YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING

In September 2018, Momentum was awarded a 3-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) with the purpose of providing Youth Mental Health First Aid training to a handful of employees. Staff from Momentum’s Youth & Family Services team, along with several of the organization’s Management Team, was selected to carry out the project for the next three years.

The training, which took place over a three day period, January 23-25, 2019, will enable the selected Momentum staff to become certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructors. As a result, staff will then provide mental health education to adults who work closely with youth in the community. These trainings will teach community members how to identify and support potential mental illness and/or crisis situations they may encounter on a daily basis. The training was a natural fit for Momentum’s Youth & Family Services program which aims to intervene at an early age in order to prevent further mental health issues later in life.

The Momentum staff members working on this grant are thrilled to be able to share this knowledge with the community and hope that it can be another opportunity to decrease the stigma surrounding mental health.

Jae Suh Receives Patriot Award

July 23, 2018/in Momentum for Mental Health /by Momentum Team

ESGR, a Department of Defense program, was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee’s military commitment.

ESGR has served our country for more than 45 years, fostering a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve in the United States.

Jae Suh, Associate Director of Momentum’s Youth & Family Services (and FSP-Adult Services) was presented with the Patriots Award earlier this afternoon. This award honors individual supervisors for support provided directly to the nominating Service member and his or her family.

Michelle Burlyga, Momentum’s REACH Manager, nominated Jae for his unwavering flexibility and support during her Army trainings, pre-deployment preparation and year-long deployment.

Congratulations Jae Suh for this tremendous recognition!

Thank you Captain Burlyga for your service and we all look forward to your safe return from deployment.

Faces and Voices

July 14, 2018/in Momentum for Mental Health /by Momentum Team

David K. Mineta has been elected as a board member for Faces & Voices of Recovery.

Faces & Voices of Recovery is dedicated to organizing and mobilizing the over 23 million Americans in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, our families, friends and allies into recovery community organizations and networks, to promote the right and resources to recover through advocacy, education and demonstrating the power and proof of long-term recovery.

The elected board members of Faces & Voices of Recovery are a voluntary group of leaders who serve the addiction recovery community. The board jointly oversee the activities of the organization, supports its membership, and the implementation of the strategic plan.

Sally Yates: When Darkness Falls

June 22, 2018/in Momentum for Mental Health /by Momentum Team

Sally Yates is the former Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General of the United States. In a touching and beautifully written article her Dad’s battle with depression is shared.

(CNN)It was May 6, 1986, and I was just days away from graduating from law school. Late in the afternoon, my mother called the Law Review office looking for me. I had just left to grab a quick dinner before settling in for a long night of studying for exams. My friend who answered the phone that afternoon would be asked to do something no friend should have to do — tell me that my father was dead.

This was in the days before the advent of cell phones, so there was no real way to track me down. My friend knew that I was going to the local Kinko’s copy shop (another sign of the 1980’s) before returning to the library, and was waiting outside the shop when I arrived. He told me that my mother had called, and that my father had died.

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What To Do When A Loved One Is Severely Depressed

June 10, 2018/in Momentum for Mental Health /by Momentum Team

At a suicide prevention event at Walla Walla High School in Walla Walla, Wash., last month, participants choose necklaces of different colors representing how suicide had affected their lives.CreditGreg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, via Associated Press

Heather Murphy wrote an article for the New York Times that provided some helpful tips from experts to help somebody that may be struggling with depression.

Reports of Kate Spade’s suicide and struggle with depression instantly transformed her from symbol of polished prep to a blunt reminder that suffering affects all types. Three days later we woke to the news that another beloved figure, Anthony Bourdain, had taken his life.

These two tragedies have inspired hundreds to tweet some version of the same message: Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of.

But deep in the comment threads, some have also been debating a more uncomfortable question: What do you do when a friend is depressed for such a long time that you’ve started to feel that that nothing you can do will make a difference, and your empathy reserves are tapped out? There are no easy answers. But here are some tips from experts:

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