Mental HealthM a t t e r s

In this Issue

2011Volume 1:Issue 3

A u g u s t

ServingChautauqua,

Elk,Montgomery

and Wilson County

Mental Health Ma t t e r s Volume 1:Issue 3 ~ August 2011

Four County Mental Health Center is dedicated to providing accessible, innovative services in partnership with individuals, families, and our communities.

Independence(620) 331-1748

Coffeyville(620) 251-8180

After Hours Emergency (800) 499-1748

www.fourcounty.com

Four County MissionFour County Mental Health Center is dedicated to pro-viding accessible, innovative services in partnership with individuals, families and our communities.

Four County VisionWe envision healthier com-munities as we help indi-viduals and families improve their lives. Collaborating with community partners, we sus-tain a robust range of services that are accessible because we help people where they live and work.

We continue to be innovative as we identify new and spe-cial needs, develop programs, train our staff, and deliver services. We will expand our use of state-of-the-art tech-nology to extend our capacity and enhance the quality of service. We will continue to develop well-trained, dedi-cated staff within a sup-portive, challenging, and personally rewarding work environment.

~Military Memorial DisplayDedication & Honor Card

Ceremony~

~First Steps for Mental Health~

~Parent Education~

~Recognizing Employees~

~Observations~

~“All About Kids” Fair~

~“Healthy Aging” Fair~~Alzheimer’s Association - A Walk to End Alzheimer’s~

~Educational Opportunities& Events~

~Alcohol Addiction~

~Reflections~

~Youth Link~

ServingChautauqua,

Elk,Montgomery

and Wilson County

Four County Mental Health Center has re-ceived a two-year grant from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund to provide

early childhood mental health services in its four county service area.

Steve Denny will serve as the project director of the $164,232 two-year grant. “First Steps”, will provide early identification and intervention services to address mental health needs of children birth to six-years-of-age in Mont-gomery, Chautauqua, Elk and Wilson counties. Based on the success of the program a third year may be funded.

“First Steps” is an early childhood mental health prevention and intervention program which will focus on early identi-fication of age appropriate social and emotional develop-ment.

Amy Barnhart will serve as the Early Childhood Mental Health Liaison, according to Denny. Barnhart recently graduated from Pittsburg State University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Development. Barnhart will pro-

The program allows parents the opportunity to join in discus-sions and at other times just sit back and watch the youngsters at work.

One parent said he has seen a big change in his sons since they became a part of Youth Link.

“These young people are doing great work in this program,” he said. “As parents, our role is to be there to more or less guide them through difficult times, to help out when they need some extra support.”

He said while the youngsters are doing their thing, parents of-ten have a chance to discuss between themselves issues they share through their children.

“The time we are together we are able to talk about similar problems we have and offer our assistance if the kids it. It has been a good experience for me, as well as my boys,” he said.

The group went to Wichita in June where they met with young-sters from others groups including: McPherson, Andover-Au-gusta, Iola and Wichita.

“Our meeting had a keynote speaker and programs on leader-ship and confidence and anti-bullying,” Gonzales said.

Approximatly 150 youngsters from those five groups in Wichita were in attendance.

“The Youth Link progam took a slide show presentation on what we have been doing the past year for our part of the pro-gram in Wichita,” she said.

vide community outreach to identify and screen children who may have social and emotional delays.

Clinicians, Christine Haskew and Alexis McMillan will pro-vide community-based services for children from birth to six years old and will promote education directed at both par-ents and professionals to increase awareness of age appro-priate social and emotional development, promote realistic expectations of children and encourage positive parenting.

The three service providers will obtain specialized training in infant-toddler mental health and pursue endorsements from the Kansas Association of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

Barnhart will be attending area events and visiting area schools and child care centers to identify children who might benefit from screening and treatment. Parents and caregivers may also request screenings by contacting Barnhart. Screen-ings are free and may be scheduled by contacting Barnhart at (620) 926-1105 or at her office located at the Community Access Center, 315 W. Sycamore in Independence.

Reflections“Reflections”: A Program About Our Community and Its Cul-tures is an award winning program which focuses on the positive of our community and the various cultures within the community. The show began May 16, 1996, as a way to educate the public on community services which are avail-able, issues of concern, and area citizens who make a differ-ence. Many local, area and state citizens, organizations and attractions have been highlighted on the program.

As Cultural Liaison of Four County, Robert Wesley explored ways to bring awareness of mental illness and other disabili-ties to the community thus reducing the stigma that is so often prevalent. Reflections, is the brain child of Robert Wes-ley who got the idea from his cousin, Clarence who created a similar show in Wichita. Wesley recruited Jim Fischer to be the host of the program, and secured the allegiance of Mike

Flood, who was then the general manager at CableOne.

“Those guys got on board and we interview people who are involved with many cultural and diverse aspects of the com-munity. We wanted to be able to reflect on worthwhile events . . . that’s where the name of the show, Reflections, came from,” Wesley said.

The program is a cooperative project of Community Pro-duction Group and Four County Mental Health Center. The show is taped about every other week, and is aired on the Independence and Neodesha CableOne Channel 10, daily at 12:15pm Monday through Friday and at 7:00pm. Monday and Wednesday. In Coffeyville the Coffeyville Community College Television – Channel 21 airs the show at 12 noon and 6:30pm on Tuesday.

A Military Memorial Display dedication and Honor Card cer-emony will be held September 11, 2011 at 2:30 pm at Inde-pendence Memorial Hall, 410 N. Penn. The public is invited to attend the ceremony which will include the dedication of a permanent display honoring the men and women who have served or are serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Local and state dignitaries will be in attendance and will lead the ceremony as local military personnel and their families place the names of Independence service men and women in the display. A special time will also be set aside to re-member all those who died ten years ago in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The memorial has been erected through local contributions. The display and has been designed and built by VT Hackney workers honoring the dedication and sacrifices made by the troops and their families while serving our country.

Included in the ceremony will also be the posting of Honor Cards on an ‘Honor Wall’.

Operation Honor Cards is a joint project of Blue Star Fami-lies, the American Red Cross, and ServiceNation: Mission Serve encouraging Americans to perform service in honor of military families, veterans and service members. Na-tionwide, Americans have already pledged six million hours from organizations such as the Girl Scouts of the USA, Lions Club International, and the American Red Cross.

Military Memorial Display Dedication and Honor Card CeremonyThe local goal is to collect 25,000 hours of service to post on the ‘Honor Wall’ September 11th. Honor cards may be completed with the volunteer hours the individual or organi-zation has given or will be giving to their community in 2011. Any community service will qualify for this commitment. Let’s show our military families, veterans and service mem-bers how much we appreciate them by honoring their service with ours. Honor Cards may be picked up and dropped off at Community Access Center, 315 W. Sycamore or at the Com-munity National Bank, 201 N. Penn, both in Independence. Honor Cards may be brought to the ceremony and placed on the Honor Wall at that time.

The Memorial Display and Honor Card projects are commu-nity service projects initiated through RSVP Four County, a volunteer net-work program whose mission is to enrich lives and create strong, con-nected communities. RSVP Four County encourages individuals or organization to join the campaign by contact-ing Kathy Shepard at 620-332-1954.

First Steps for Mental Health

A longstanding program operated by Four County Mental Health Center allows youngsters to gather together with par-ents and peers, organize their own meetings in an effort to gain experience in advocating for themselves.

Youth Link, coordinated by Marilynn Gonzales, allows young-sters the chance to do things their way. The program lets stu-dents vote for a president, vice president and secretary as they conduct their meetings and confer with others across the state at least twice a year.

Member, 14, has been a part of the Youth Links project for about five months and has benefitted tremendously.

“It has helped me to get out from under the stigma that I have felt for a long time,” Member said. “Youth Link allows us to run the program, with staff and parents there to help back us up and help us if we need it.”

“We are able to get out in the community and help out, do projects we come up with and twice a year or so we meet with other groups from across Kansas . . . young people with the same problems we have and discuss them,” he added. “It is a really neat program.”

Gonzales said Youth Link is a grant program and provides op-portunities for youngsters from age six to 22 to learn more about themselves and others, and gets them out of their com-fort zones to do some community work.

“We have been to Topeka to speak at the annual Advocacy Day, she said. “The kids talked with legislators about areas impor-tant to them. They really enjoyed that and it provided them an avenue to discuss their issues at the state level.”

Youth Link

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team but one man cannot make a team.”

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Observances

Sept. 11, 2011 ~ 2:30 pm ~ Memorial Display Dedication and Honor Card Ceremony ~Independence Memorial Hall

Sept. 23 • 9:00am ~ Healthy Aging FairIndependence. Screenings, blood work, booths, activities and demonstrations. Call Sonia Larimore (620) 251-0214 or email s.larimore@windsorplace.net about Healthy Aging Fair.

Sept. 23 • 11:00 am ~ Alzheimer’s - Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held during the Healthy Aging Fair at Independence Memorial Hall. Call Jan Cosgrove (620) 331-1748 or email jcosgrove@fourcounty.com about the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Oct. 29 ~ Cops and Rodders - Independence - Neewollah Grand Parade. Call Jan Cosgrove (620) 331-1748 or email jcosgrove@fourcounty.com about Cops and Rodders.

Educational Opportunities and Events

Parenting ClassesPlease go to our website: www.fourcounty.com

to view upcoming Parenting Classes.

Grief Support Group • 2nd Tues. every month • 7:30pm

Reoccuring Meetings/Groups

Alcohol/Drug Addiction

Anger Management • Starts Thursday Sept. 8 • 6:00pm

Survivors in Transition • Thursdays • 4:30pm

Anger Mgmt. for Youth • Mon. Aug. 8-Oct. 17 • 6:00pm

Project CORE • Every Wed & Thurs • 11:00am & 5:00pm

Therapy Groups

For more information on any program - shill@fourcounty.com

Four County Mental Health Center offers a wide range of parent education classes throughout the four county service area designed to provide on-going programs to help parents understand normal discipline issues.

“We try to teach parents how to help change behavior and what should be expected in the homes,” according to Gail Norton, who teaches the conglomeration of parent education classes on rotating basis for FCMHC.

“We want parents to know how to help young people become viable and show them a model of how they should act as they grow,” she continued.

The program includes topics of improving self-esteem, stress management techniques, alternative discipline techniques, communication skills and other child management strategies.

“Every child has the right to feel loved, cared for, safe and their needs met,” Norton said. “The aim of the Parent Education Program is to help strengthen the mental and physical wellness of both the participants and the children they affect and improve the health and well-being of all children living in southeast Kansas.”

“We try to empower parents, grandparents, foster parents, teachers and child care providers by enhancing parenting skills and presenting fresh approaches to discipline, health and safety techniques used in nurturing children,” she continued.

Norton teaches the classes on a rotating basis with most of them taught only once a year because she has such a large number of classes. In fact, she teaches 84 classes. Some of the classes include: “Stress and the Healthy Family,” “Building Self-Esteem,” “Keys to Communication,” and “Positive Discipline.”

“I have to rotate these classes because we have such a large number . . . for that reason most of them only get taught once a year,” Norton said.

Parent Education

Sept ~ Alcohol/Drug Addiction Recovery Month

~ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month

~ Healthy Aging Month

Sept 4-10 • Suicide Prevention Week

Sept 5 • Labor Day - Be safe and have fun!

Sept 16 • Stepfamily Day

Sept 23 • Family Table Day

Oct ~ Domestic Violence Awareness Month

~ Emotional Wellness Month

~ National Depression Education & Awareness Month

~ National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Oct 2-8 • Mental Illness Awareness Week

Oct 24-28 • Red Ribbon Week

Recognizing EmployeesThank you for a job well done

Oct. 17 ~ Boss’s DayFour County Mental Health Center has many employees that play the roll of a “Boss”: directors, coordinators, supervisors, etc. Take a moment to thank our “bosses” for leading Four County in a positive direction.

“All About Kids” Fair“All About Kids,” fair was held Saturday, Aug. 13 with approximately 200 in attendance. Activities for children, along with educational presentations and booths were provided at the Independence Community

College West Campus, and was sponsored by the Montgomery County Coalition/Early Childhood Coalition and was “partially funded by United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchinson, Kansas”.

Educational programs include: “Working With and Caring for

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders,” instructed by Eva Harkness, PhD., Early Childhood Education Coordinator and Lead Instructor; and “Avoid Problem Behaviors: Teach Self Control,” with Barbara Ames, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, Montgomery County Kansas State Research and Extension Service.

Ages and Stages Developmental Screenings were available through the First Steps program and are provided through a grant of the United Methodist Health Ministry fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchison, Kansas.

This year the “All About Kids” fair focused more on the child and activities geared to the child. Many activities were provided free for children of all ages. Programs for the day included: Block Fest, child identification program by the Masonic Lodge - Fortitude Lodge #107, Sure Sight vision screenings by the local Lion’s Club, back to school haircuts offered by the Independence Community College Cosmetology school, portraits of the child trampoline safety, car seat safety checks, and a fire safety and smoke house demonstration by the Independence Fire Department. Drawings, prizes and activities were available for children.

“All of my classes are geared with the thought of preventing child abuse and neglect. I want to help parents know and understand how they can help their child,” she said. “One session builds on the next . . . so parents who get involved in my programs really need to discipline themselves to attend every session otherwise, they will fall behind.”

Norton and FCMHC have received two grants that have helped fund the classes.

“I am so thankful for those grants,” she said. “That is how I am able to offer these classes at no cost to the participants.”

“Some classes are approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and are approved for continuing education hours for day care providers, foster parents and some licenses can be renewed by completing these courses,” she said.

Healthy aging through living a healthy lifestyle; body, soul and spirit is the focus of the annual Healthy Aging Fair to be held on September 23, 2011, from 7:00am – 1:00pm at the Independence Civic Center, 410 N. Penn.

Basic blood work of CBC, CMP, Lipids for an in-clusive price of $30.00 is available. Fasting is pre-ferred for these tests. CA 125 for ovarian cancer is available for a price of $23.00. PSA testing for prostate cancer in males is available at an addi-

tional charge of $23.00. The results of the lab work will mailed to your home. Flu shots will be available from the Montgomery County Health Department for a fee of $25.00. Free screenings will be available for blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar, and bone density. Infor-mational and display booths will be set up during this time providing information regarding services available. Demonstrations and interac-tive activities will be offered throughout the day.

The Southeast Kansas Senior Safety & Wellness Coalition is the spon-sor for this annual health fair. Area citizens are encouraged to take advantage of the screenings, gather helpful information, and enjoy the demonstrations. For more information please call Sonia Larimore (620) 251-0214.

“Healthy Aging” Fair

The Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk will be incorporated again into this year’s Healthy Aging Fair. Registra-tion for the Memory Walk is open to the public and begins at 11:30AM with the walk at 12:15PM noon. It is ap-proximately a 1-mile walk in historic downtown Independence. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disease for which there is currently no cure. Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 5.3 million Americans; with 64,000 probable cases of Alzheimer’s in Kansas. The Memory Walk is the primary public awareness event of the Alzheimer’s Association, a non-profit organization which addresses the needs of Alzheimer’s victims and their families through programs and services such as Support Groups, Helpline, Resource Library, Care Management, Safe Return, Education for Families and Caregivers and Financial Assistance for respite care. To be a sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Walk or to form a group contact Jan Cosgrove at (620) 332-1927.

“Alcohol and drug use disorders have devastating health and soci-etal consequences, and no com-munity or family is immune to these serious health problems,” said Ruth McCall, Alcohol/Drug Program Coordinator of Four County Mental Health Center.

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and McCall says “this month pro-vides an opportunity to highlight the benefits and successes of al-cohol and drug treatment. We en-courage people with drug and al-cohol abuse issues to begin their

journey of recovery - treatment is effective and people can and do recover.”

Shannon Goode, a counselor at FCMHC will talk about Recovery Month on the Reflections Show on CableOne. “We seem to be having a problem with teenagers abusing substances that are not illegal such as cough medicines and Shannon will talk a little about the effects that type of abuse has on them,” McCall said.

The Recovery Month 2011 theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever!” helps to raise

Alzheimer’s Association - A Walk to End Alzheimer’s

efits everyone recoveyonerecovery benefitsefits everyone recovefits everyone recovvery everyone benefitsyone recovery benefi tsone recovery benefi tsefits everyone recoveryvery everyone benefitvery everyone benefit

oefi ts everyone recoveryefi ts everyone recoveryawareness about the effective-ness of treatment. Recovery Month celebrates the successes of people in recovery and ac-knowledges men and women in the Substance Abuse, Prevention, Treatment and Recovery fields who dedicate their lives to help-ing people with alcohol and drug use disorders.

Recovery Month promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible and also en-courages citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective recovery services for those in need

“Preventing and treating sub-stance use disorders success-fully helps our citizens return to full and productive lives as fam-ily members, friends, co-workers, and citizens,” said Bruce Emery, assistant commissioner of the department’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. “Re-covery Month increases public understanding and brings much needed attention to addiction as a serious, progressive disease that can be prevented and successfully treated.”

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.”

Conrad Hilton

Observances

Sept. 11, 2011 ~ 2:30 pm ~ Memorial Display Dedication and Honor Card Ceremony ~Independence Memorial Hall

Sept. 23 • 9:00am ~ Healthy Aging FairIndependence. Screenings, blood work, booths, activities and demonstrations. Call Sonia Larimore (620) 251-0214 or email s.larimore@windsorplace.net about Healthy Aging Fair.

Sept. 23 • 11:00 am ~ Alzheimer’s - Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held during the Healthy Aging Fair at Independence Memorial Hall. Call Jan Cosgrove (620) 331-1748 or email jcosgrove@fourcounty.com about the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Oct. 29 ~ Cops and Rodders - Independence - Neewollah Grand Parade. Call Jan Cosgrove (620) 331-1748 or email jcosgrove@fourcounty.com about Cops and Rodders.

Educational Opportunities and Events

Parenting ClassesPlease go to our website: www.fourcounty.com

to view upcoming Parenting Classes.

Grief Support Group • 2nd Tues. every month • 7:30pm

Reoccuring Meetings/Groups

Alcohol/Drug Addiction

Anger Management • Starts Thursday Sept. 8 • 6:00pm

Survivors in Transition • Thursdays • 4:30pm

Anger Mgmt. for Youth • Mon. Aug. 8-Oct. 17 • 6:00pm

Project CORE • Every Wed & Thurs • 11:00am & 5:00pm

Therapy Groups

For more information on any program - shill@fourcounty.com

Four County Mental Health Center offers a wide range of parent education classes throughout the four county service area designed to provide on-going programs to help parents understand normal discipline issues.

“We try to teach parents how to help change behavior and what should be expected in the homes,” according to Gail Norton, who teaches the conglomeration of parent education classes on rotating basis for FCMHC.

“We want parents to know how to help young people become viable and show them a model of how they should act as they grow,” she continued.

The program includes topics of improving self-esteem, stress management techniques, alternative discipline techniques, communication skills and other child management strategies.

“Every child has the right to feel loved, cared for, safe and their needs met,” Norton said. “The aim of the Parent Education Program is to help strengthen the mental and physical wellness of both the participants and the children they affect and improve the health and well-being of all children living in southeast Kansas.”

“We try to empower parents, grandparents, foster parents, teachers and child care providers by enhancing parenting skills and presenting fresh approaches to discipline, health and safety techniques used in nurturing children,” she continued.

Norton teaches the classes on a rotating basis with most of them taught only once a year because she has such a large number of classes. In fact, she teaches 84 classes. Some of the classes include: “Stress and the Healthy Family,” “Building Self-Esteem,” “Keys to Communication,” and “Positive Discipline.”

“I have to rotate these classes because we have such a large number . . . for that reason most of them only get taught once a year,” Norton said.

Parent Education

Sept ~ Alcohol/Drug Addiction Recovery Month

~ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month

~ Healthy Aging Month

Sept 4-10 • Suicide Prevention Week

Sept 5 • Labor Day - Be safe and have fun!

Sept 16 • Stepfamily Day

Sept 23 • Family Table Day

Oct ~ Domestic Violence Awareness Month

~ Emotional Wellness Month

~ National Depression Education & Awareness Month

~ National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Oct 2-8 • Mental Illness Awareness Week

Oct 24-28 • Red Ribbon Week

Recognizing EmployeesThank you for a job well done

Oct. 17 ~ Boss’s DayFour County Mental Health Center has many employees that play the roll of a “Boss”: directors, coordinators, supervisors, etc. Take a moment to thank our “bosses” for leading Four County in a positive direction.

“All About Kids” Fair“All About Kids,” fair was held Saturday, Aug. 13 with approximately 200 in attendance. Activities for children, along with educational presentations and booths were provided at the Independence Community

College West Campus, and was sponsored by the Montgomery County Coalition/Early Childhood Coalition and was “partially funded by United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchinson, Kansas”.

Educational programs include: “Working With and Caring for

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders,” instructed by Eva Harkness, PhD., Early Childhood Education Coordinator and Lead Instructor; and “Avoid Problem Behaviors: Teach Self Control,” with Barbara Ames, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, Montgomery County Kansas State Research and Extension Service.

Ages and Stages Developmental Screenings were available through the First Steps program and are provided through a grant of the United Methodist Health Ministry fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchison, Kansas.

This year the “All About Kids” fair focused more on the child and activities geared to the child. Many activities were provided free for children of all ages. Programs for the day included: Block Fest, child identification program by the Masonic Lodge - Fortitude Lodge #107, Sure Sight vision screenings by the local Lion’s Club, back to school haircuts offered by the Independence Community College Cosmetology school, portraits of the child trampoline safety, car seat safety checks, and a fire safety and smoke house demonstration by the Independence Fire Department. Drawings, prizes and activities were available for children.

“All of my classes are geared with the thought of preventing child abuse and neglect. I want to help parents know and understand how they can help their child,” she said. “One session builds on the next . . . so parents who get involved in my programs really need to discipline themselves to attend every session otherwise, they will fall behind.”

Norton and FCMHC have received two grants that have helped fund the classes.

“I am so thankful for those grants,” she said. “That is how I am able to offer these classes at no cost to the participants.”

“Some classes are approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and are approved for continuing education hours for day care providers, foster parents and some licenses can be renewed by completing these courses,” she said.

Healthy aging through living a healthy lifestyle; body, soul and spirit is the focus of the annual Healthy Aging Fair to be held on September 23, 2011, from 7:00am – 1:00pm at the Independence Civic Center, 410 N. Penn.

Basic blood work of CBC, CMP, Lipids for an in-clusive price of $30.00 is available. Fasting is pre-ferred for these tests. CA 125 for ovarian cancer is available for a price of $23.00. PSA testing for prostate cancer in males is available at an addi-

tional charge of $23.00. The results of the lab work will mailed to your home. Flu shots will be available from the Montgomery County Health Department for a fee of $25.00. Free screenings will be available for blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar, and bone density. Infor-mational and display booths will be set up during this time providing information regarding services available. Demonstrations and interac-tive activities will be offered throughout the day.

The Southeast Kansas Senior Safety & Wellness Coalition is the spon-sor for this annual health fair. Area citizens are encouraged to take advantage of the screenings, gather helpful information, and enjoy the demonstrations. For more information please call Sonia Larimore (620) 251-0214.

“Healthy Aging” Fair

The Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk will be incorporated again into this year’s Healthy Aging Fair. Registra-tion for the Memory Walk is open to the public and begins at 11:30AM with the walk at 12:15PM noon. It is ap-proximately a 1-mile walk in historic downtown Independence. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disease for which there is currently no cure. Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 5.3 million Americans; with 64,000 probable cases of Alzheimer’s in Kansas. The Memory Walk is the primary public awareness event of the Alzheimer’s Association, a non-profit organization which addresses the needs of Alzheimer’s victims and their families through programs and services such as Support Groups, Helpline, Resource Library, Care Management, Safe Return, Education for Families and Caregivers and Financial Assistance for respite care. To be a sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Walk or to form a group contact Jan Cosgrove at (620) 332-1927.

“Alcohol and drug use disorders have devastating health and soci-etal consequences, and no com-munity or family is immune to these serious health problems,” said Ruth McCall, Alcohol/Drug Program Coordinator of Four County Mental Health Center.

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and McCall says “this month pro-vides an opportunity to highlight the benefits and successes of al-cohol and drug treatment. We en-courage people with drug and al-cohol abuse issues to begin their

journey of recovery - treatment is effective and people can and do recover.”

Shannon Goode, a counselor at FCMHC will talk about Recovery Month on the Reflections Show on CableOne. “We seem to be having a problem with teenagers abusing substances that are not illegal such as cough medicines and Shannon will talk a little about the effects that type of abuse has on them,” McCall said.

The Recovery Month 2011 theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever!” helps to raise

Alzheimer’s Association - A Walk to End Alzheimer’s

efits everyone recoveyonerecovery benefitsefits everyone recovefits everyone recovvery everyone benefitsyone recovery benefi tsone recovery benefi tsefits everyone recoveryvery everyone benefitvery everyone benefit

oefi ts everyone recoveryefi ts everyone recoveryawareness about the effective-ness of treatment. Recovery Month celebrates the successes of people in recovery and ac-knowledges men and women in the Substance Abuse, Prevention, Treatment and Recovery fields who dedicate their lives to help-ing people with alcohol and drug use disorders.

Recovery Month promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible and also en-courages citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective recovery services for those in need

“Preventing and treating sub-stance use disorders success-fully helps our citizens return to full and productive lives as fam-ily members, friends, co-workers, and citizens,” said Bruce Emery, assistant commissioner of the department’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. “Re-covery Month increases public understanding and brings much needed attention to addiction as a serious, progressive disease that can be prevented and successfully treated.”

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.”

Conrad Hilton

Mental HealthM a t t e r s

In this Issue

2011Volume 1:Issue 3

A u g u s t

ServingChautauqua,

Elk,Montgomery

and Wilson County

Mental Health Ma t t e r s Volume 1:Issue 3 ~ August 2011

Four County Mental Health Center is dedicated to providing accessible, innovative services in partnership with individuals, families, and our communities.

Independence(620) 331-1748

Coffeyville(620) 251-8180

After Hours Emergency (800) 499-1748

www.fourcounty.com

Four County MissionFour County Mental Health Center is dedicated to pro-viding accessible, innovative services in partnership with individuals, families and our communities.

Four County VisionWe envision healthier com-munities as we help indi-viduals and families improve their lives. Collaborating with community partners, we sus-tain a robust range of services that are accessible because we help people where they live and work.

We continue to be innovative as we identify new and spe-cial needs, develop programs, train our staff, and deliver services. We will expand our use of state-of-the-art tech-nology to extend our capacity and enhance the quality of service. We will continue to develop well-trained, dedi-cated staff within a sup-portive, challenging, and personally rewarding work environment.

~Military Memorial DisplayDedication & Honor Card

Ceremony~

~First Steps for Mental Health~

~Parent Education~

~Recognizing Employees~

~Observations~

~“All About Kids” Fair~

~“Healthy Aging” Fair~~Alzheimer’s Association - A Walk to End Alzheimer’s~

~Educational Opportunities& Events~

~Alcohol Addiction~

~Reflections~

~Youth Link~

ServingChautauqua,

Elk,Montgomery

and Wilson County

Four County Mental Health Center has re-ceived a two-year grant from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund to provide

early childhood mental health services in its four county service area.

Steve Denny will serve as the project director of the $164,232 two-year grant. “First Steps”, will provide early identification and intervention services to address mental health needs of children birth to six-years-of-age in Mont-gomery, Chautauqua, Elk and Wilson counties. Based on the success of the program a third year may be funded.

“First Steps” is an early childhood mental health prevention and intervention program which will focus on early identi-fication of age appropriate social and emotional develop-ment.

Amy Barnhart will serve as the Early Childhood Mental Health Liaison, according to Denny. Barnhart recently graduated from Pittsburg State University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Development. Barnhart will pro-

The program allows parents the opportunity to join in discus-sions and at other times just sit back and watch the youngsters at work.

One parent said he has seen a big change in his sons since they became a part of Youth Link.

“These young people are doing great work in this program,” he said. “As parents, our role is to be there to more or less guide them through difficult times, to help out when they need some extra support.”

He said while the youngsters are doing their thing, parents of-ten have a chance to discuss between themselves issues they share through their children.

“The time we are together we are able to talk about similar problems we have and offer our assistance if the kids it. It has been a good experience for me, as well as my boys,” he said.

The group went to Wichita in June where they met with young-sters from others groups including: McPherson, Andover-Au-gusta, Iola and Wichita.

“Our meeting had a keynote speaker and programs on leader-ship and confidence and anti-bullying,” Gonzales said.

Approximatly 150 youngsters from those five groups in Wichita were in attendance.

“The Youth Link progam took a slide show presentation on what we have been doing the past year for our part of the pro-gram in Wichita,” she said.

vide community outreach to identify and screen children who may have social and emotional delays.

Clinicians, Christine Haskew and Alexis McMillan will pro-vide community-based services for children from birth to six years old and will promote education directed at both par-ents and professionals to increase awareness of age appro-priate social and emotional development, promote realistic expectations of children and encourage positive parenting.

The three service providers will obtain specialized training in infant-toddler mental health and pursue endorsements from the Kansas Association of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

Barnhart will be attending area events and visiting area schools and child care centers to identify children who might benefit from screening and treatment. Parents and caregivers may also request screenings by contacting Barnhart. Screen-ings are free and may be scheduled by contacting Barnhart at (620) 926-1105 or at her office located at the Community Access Center, 315 W. Sycamore in Independence.

Reflections“Reflections”: A Program About Our Community and Its Cul-tures is an award winning program which focuses on the positive of our community and the various cultures within the community. The show began May 16, 1996, as a way to educate the public on community services which are avail-able, issues of concern, and area citizens who make a differ-ence. Many local, area and state citizens, organizations and attractions have been highlighted on the program.

As Cultural Liaison of Four County, Robert Wesley explored ways to bring awareness of mental illness and other disabili-ties to the community thus reducing the stigma that is so often prevalent. Reflections, is the brain child of Robert Wes-ley who got the idea from his cousin, Clarence who created a similar show in Wichita. Wesley recruited Jim Fischer to be the host of the program, and secured the allegiance of Mike

Flood, who was then the general manager at CableOne.

“Those guys got on board and we interview people who are involved with many cultural and diverse aspects of the com-munity. We wanted to be able to reflect on worthwhile events . . . that’s where the name of the show, Reflections, came from,” Wesley said.

The program is a cooperative project of Community Pro-duction Group and Four County Mental Health Center. The show is taped about every other week, and is aired on the Independence and Neodesha CableOne Channel 10, daily at 12:15pm Monday through Friday and at 7:00pm. Monday and Wednesday. In Coffeyville the Coffeyville Community College Television – Channel 21 airs the show at 12 noon and 6:30pm on Tuesday.

A Military Memorial Display dedication and Honor Card cer-emony will be held September 11, 2011 at 2:30 pm at Inde-pendence Memorial Hall, 410 N. Penn. The public is invited to attend the ceremony which will include the dedication of a permanent display honoring the men and women who have served or are serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Local and state dignitaries will be in attendance and will lead the ceremony as local military personnel and their families place the names of Independence service men and women in the display. A special time will also be set aside to re-member all those who died ten years ago in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The memorial has been erected through local contributions. The display and has been designed and built by VT Hackney workers honoring the dedication and sacrifices made by the troops and their families while serving our country.

Included in the ceremony will also be the posting of Honor Cards on an ‘Honor Wall’.

Operation Honor Cards is a joint project of Blue Star Fami-lies, the American Red Cross, and ServiceNation: Mission Serve encouraging Americans to perform service in honor of military families, veterans and service members. Na-tionwide, Americans have already pledged six million hours from organizations such as the Girl Scouts of the USA, Lions Club International, and the American Red Cross.

Military Memorial Display Dedication and Honor Card CeremonyThe local goal is to collect 25,000 hours of service to post on the ‘Honor Wall’ September 11th. Honor cards may be completed with the volunteer hours the individual or organi-zation has given or will be giving to their community in 2011. Any community service will qualify for this commitment. Let’s show our military families, veterans and service mem-bers how much we appreciate them by honoring their service with ours. Honor Cards may be picked up and dropped off at Community Access Center, 315 W. Sycamore or at the Com-munity National Bank, 201 N. Penn, both in Independence. Honor Cards may be brought to the ceremony and placed on the Honor Wall at that time.

The Memorial Display and Honor Card projects are commu-nity service projects initiated through RSVP Four County, a volunteer net-work program whose mission is to enrich lives and create strong, con-nected communities. RSVP Four County encourages individuals or organization to join the campaign by contact-ing Kathy Shepard at 620-332-1954.

First Steps for Mental Health

A longstanding program operated by Four County Mental Health Center allows youngsters to gather together with par-ents and peers, organize their own meetings in an effort to gain experience in advocating for themselves.

Youth Link, coordinated by Marilynn Gonzales, allows young-sters the chance to do things their way. The program lets stu-dents vote for a president, vice president and secretary as they conduct their meetings and confer with others across the state at least twice a year.

Member, 14, has been a part of the Youth Links project for about five months and has benefitted tremendously.

“It has helped me to get out from under the stigma that I have felt for a long time,” Member said. “Youth Link allows us to run the program, with staff and parents there to help back us up and help us if we need it.”

“We are able to get out in the community and help out, do projects we come up with and twice a year or so we meet with other groups from across Kansas . . . young people with the same problems we have and discuss them,” he added. “It is a really neat program.”

Gonzales said Youth Link is a grant program and provides op-portunities for youngsters from age six to 22 to learn more about themselves and others, and gets them out of their com-fort zones to do some community work.

“We have been to Topeka to speak at the annual Advocacy Day, she said. “The kids talked with legislators about areas impor-tant to them. They really enjoyed that and it provided them an avenue to discuss their issues at the state level.”

Youth Link

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team but one man cannot make a team.”

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar