Jen John was the third ever guest on Anthologies of Hope way back in 2018! This time around, we catch up on what life has been like for her during the pandemic, completing grad school, working as a mental health counselor, dating, and just everyday life - all while staying sober!

We talk about some of the growth that Jen has had since our last conversation, but also how expected and planned events can resurface unexpected trauma, feelings, and emotions at any time - and how to handle those.

Jen recounts the reasoning behind why she started a new Instagram account over at @jendatessober to share some of the unfortunately ridiculous experiences she has encountered while navigating the online & app-based dating scene while being sober.

I’m super excited to have Jen back on the show and loved this conversation as much as our first go round! If you haven’t heard our first chat, make sure to go back and listen as soon as you finish here!

Our guest this week is Kenedey Ward. By day, she currently serves as the Director of Project RED Team at Hope for the Day and by night, she’s an amazing Enneagram 2 that is a must-follow on Instagram for all the spontaneous dance parties she posts to her stories!

We dive into what started her mental health journey - including childhood trauma, the complications with getting married and becoming pregnant at a young age with a spouse in the military and being deployed overseas, pursuing higher education as a single parent - while also covering the successes she has manifested for herself and knocked down every obstacle that’s come her way.

We also dive deep into the critical work that she is doing with Project RED Team and the importance of mental health care and proactive education for veterans and first responders, since that aspect of holistic health has been overlooked for far, far too long.

We kick off Season 5 with the amazing Molly Grisham and you’ll easily see why I use the word ‘amazing’ very honestly. This is a conversation I’ve wanted to capture since the first day we met via #heartcamp18, but due to scheduling complexities on both sides, it took us until now.

We dive into what empowered Molly to bet on herself to start her own business, how that was built pre-COVID, how it evolved during COVID, and how she’s taken care of herself in that time as well. I hope everyone can take something from this conversation, as it has helped me more than I ever could have imagined just in the three months since we recorded it!

Be sure to head over to Molly’s website at mollygrisham.com to get your hands on her free “Lead Your Life” download from the homepage. It’s an amazing resource that you won’t want to miss!

Video gaming is an extremely popular leisure-time activity with billions of users worldwide. It is known to have benefits such as improving focus, multitasking, and working memory, and it may also come with costs. When it comes to the valves we use to relieve the pressure inside us, there is no magic wand, though for many, gaming and digital communities can provide a huge amount of connection, helping to fight all the feelings of isolation our communities are navigating at present worldwide. In this episode, representatives from various gaming intersections will share their insights, their stories of resilience, and discuss the Stream For Hope Cup Tournament on Twitch.

Our awesome guests this week include:-Dan Lambton: Musician, Streamer, and Hope for the Day Workplace Mental Health Instructor-DexHowl: Streamer, Twitch Affiliate, and Hope for the Day Agent of Impact

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

With so many challenges in 2020 and the holidays approaching, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It can be tough to focus on the things we are thankful for in the face of all of these challenges, so for this episode we’ve collected messages of hope and gratitude from Hope for the Day staff as well as our extended family of Partners in Prevention and Agents of Impact. It can be an incredibly hard time of year for many for a lot of different reasons, so come join us as we remind ourselves and others IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK. HAVE HOPE.

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Sip of Hope Coffee Bar opened its doors in May 2018 as a community space that truly embodies the proactive suicide prevention mission of Hope For The Day, meeting people where they are at, not where we expect them to be. 2020 brought many challenges and our community came together to Save Sip this past summer. And on World Mental Health Day, HFTD announced Sip of Hope Community Coffee Roasters as they embark on the next chapter of the Sip story. Join us for equal parts retrospective and a look ahead, smashing stigma with Sip of Hope.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Andy Gallant: Lead Roaster at Sip of Hope-Becca Milligan: Marketing and Events Director at Hope for the Day-Brian Kmiecik: General Manager of Sip of Hope-Erin Dunbar: Sip of Hope barista

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Hope For The Day’s Proactive Suicide Prevention began in community spaces in 2016 and continues to evolve to empower more voices from the community at specialized intersections. Project R.E.D. Team is HFTD’s mental health education and outreach program designed by peers from military and first responder communities, including their families - Reminding Everyone Deployed...IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK. By empowering peers from these communities, these conversations can have a deeper impact on unique contributing factors military/first responder communities and their families are managing.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Ryan Shannon: Director of Project R.E.D. Team, & Navy Veteran-Kenedey Ward: Assistant Director of Project R.E.D. Team-Sadie Strong: Veteran, Baker, & Body Positivity Model-Raymond Ott:The Marine Rapper, Hip-Hop Artists, & Veteran Advocate

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Join us for a special Hope For The Day Halloween Party featuring costumed panelists, a pumpkin-carving contest, make-up tutorials, and some demonstrations of festive food + beverage options you can make along at home. In this episode, we also discuss self-expression of all forms as critical tools for self-care and feature a panel of judges from the Hope for the Day family to judge pumpkin-carving submissions from our digital community! Talking about mental health can be spooky, but this Halloween, we are in this together.

Our amazing guests this week include-Dave Kunicki: Executive Director of Hope for the Day-Mia Park: Actor, Producer, + Yoga Instructor, Chic-A-Go-Go-Sadie Strong: Veteran, Baker, & Body Positivity Model-Skylar Fitzpatrick

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

In the history of treatment of people with mental health challenges, the American healthcare system has done a poor job at protecting people. Policy should ask people what they need to live the lives they want and support them in getting there, and while there have been improvements, we have more work to do. Join Hope For The Day and a panel of guests as we talk about the continued fight to ensure access to treatment, to improve quality of treatment, to reduce homelessness, incarceration, and discrimination, and ultimately move our system towards what better can look like: one where people are treated with dignity and proactive prevention of mental health challenges is prioritized.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Joel Frieders: Hope for the Day's Director of Public Policy and Strategic Partnerships-Katie Rosenberg: Mayor of Wausau, WI-Kenedey Ward: Assistant Director for Hope for the Day's Project R.E.D. Team-Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia: Leader in Residence at Chicago Beyond; Psychologist-Sara Feigenholtz: State Senator of Illinois, 6th District

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Join us as we revisit the discussion with founder of the non-profit Coffee, Hip-Hop, & Mental Health, Christopher LeMark. We’ll reflect on the impact of our partnership with Coffee, Hip-Hop, & Mental Health, as well as continued partnership for the future, supporting collective goals of gifting families with groceries, resources and jobs. To quote their founder, “When we focus on the reconstruction and restoration of communities, we'll change the narrative.” At the core, if we recognize the impact of mental, emotional, social, political, economic, and cultural factors on human development, we can all be a part of what better can look like. Come join the conversation.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Christopher LeMark: Artist, Speaker, & Founder of Coffee, Hip-Hop & Mental Health-Dr. Fabrice Lubin, PsyD: Founder of For Real Therapy, counseling services designed to be culturally, creatively, and contextually vibrant-Brittany Rogers, LPC, CADC: Founder of Be the Change Therapeutic Services, professional services focused on mental health & emotional wellbeing

Conversations Cafe is (usually) a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope for the Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Janssen.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.