Lunch Break Episodes

Join us on Facebook Live on Thursday, January 16 at noon as we discuss how qualifying households can make the most of this tax season with free tax help through our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

On this episode of Lunch Break With The Village we discuss the importance of supporting youth and families in need, especially around the holiday season. We learned about the impact of giving, ways to make a difference, and how Village supporters are stepping up to give the most important gift of all—hope.

Join us on November 14 at noon for an episode of Lunch Break With The Village and learn how career development opportunities with us and our partners at Fresh Start Pallet Products can be your blueprint for a successful future.

This Facebook Live episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on Black Men and Boys’ Mental Health and we learned about some of the unique challenges that Black men and youth face today and the importance of fostering mental well-being.

On Lunch Break With The Village we focused on an innovative mobile substance use recovery and harm reduction support service available in Greater Hartford.

The Village’s Urgent Crisis Center (UCC) in Hartford has now been open for one year. On Lunch Break With The Village we learned how this game-changing new level of care is helping youth across CT and ensuring families can access care quickly.

On this special episode of Lunch Break With The Village our guest was Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas. We discussed the power of voting, the importance of ensuring your voice is heard, and explore options and requirements with early voting.

On this month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village and we learned about our new OnMed Care Station, a walk-in, primary and urgent care resource at our South End location in Hartford (331 Wethersfield Avenue) that’s bridging the gap to healthcare access.

On this month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village, we focus on the reality of living with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and discussed common misconceptions and other factors that contribute to misunderstanding and stigma.

On this episode of Lunch Break With The Village we learned about our volunteer-run Second Chance Shops in Glastonbury, Simsbury, Suffield and West Hartford and how they’re helping support child abuse prevention efforts at The Village this April.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on healthcare equity and how racial inequity must be addressed to improve systems that shape and support our health. Our guest was Tiffany Donelson, the president & CEO of Connecticut Health Foundation.

When a violent act impacts a community, it has lasting negative and traumatic effects on youth and adults. In this month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village, experts discussed factors that contribute to what’s known as “urban trauma” and new treatment that’s designed to help those who’ve been exposed to violence in urban settings.

Human trafficking happens across Connecticut, impacting both youth and adults. This #HumanTraffickingAwareness Month, local experts joined Lunch Break With The Village to help you understand the scope of human trafficking and how to protect yourself, your family and your community.

We discuss the importance of supporting families in need, especially around the holiday season. We learned more about the impact of giving, ways to make a difference and how generosity can give the most important gift of all—hope.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on public health inequities and how to improve systems that shape our health options and outcomes.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on environmental wellness and the impact of eco-anxiety on mental health.

This special episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on our new walk-in youth mental health Urgent Crisis Center (UCC) in Hartford. This episode covered how this game-changing new level of care helps deescalate children and teens’ mental health crises and connect them to ongoing support.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on resources to help families navigate emotional and other challenges that can come with the start of a new school year.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on resources to empower families in building stability and self-sufficiency through new connections, goal-setting, education and training, job coaching and more.

This month’s episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on the importance of affirmative counseling and treatment for LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and its impact in the community.

Did you know that the CT foster care system has changed? Learn about new short-term care and how it helps change lives by providing children and teens with a safe, nurturing home to find stability.

This episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on child abuse prevention and resources to help children heal and stay healthy and safe. We explored mental health challenges commonly faced by children who have experienced abuse or neglect, parenting education resources and Connecticut’s multidisciplinary approach to child abuse cases.

Join us on Thursday, March 23 at noon for an episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on bullying and resources to help in the healing process. This episode will cover ways to start conversations about bullying, insight to help young people navigate bullying situations and tips to help them become advocates for themselves and others.

* Content warning: this episode of Lunch Break contains mentions of suicide that may be triggering to some viewers. * This episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on resources and strategies to aid in suicide prevention.

This episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on aiding adults in accessing recovery support and tools to help overcome addiction.

Join us on Tuesday, December 13 at noon for a special episode of Lunch Break With The Village on the impact of giving during the holidays and learn how you can inspire a child this year through words of encouragement.

On this Lunch Break With The Village we discussed the transformative power of foster care and adoption in honor of National Adoption Month. This episode explored how being part of a family and community is crucial to children’s healthy development and how foster care provides children with a safe, nurturing home in which to thrive. Guests shared first-hand experiences on how foster care changes lives in profound ways.

This episode examined some of the challenges victims of IPV face when navigating difficult and traumatic situations, share tips on supporting a friend or loved one and share a survivor’s perspective on resiliency and how she thinks of herself not only as a “survivor” but as a “thriver.”

Cassandra Schend, Village Project Director, Vernon ROCKS Coalition, focused on substance use prevention efforts in Hartford, Vernon and surrounding towns shared tips for parents on talking with your children about substance use, trends they’ve seen among young people, and more.

This episode of Lunch Break With The Village focused on Internet Safety. Our guest, the founder of Internet Safety Concepts, Scott Driscoll discussed: today’s popular apps or programs, the pros and cons of social media and tips for parents on how to keep their children safe online.

We discussed how The Village has partnered with The Connecticut Sun to provide one-of-a-kind basketball clinics that enrich the sports-infused mental health therapies offered though our Extended Day Treatment (EDT) program thanks to Doc Wayne Youth Services, Inc.

This special Lunch Break episode featured the important roles that fathers play in the lives of their children in honor of Father’s Day.

This Lunch Break at The Village episode focused on the ongoing children’s mental health crisis and how The Village is working to address it.

Our guests discussed the importance of promoting self-worth, self-love and empowerment as well as connections between mental health and eating disorders.

This Lunch Break episode we focused on trauma, resiliency and equity. Our guest, Nelba Márquez-Greene, discussed the importance of allowing grief, trauma and loss in the room and how tools, language, skills, resources and acceptance should be available to live a full, grieving life.

This Lunch Break episode focused on Black health and wellness in honor of Black History Month.

We discussed how Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and other resources through The Village’s Financial Opportunity Center can help this tax season and beyond.

We discussed the importance of supporting families in need, especially around the holiday season. Learn more about the impact of giving and different ways to support Village families.

We discussed The Village’s specialized services for veterans in honor of Veterans Day.

We explored the power of bringing together sports and therapeutic care and how The Village, Doc Wayne Youth Services and ESPN are partnering to bring trauma-informed sports curriculum to children at The Village with social, emotional and behavioral disorders to develop healthier coping skills, feel more confident to engage in sport and fitness, and become leaders in their school or community.

The Village’s Second Chance Shops—located in Glastonbury, Simsbury, Suffield and West Hartford, are filled with incredible bargains on great clothing and household items.

We celebrated the 40th anniversary of KIDSAFE CT, an affiliate of The Village.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! We discussed surviving the opioid epidemic and bouncing back—resiliency in a post-COVID world.

Special Two-Part Edition: We discussed parenting during COVID and the benefits of integrated care for your family.

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.

Our guests Faith Vos Winkel, MSW and Caytlin Woodtke, LCSW joined host Yvette Young to discuss youth suicide prevention and support.

Erin Williamson, Vice President of Global Programs and Annmarie Boulay, Founder and CEO of The Underground NE discussed human trafficking in Connecticut.

Our guests 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) discuss effective stress management strategies.

Our nonpartisan guests Tanya Rhodes Smith and Angela Bellas shared about the importance and impact of voting.

Mary-Jane Foster, President and CEO of Interval House CT discussed domestic violence awareness.

Our guest Aldwin Allen, The Village’s Senior Director of Community Programs discussed navigating the return to school during COVID.

The topic of this special two-part series is 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.

Our guest Dr. Maysa Akbar discussed allyship and antiracism.

The topic of this special two-part series is about racial trauma.

Lunch Break With The Village is hosted by Yvette Young, 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.We discussed: