Jenn Beach Brillante

Utica, NY – The Center for Family Life and Recovery (CFLR) honored to have Kelly Little, an international trainer with a focus on fathers and youth as special populations, coming to CFLR from South Carolina, for an in-person training. Kelly is the founder of The Urban Institute for Strengthening Families, an author, visionary, transformational coach, emotional intelligence change agent, motivational speaker, humanitarian, and strategist who partners with people to elevate community and organizational growth.  He has been involved with NYS OASAS 30 in 30 and NYS EPICS projects and is one of our SAMHSA Trauma Informed Care in the Criminal Justice System trainer team members.

“Having been to multiple trainings with Kelly, I can say, it is a privilege to learn from him.  The discussions and lightbulb moments, at times through tears, make his trainings just incredible.  Kelly has a gift and he shared so many things I had not considered when working with fathers, including some specific challenges with vulnerability and the effect of role expectations.  He changed the way I thought about my work with families, especially those with criminal justice involvement.”  -Ambi Daniel

We would like to invite community members to join us for this very special opportunity. Kelly will be talking about the special considerations when working with fathers and how the absence of fathers impacts the family system. Spaces are very limited. In great thanks to our Peer Alliance program with Oneida County’s Opioid Task Force initiatives, we are offering reduced costs for our community CRPA/Recovery Advocates.

Date: Friday, October 28^th, 2022

Time: 9am- 4pm

Location Site: Center for Family Life and Recovery

502 Court Street Suite 104

Utica, NY 13502

The registration cost for individuals from the community who are recovery advocates is $65, for all others it is $100. Space is limited, so if you or someone one you know is interested in this training, please call CFLR at 315.733.1709. There will be virtual sessions available in the future for those that cannot make the in-person event.

Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc. is proud to be the area’s leading expert in advocacy, prevention, counseling, and employee assistance programs. Along with supporting individuals and families struggling with addiction and recovery, mental health, and behavioral issues, CFLR’s goal is to inspire hope, provide help, promote wellness, and transform lives. To learn more, visit www.whenthereshelpthereshope.com

UTICA, NY – A joyful mood of gratitude was evident at the Center for Family Life and Recovery (CFLR) holiday meal basket give-a-way. Staff and volunteers collected and packed meal baskets with care for families in need.

A successful multi-site food drive supplemented the baskets with a variety of canned and boxed holiday food items. Special gift cards were included in each basket so that individual families could exercise personal choice at the grocery store to shop for their preferred fresh food perishables, according to their family tastes and dietary needs.

Boxes and baskets were loaded into vehicles at three Mohawk Valley area basket distribution sites set up outside for a COVID-safe distribution. Site locations allowed for a distribution nearest to identified families in need. Some baskets were even hand-delivered to those that could not come out to the event or who did not have transportation.

“Every year staff and volunteers love seeing the smiles on the faces of our clients as they receive their holiday meal baskets,” Cassandra Sheets, CEO, shared, “it really is a very special tradition of our agency and one we greatly enjoy. This year we are especially thankful to brighten the holidays for 38 Mohawk Valley families.”

A special thank you to Officer Harrington and the Utica Police Department for their valuable assistance loading baskets the day of the event.

The CFLR team would like to thank all sponsoring partners of this year’s successful event. Partners include: BNY Mellon – the staff of BNY, Scalzo, Zogby, and Wittig Insurance, Police Benevolent Association of Utica, the Remsen and Rome Rotarians, Parkway Senior Center in Utica, Parkway Center in Verona, Hannaford’s supermarkets, PJ Green, Fit Body Bootcamp in Whitesboro, and the Holland Patent School District. Many other local organizations also participated in the huge food drive, which was wildly successful to help fill baskets this year – THANK YOU!

Food and donations collected locally for this project stays local. There are many ways to get involved with this special annual holiday giving opportunity. Visit https://www.whenthereshelpthereshope.com/thanksgiving to view giving opportunities for the 2022 year.

For more information on Center for Family Life and Recovery, please visit www.whenthereshelpthereshope.com, and the project page at https://www.whenthereshelpthereshope.com/thanksgiving/

Media inquiries can be directed to Cassandra Sheets, CEO. Office:  315-768-2645 Email: CSheets@cflrinc.org

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