Lunch Break With The Village
Lunch Break With The Village is a monthly Facebook Live event series that features Village staff and community guests who provide expert tips and advice on navigating challenging life situations and other relevant topics.
Upcoming Episode
Past Episodes
Topic: Get Financially Fit This Summer!
When: 7/28, 12-12:30pm
Get in shape this summer by flexing your financial muscles! We learned how The Village provides free financial coaching and how you can take steps to achieving financial wellness. Our guest was Laura O’Keefe, The Village’s Director of Family Financial Stability.
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, LPC, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy.
Laura O’Keefe has more than 17 years in the nonprofit industry, supporting low- and moderate-income working families through financial education, asset-building programs, and VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). She joined The Village for Families & Children — which works to build a community of strong, healthy families who protect and nurture children — in 2013 as the VITA Program Coordinator. Today she directs the work of the Financial Center, overseeing the agency’s VITA, Housing Mobility, Career, and Financial Coaching programs. In this role, she strives to bring about real and meaningful change for families through increased financial stability. She is a certified trainer through the American Society for Training and Development, and has been a lead trainer for the Greater Hartford Regional VITA Campaign for over 10 years.
Laura O’Keefe is a member of the Hartford Workforce Leaders Academy, Class of 2017-18, one of several Workforce Leadership Academies in localities across North America.
Topic: Helping Fathers Become Dads
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
We looked at the important roles that fathers play in the lives of their children and why it is important for fathers to stay involved in every aspect of their child’s life. We learned how The Village helps strengthen father-child bonds and how Village client Devon Kempson journeyed from receiving help from The Village’s Fatherhood Engagement Services to now mentoring other dads.
Our guest Patterson “Don” Crocker, Village Fatherhood Engagement Services Supervisor, was joined by Devon Kempson, Village client, father and mentor.
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, LPC, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy.
Special Two-Part Edition – Surviving the Opioid Epidemic, Resiliency in a Post-COVID World
Tuesday, May 20, 2021
May was Mental Health Awareness Month!
PART ONE (11:30am-12:00pm): Surviving the Opioid Epidemic
Guests: Sarah Messier-Smith, Village Program Director, Adult Services and Sara Piatti, Village Recovery Navigator, Women’s REACH program.
- What overdose trends are we seeing in our community?
- What can people do to prevent overdose?
- What does The Village offer for clinical services for clients that are struggling with substance use?
PART TWO (12:00-12:30pm): Bouncing Back: Resiliency in a Post-COVID World
Guests: Cresse Morrell, Village Project Director and Mayra Reyes, Village Targeted Case Manager
- What challenges have increased in the Hartford community over the past year due to the pandemic?
- How can people prepare as we come into post-COVID times?
- Why is resiliency important?
- How can people build resiliency?
Resources:
Never Use Alone provides a life saving point of contact for people who use drugs. Call the hotline for help: 800 484 3731.
Special Two-Part Edition – Parenting During COVID and Integrated Care for Your Family
Tuesday, May 6, 2021
Part one: Parenting During COVID: Tips to Keep Calm at Home with guests Lesa Lovelace, Village Child First Clinician and Mackenzie Christopherson, Village Child First Care Coordinator.
Part two: The Benefits of Integrated Care for Your Family with guests Amy Signore, Village/CCMC Psychologist and Dr. Robert Keder, M.D.
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, LPC, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy.
Resources:
- Good Morning Zoom by Lindsay Rechler and June Park (YouTube)
- When We Stayed Home by Tara Fass and Judith A. Proffer (YouTube)
- Why We Stay Home by Samantha Harris and Devon Scott (YouTube)
- Paula and the Pandemic by Dorothea Laurence (YouTube)
- There Are Lots Of COVID-19 Children’s Books Now. Here’s A Selection. (Huffpost)
Dr. Signore is a pediatric health psychologist from The Village for Families & Children who is currently embedded in primary care at Connecticut Children’s. She works as part of a multidisciplinary team that includes physicians, nurses, and staff to provide brief evidence-based interventions to patients. Common presenting problems include ADHD management, toileting, anxiety, feeding, and behavioral aspects of managing chronic illness. Dr. Signore received specialized training as an intern and post-doctoral fellow in the development and delivery of integrated care at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA. She earned a doctorate of Psychology from the University of Rhode Island, a Master of Public Health Degree from Brown University and Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with honors, from Tufts University.
Rob Keder grew up in Connecticut, attended the Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and then completed his residency in pediatrics through the University of Connecticut. He completed a three year fellowship in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center / Boston University and a one year LEND (Leadership Education for Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities) fellowship through the University of Massachusetts Shriver Center. He returned home to Connecticut Children’s in 2016 where he is involved in several aspects of medical education working with students, residents, and colleagues. His clinical interests relate to autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and bullying. He is currently a co-chair of the Advocacy Committee for the Society for Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and services on the UConn Pediatric Residency Program’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as well as the UConn GME Diversity Oversight Committee.
Topic: Foster Care Through The Village
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
We Heard from a Village foster parent, a former foster child and Village foster care program leaders. They answered all your questions you had and more:
- What’s it like to be a foster parent?
- If someone is interested in becoming a foster parent what’s the process?
- How big is the need for foster parents?
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, LPC, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy.
Topic: Essential Equity: Women, Covid-19 and Rebuilding Connecticut
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Our guest Jennifer Steadman, Ph.D., Executive Director of Aurora Women and Girls Foundation, Inc. joined host Yvette Young to discuss Aurora’s newly released called Essential Equity: Women, Covid-19 and Rebuilding Connecticut, indicates that the pandemic has only made challenges more acute. The report “documents the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women and girls, and particularly on women and girls of color, across areas of health, economic security, child care, housing, mental health, safety and hunger.”
- Why did Aurora and the other partners think it was important to gather data on the impact of Covid-19 on women?
- What were some of the key findings of the report?
- How has Aurora as a foundation responded to offer help to the community during Covid-19?
- And more…
Topic: Youth Suicide Prevention and Support
Tuesday, February 23
Our guests Faith Vos Winkel, MSW and Caytlin Woodtke, LCSW joined host Yvette Young to discuss youth suicide prevention and support.
- Is saying the word suicide going to give my child ideas about suicide?
- Are there only certain kids at risk of suicide?
- Why are we so afraid to talk about suicide and mental health? Or conversely, why is it important for everyone to talk about mental health?
Resources:
- Emergency Dial 9-1-1
- Support in CT Dial 2-1-1 or 211ct.org
- CT Suicide Prevention
- Gizmo 4 Mental Health
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. Call 1-800-273-8255 or text CT to 741741 from anywhere in the US to text with a trained Crisis Counselor
Faith Vos Winkel began her work with the Office of the Child Advocate July 2001 and assists the Child Advocate to fulfill her statutory mandates including overseeing the systems of care and protection for children in Connecticut and advocating for their well-being.
Ms. Vos Winkel’s primary responsibilities focus on the review of all unexpected and unexplained child deaths in Connecticut. She is responsible for preparing child fatality cases and conducting comprehensive investigations.
Ms. Vos Winkel represents the Child Advocate on a variety of committees including the Suicide Advisory Board, CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, Maternal Morbidity Review Panel, and the Governor’s Task Force on Justice for Abused Children.
Ms. Vos Winkel has an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and a Masters of Social Work from the University Of Connecticut.
Caytlin Woodtke began her work with children and families in the Hartford community in 2012 and transitioned to her position as a clinical supervisor of the IICAPS program in 2016. The IICAPS program is an intensive in-home therapy model that services children ages 3-18 with severe psychiatric symptoms putting them at risk for hospitalization. The IICAPS program works towards stabilizing the child and their family in their own environment by incorporating individual therapy sessions, parent focused psychotherapy sessions, family therapy sessions, and case management on a weekly basis for a period of 6 months.
Ms. Woodtke’s primary responsibilities are providing clinical supervision for IICAPS clinicians and mental health counselors, completing comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments, risk assessments, and trauma screening directly with clients, and reviewing clinical documentation such as treatment progress and safety planning on a regular basis. Ms. Woodtke is also trained in EMDR specific therapy and utilizes this trauma focused intervention with clients in the community.
Ms. Woodtke has a Bachelor of Social Work from Our Lady of the Elms College and a Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut. She is currently licensed as a clinical social worker in the State of Connecticut.
Topic: Human Trafficking in Connecticut
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Erin Williamson, Vice President of Global Programs and Annmarie Boulay, Founder and CEO of The Underground NE joined host Yvette Young to discuss human trafficking in Connecticut:
- What does child trafficking look like in Connecticut?
- Who is most impacted by trafficking?
- What efforts has Connecticut taken to address the issue?
- What services do these children need and who are the key service providers?
Topic: Effective Stress
Management
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Amy Romano, Village Clinical Supervisor for the Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services (IICAPS) program and Nicole Cyr, Village Clinical Supervisor for the Enhanced Care Clinic (ECC).
Topic: Voter Registration
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Tanya Rhodes Smith and Angela Bellas from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.
Topic: Domestic Violence
Awareness
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Mary-Jane Foster, President and CEO of Interval House CT!
Topic: Navigating The Return to School During COVID
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Aldwin Allen, The Village’s Senior Director of Community Programs.
- What are the options available for educating children in the fall?
- How can parents prepare their children to return to school?
- How can parents support their children if they will be doing distance learning?
- What services/supports are needed for students during COVID?
Topic: Allyship & Antiracism
Thursday, July 16, 2020
The topic of this special episode is allyship and antiracism. Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette will be joined by Dr. Maysa Akbar.
Topic: Racial Trauma
Part Two
Thursday, July 2, 2020
The topic of this special two-part series racial trauma. Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Yanique Grant, LCSW, Clinician for Adult Services at The Village.
- Where does healing begin?
- How can people heal from racial trauma?
- What work needs to be done to begin healing? (BIPOC specifically)
- How can an Ally “stand in the gap” to promote healing and not further impact their loved ones, colleagues, etc.?
Topic: Racial Trauma
Part One
Thursday, June 18, 2020
The topic of this special two-part series racial trauma. Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy. Yvette was joined by Yanique Grant, LCSW, Clinician for Adult Services at The Village.
- What is racial trauma?
- Who is affected?
- Why are they affected?
Topic: Anxiety & Depression
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, LPC, The Village’s AVP of Programs and Advocacy.
On this episode, Yvette was joined by Dr. Scott MacGregor, Psy D, Clinical Psychologist at The Village.
Podcast
Lunch Break With The Village Podcast
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