Anthologies of Hope

Join us for an exploration on trans experiences and its intersection with mental health. Biological sex implies binary or “two.” The reality is we are on a spectrum of identity and orientation, yet for years, “gender identity disorder” was listed as a sexual dysfunction. The concept of trans identity was removed only recently. A person may identify with many more specific terms, though, underneath the umbrella of trans identity and in this episode, representatives from various intersections share insights and their stories of resilience. Come join the conversation.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Laurel James-Nate Cannon-Noopur Shah-Ryan Cassata

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 an exploration on the state of mental health and current challenges with mental health among First Nation peoples. The term First Nation is a collective term for the diverse cultures native to North America prior to Anglo-colonial incursion. Indigenous cultures have persisted in spite of violent brutalization, oppression, systematic disenfranchisement, and trans-generational trauma. On this episode, representatives from various tribal backgrounds share insights and their stories of resilience.

Our amazing guests this week include:-B!LL: Singer, Rapper, & Entertainer-Damon Leader Charge: Director of Tribal Outreach at University of South Dakota-Emma Eagleheart-White: Psychotherapist & Co-Author of Warrior Princesses Strike Back!-Shawn Imitates Dog: VP Human Resources, Live Nation

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.

Our guest this week is one of ridiculous happenstance and one I am forever grateful to the universe for putting our paths on a collision course. Keeping the international theme going with our guest from Australia last week, our guest this week joins us from London by way of Germany! Anna Ossowski is an amazing friend, mental health advocate, community builder, and woman in tech.

We dive into how we randomly met on Twitter and how that connection blossomed into a great friendship from across the ocean! Working in the Technology Industry, Anna fervently advocates for bringing mental health discussions to the workplace, building safe spaces into our communities allowing us to share and grow, and bringing frank and honest mental health conversations to conferences and keynotes.

One of the benefits of the similar experiences in our day to day professional lives, but living in separate parts of the world, allows Anna and I to dig into what makes the mental health discussion different in the US, UK, and throughout Europe. You’ll also hear how Anna uses the tools she has on a regular basis to maintain gratitude, focus, and perspective. You can check out some of those tools at happinesspackets.io and Virtual Volunteers on Instagram.

You can find Anna's PyLondinium Keynote, titled "The M Word", that we dive into in this episode on YouTube.

The panel of parents, composed of Hope for the Day staff, volunteers, and Agents of Impact will discuss all these topics and much more while discussing what 2020 has been like so far as a parent, while also looking forward to 2021 and beyond.

Our guest host this week is:-Rick Osowski: Founder/Host of Anthologies of Hope, Hope for the Day Surrogate

Our amazing guest Moms this week include:-Frank Reichert: Hope for the Day Project R.E.D. Team Champion, Navy Veteran & Parent-Doug & Mary Mendralla: Hope for the Day Agents of Impact & Parents- Jimmy & Tina Kranz: Hope for the Day Agents of Impact & Parents-Trevor Rose-Hamblin: Head Brewer & Co-Founder of Old Irving Brewing Co., Hope for the Day Surrogate & Parent

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.

It is with great pride that I get to bring you a pre-COVID conversation with my favorite Australian, while she was sitting in her hometown of Geelong, right outside of my favorite place in Australia, Melbourne! Jessica Morris joins us this week to talk about all things mental health, podcasts, journalism, music, Nashville, our mutual love of Australia, and everything in between.

Jessica currently hosts her own podcast, called Between You & Me (available on Spotify and everywhere else you get your podcasts), which we dive into deep during our conversation. If you are a fan of listening in to what happens when musicians talk about the things that hurt, heal, and change them, then her awesome podcast is one for you. As she mentions in our conversation, there is an Evangelical lens to much of the conversations Jessica has with her guests, but that does not limit the scope of either the guest or the respective conversation and many guests would easily cross over here to Anthologies on their own.

You can now get the expanded edition of Jessica’s book, When Hope Speaks, on Amazon or wherever you get your books!

2020 has been a roller-coaster of a year that no one could have anticipated! With stress, surprises, detours, and cancellations around every turn, it's been a difficult year for everyone. Even more so for parents, as they have navigated the initial cancellations and closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak, racial justice, police brutality, the stress & anxiety that comes with any back-to-school season, as well as also welcoming new members to their households.

The panel of parents, composed of Hope for the Day staff, volunteers, and Agents of Impact will discuss all these topics and much more while discussing what 2020 has been like so far as a parent, while also looking forward to 2021 and beyond.

Our guest host this week is:-Amanda Osowski: Founder/Owner of Heartfelt Beginnings, Postpartum & Infertility Doula

Our amazing guest Moms this week include:-Kenedey Ward: Hope for the Day Surrogate, Project R.E.D. Team-Jasmine Shannon: Pharmacy Technician-Sheri Gross: Manager, Veterans Services at College of DuPage

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.

We have our first return guest to our long-form interviews, who also just happens to be the guest host of last week’s live Conversations Cafe event! That guest host, and our returning guest this week, is my amazing wife, Amanda Osowski. Recorded prior to COVID lockdowns, quarantines, and precautions going into place, we sat down in early March to talk about the first 10 months of parenthood, what we expected, what we didn’t expect, the highs, the lows, and what we would change if we could.

Which takes us to exactly what Amanda is doing about it! After learning so much from being a first-time mom, Amanda was dismayed at how much is really left to moms to fend for themselves, with plenty of known unknowns that no one ever really shares. You will hear how this turned into Amanda starting her own business to become a postpartum and infertility doula. You will hear the background in our discussion, but you can also head on over to Heartfelt Beginnings right now for a great listening guide as well!

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. Sharing our stories is one of the most important things that we can do to lessen the most damaging impacts of stigma in the modern world and music may be one of the most powerful forms in which we share those stories. This episode features a panel of individuals sharing their personal stories about music that has saved their lives and how they’ve watched it save others!

Our amazing guests this week include:-Aaron “AC” Coleman-Annah Garrett-Dan Lambton-Devin Teul + Stephen Harms of Native Harrow-Donnie Biggins-Garret Rapp-Greg Marquis

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.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month! We are kicking off the month with a panel of Hope for the Day's Agents of Impact and staff, in addition to guests who have taken additional action to disrupt suicide, its impact, and to support mental health care for all communities. If we make it ok to talk about mental health the whole year round, we can save more lives.

Our amazing guests this week include:-Erika Kendrick, Survivor, Author, & National Speaker-Roger Breisch, Speaker & Provocateur-Ryan Shannon, Director of Project R.E.D. Team, Navy Veteran, & Parent-Trevor Rose-Hamblin, Head Brewer & Co-Founder of Old Irving Brewing Co.

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.

I sit down with Emily Fagan this week, as we were introduced through previous Anthologies of Hope guest and current Hope for the Day BFF Joel Frieders, when both he and Emily attended a community event that was organized by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood and Congressman Joe Kennedy III - one in which Emily was brought in to share the story she shares with us today!

Emily is an accomplished classical musician, specializing in the Oboe, based out of Aurora, Illinois. She dives into what makes the Oboe an amazing orchestral instrument, how and why she chose to play it, and the beauty of being able to handcraft the meticulous reeds necessary to play the signature woodwind instrument.

But throughout that conversation, we also discuss what the ups and downs of her journey looked like that brought her here today. From diagnoses of bipolar II disorder to ADHD to generalized anxiety disorder, we get into how it can be easy for someone to hide all of that while still appearing to be successful in many ways. However, Emily came to understand that she needed to make a change while hiding all that before it became too late and nothing could be done.

I’m grateful to bring this powerful conversation to Anthologies of Hope and am confident you will enjoy listening to Emily and identify with more parts of her story than you’d expect.