News

May 2014 – Mental Health Awareness Month has been celebrated throughout the world for over 50 years.

• Did you know that 1 in 4 adults in the USA live with some form of mental illness, in any given year?
• 1 in 5 children living in the United States lives with an emotional or behavioral disorder.
• In Oneida County, compared to the national average, our youth are at a higher risk of depression and serious contemplation of suicide, than ever before.

As a community, our best chance of understanding and preventing mental health issues – like depression and substance abuse & breaking the stigma associated with them – is to openly discuss these issues and diminish the negative impact that they have on our children, families and the community.

CFLR, Inc. is offering several opportunities for community members to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, and to get involved in advocacy and recovery efforts. They include:
• Attending the free screening of the film, Here one Day, about a woman living with mental illness, her relationships with her family, and the ripple effects of her suicide on those whom she loved. The viewing will take place on Wednesday, May 14th at 6:00P.M. at SUNYIT (Student Center). Not only will attendees have the opportunity to view the film, but they’ll also be able to speak with the producer, Kathy Leichter, who’ll be able to answer any questions they may have; talk about her loss and how she moved forward;
• Wear a green ribbon for Mental Health Awareness Month. Wear it all month long, and be ready with your ‘elevator speech’ as to why good mental health affects all of us;
• Make daily posts to your Facebook page, throughout the month, regarding mental health. Visit our page, www.facebook.com/WhenTheresHelpTheresHope, often & learn more about how to get involved in efforts that support recovery from mental health, substance use and behavioral issues;
• Attend CFLR, Inc.’s Open House on Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 from 4:00P.M. – 5:30P.M. at CFLR, Inc.’s Utica Office, 502 Court Street, Suite 401 to learn more, and get more involved.

May 2014 – The Oneida County Suicide Prevention Coalition, in partnership with Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc., will host a free screening of the remarkable film, Here One Day, on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at SUNYIT (Student Center) at 6:00P.M. Doors open at 5:30P.M. This film was shot by the winner of last year’s Excellence in Cinematography Award at The Sundance Film Festival; is an unsensationalized, beautiful film that paints a captivating, intimate portrait of those left behind after a family member completes suicide. Filmmaker, Kathy Leichter, will be at this event guiding attendees through the showing and speaking about her own personal story; the journey she has gone through to be where she is today.

When filmmaker Kathy Leichter moved back into the apartment she grew up in after her mother completed suicide, she discovered a hidden box of audiotapes. Sixteen years passed before she had the courage to delve into this trove, unearthing details that her mother had recorded about every aspect of her life from the challenges of her marriage to a State Senator, to her son’s estrangement, to her struggles with bi-polar disorder. Playing like a Greek tragedy, Here One Day is a bracing, visually arresting, emotionally candid film about a woman coping with mental illness, her relationships with her family and the ripple effects of her suicide on those she loved.

Told from the point of view of Nina’s daughter, Director Kathy Leichter, and featuring Nina’s husband, son, sister, and grandchildren, Here One Day follows this family from 2004 to 2008 as they attempt to make sense of what happened and go on with their lives.

You will see the universal emotions of guilt, blame, rage, despair, humor and affection that the family experiences. Some family members think they have moved on but haven’t. Some want to move on but can’t. Some, like Nina’s grandchildren, don’t even know the full story. To tell them or not becomes a storyline, as does the role of family secrets, and how people live with loss in very different ways.

As the family reflects back on Nina’s life, this charismatic, mercurial woman comes alive. Her experience of the illness and its effect on others is also vividly portrayed. By film’s end, the family, who goes through struggles, conflicts and resolutions on-screen, is less broken, less traumatized, but still scarred and forever changed.

This event is made possible by the Oneida County Department of Mental Health, and is a collaborative effort with CFLR, Inc. and the Oneida County Suicide Prevention Coalition.

For more information or to register for viewing, contact Samantha Madderom, Prevention, Advocacy and Training Specialist for CFLR, Inc., at (315) 768 – 2677 or smadderom@cflrinc.org

March 2014 – The Oneida County Professional Training Coalition, in partnership with Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc., will host a training, entitled “Responding to the Challenges of Sexual Offenders in our Communities: A Recovery-Based Approach,” with presenter Stuart Joseph, LCSW-R, and Bonnie Zweifel, LMSW, on Friday, March 21, 2014 from 9:00A.M. – 4:00P.M. at the Radisson Hotel, 200 Genesee Street, Utica, New York 13501. Cost is $30.00 per person, includes morning coffee, set-up, lunch and program materials. Registration begins at 8:30A.M. This workshop will increase sensitivity to the factors that can promote or hinder recovery of sexual offenders & increase sensitivity to the factors that can increase or decrease community safety. (*) O.A.S.A.S. credit hours are pending (i.e., 5 hours, renewal only).

Stuart Joseph, LCSW-R, Clinical Services Director at Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc. has provided assessment and treatment (i.e., individual, family and group) to individuals who have committed sexual abuse since 1985. He was a NYS Office of Mental Health SIST (Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment) Provider for Oneida and Herkimer County. He has been a Clinical Member of National ATSA since 1994; member of the NYS Alliance of Sex Offender Service providers since 1991; received the Outstanding Contribution for the Field of Probation and Alternatives to Incarceration Award from the New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternative in 1986 for developing a program for probationers who committed sexual offenses. Joseph also was a probation officer in Madison County for 9 years, with a specialized caseload of sexual offenders. Bonnie Zweifel, LMSW, Counselor at Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc. has focused her career on dealing with issues of sexual abuse. She has served in various roles at the YWCA Rape Crisis Services from 1977–1989. Since 1989, she has provided assessment and treatment (i.e., individual, family and group) to individuals who have committed sexual abuse. She has provided counseling since 2011 at the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center for minor victims of sexual abuse. She was the keynote speaker at the NYS Coalition Against Sexual Abuse in 1989 & is a member of NYS Alliance of Sex Offender Service Providers. She received the Marilyn Etcheverry Award of Excellence in 2004; this award is given annually to an individual or program that has been identified as having done exemplary work in the field of evaluation and treatment of sex offenders.

Individuals encouraged to attend this workshop include: social workers, addiction treatment and/or prevention professionals, case managers, case workers, residential providers, parole and probation staff, marriage and family therapists, hospital staff and administrators, professionals who are confronted with situations involving sexual behaviors in young children and adults & others serving individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders.

For more information or to register for this workshop, contact Samantha Madderom, Prevention Specialist for CFLR, Inc., at (315) 768 – 2677 or smadderom@cflrinc.org. Pre-registration is required.

February 2014 – Please join Center for Family Life and Recovery Inc. (CFLR, Inc.) for a free Lunch & Learn, “Healthy Nutrition for Professionals on the Go”, on Friday, March 7, 2014 from 12:00p.m. – 1:00P.M. at the CFLR, Inc.’s Main Office’s Training Room (502 Court Street, Suite 401, Utica, New York 13502). Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about better nutritional choices that they can make, resources to take home, tips for easy meals and grocery budgeting ideas.

This Lunch & Learn is the next in a series of wellness and self-care focused presentations funded through Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Community Health Grant and through the partnership of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Eat Smart New York Program.

This event is free and a light lunch will be provided. Seating is limited, registration in advance is required. Register by calling, Sara Haag, CFLR, Inc.’s Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, at (315) 733 – 1726. Or, online to reserve your spot at www.tinyurl.com/CFLRLNL. Deadline to register for this event is Friday, February 28, 2014.

December 30, 2013 – January is National Mentoring Month, and to celebrate the benefits of mentoring relationships, Center for Family Life and Recovery, Inc. will be holding a Mentoring Open House on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 from 12:30P.M. – 1:30P.M. at CFLR, Inc.’s Utica Office, 502 Court Street, Suite 401, Utica, New York 13502.
Adult mentors are needed for several programs, including CFLR, Inc.’s Compeer Program and Second Chance Program.

• CFLR, Inc.’s Compeer Program matches trained volunteers in one-to-one supportive friendships and mentoring relationships.
• CFLR, Inc.’s Second Chance Program assists women, who have recently been released from prison to gain employment, and is a federally funded grant program conducted in partnership with The Workforce Investment Board.
To be a mentor, you don’t need special skills, just an ability to listen and to offer friendship, guidance and encouragement to a young person or adult; and you’ll be amazed by how much you’ll get out of the experience.
Mentoring happens in a number of settings, including in our local schools, in person at a time that is convenient to both you and the mentee, as well as via phone, internet and by mail. Surely one of these methods must be right for you!

To R.S.V.P. for CFLR, Inc.’s Mentoring Open House on Wednesday, January 22 from 12:30P.M. – 1:30P.M. contact Sarah Rivera, Program Assistant for CFLR, Inc., at (315) 733 – 1709 or srivera@cflrinc.org.