activities for members in Charlottesville.  

Membership provides access to evening and weekend programs which may include dinner, movies, bowling, speakers, and other events. "Recovery Connections" mission is to provide the opportunity for members (especially those who feel isolated) to socialize in the community and develop friendships with peers.  This is not a support group, it is a social club! 

For more information or meeting times/location in Charlottesville contact Myra Anderson at (434) 242-0211 or liberatedchick09@yahoo.com

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for the "Wellness Initiative's Million Hearts Social Marketing Programs for Peer-Run Recovery Community Organization Awards".  This program is operated by contract with Abt Associates.

 

The awards will enable consumer run and peer recovery community organizations to conduct community-based social marketing activities to increase awareness about the importance of prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and stroke among adults with behavioral health challenges and the providers that serve them.

 

Twenty awards of $15,000 each will be distributed.  Optional letters of intent are due on April 23^rd. Applications are due on May 14^th by 5 p.m.     

  

The full RFA can be viewed at www.ctclearinghouse.org/files/customer-files/210-SAMHSA-Million-Hearts-RFA--FINAL-4-15-12.docx ; it can also be downloaded from the SAMHSA website - www.samhsa.gov.

 

 

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Eastern Henrico Mental Health Peer-To-Peer Support Group
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I am currently looking for individuals interested in starting a peer run support group to serve the Eastern Henrico/New Kent community mental health consumers. If you are from the area and interested in framing and supporting the development of this group, I encourage you to please attend the first meeting May 17^th at the Sandston Branch Library, 23 E. Williamsburg Road in Sandston, from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

For questions, please e-mail me at lalmarode@live.com or call me, Larry Almarode 804-986-7129.

 

 

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Webinar: Living WRAP on Thursday May 24^th    

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2:00-3:00 p.m.  

 

In this webinar, Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, will explore how people use WRAP daily as their guide to recovery and wellness. She will talk about the importance of hope, personal responsibility, education, self- advocacy, support, and problem solving in using WRAP. In addition she will share ideas for enhancing each section of WRAP so that it becomes a truly powerful personal guide. Her presentation will include stories that she has gathered from people around the world who use WRAP; stories that illustrate the challenges of using WRAP, and the power of WRAP in helping people to improve the quality of their daily lives and going on to meet their own goals and dreams.

 

Click here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/778361768

 

 

 

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Virginia Advance Directives Website Has Been Relaunched
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Mental Health America of Virginia (MHAV) in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), the University of Virginia Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, and Duke University, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making. This effort has culminated in the formal re-launching of Virginia's Advance Directives website at www.virginiaadvancedirectives.org. The website will address the questions of consumers, families and providers in regard to Advance Directives. Users will also be able to find the appropriate forms on the site, so they can develop their own Advance Directive. MHAV and DBHDS support Advance Directives as part of its ongoing commitment to promote recovery-oriented practices and empower consumers to be the experts in their own care.

Advance Directives provide a legal mechanism for persons with chronic health conditions, including mental health disorders, to document, while competent, their treatment instructions and preferences, and to authorize a healthcare agent to make treatment decisions for them during periods of incapacity. An Advance Directive may also contain individualized, patient-centered plans to prevent crises, as well as to manage and recover from them.

 

Please visit www.virginiaadvancedirectives.org for more information and to learn how you or a loved one could benefit from advance healthcare planning. Funding for virginiaadvancedirectives.org is provided by DBHDS through the federal Community Mental Health Services Block Grant.

 

CONTACT INFO:

James R Williams

IT Director, Mental Health America of Virginia

(o) 804.257.5591 (c) 804.608.9878

 

 

 

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Ticket to Work Presents "Going Back to Work While Receiving
Social Security Disability" Webinar
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April 25^th, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m.

 

Register here: http://chooseworkttw.net/wise/jsp/wise.jsp 

 

For questions or more information about this webinar or Ticket to Work, contact
Ticket To Work: http://www.chooseworkttw.net/help-desk/help-overview.html .

 

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NAMI CVA Seeks Spanish Speaking Volunteers to Train as Support
Group Facilitators
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NAMI Central Virginia is working to start a Spanish speaking Family Support Group to serve the friends and families of individuals living with mental illness in the Richmond Latino community. This group would meet twice a month for about 90 minutes.  This group would focus on parents whose child, teen or young adult may have a psychiatric diagnosis.  We are seeking a Spanish speaking family member of a person diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis to co-facilitator the group.  We want to reach out and support Spanish speaking families who are struggling with the same issues and having a facilitator with the same lived experience is extremely empowering.

We would welcome a discussion with Spanish-speakers willing to be trained as a Support Group facilitators.  The training could be done locally and takes a weekend.  The time commitment is: 90 minutes twice a month to run the support group, plus 15 minutes to set up and greet attendees, and 15-30 minutes after the meeting to talk with some parents who stay a bit longer).  Parents will be referred to the group through marketing materials and the local NAMI chapter.  Calls will come to the facilitators related to the group, meeting location, time, etc.  These calls doesn't take too much time though some parents may have additional questions.  We would be happy to help this facilitator answer questions by supplying them the requested info.

If there is anyone who is interested in this volunteer opportunity, please contact me for more information at 804-285-8264 ext. 203 or via email at seisenman@namivirginia.org

 

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A Statement from Secretary Sebelius on the Administration for Community
Living
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All Americans - including people with disabilities and seniors - should be able to live at home with the supports they need, participating in communities that value their contributions - rather than in nursing homes or other institutions.

The Obama administration and my department have long been committed to promoting community living and finding new mechanisms to help ensure that the supports people with disabilities and seniors need to live in the community are accessible. 

Today, with the creation of the new Administration for Community Living (ACL), we are reinforcing this commitment by bringing together key HHS organizations and offices dedicated to improving the lives of those with functional needs into one coordinated, focused and stronger entity.

The Administration for Community Living will bring together the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities into a single agency that supports both cross-cutting initiatives and efforts focused on the unique needs of individual groups, such as children with developmental disabilities or seniors with dementia. This new agency will work on increasing access to community supports and achieving full community participation for people with disabilities and seniors. 

The Administration on Community Living will seek to enhance and improve the broad range of supports that individuals may need to live with respect and dignity as full members of their communities. These support needs go well beyond health care and include the availability of appropriate housing, employment, education, meaningful relationships and social participation.

Building on President Obama's Year of Community Living, the ACL will pursue improved opportunities for older Americans and people with disabilities to enjoy the fullest inclusion in the life of our nation.

For more information, please visit http://hhs.gov/acl

 

The VOCAL Website http://www.vocalvirginia.org