Anthologies of Hope

Conversations Cafe: Intersectionality & Mental Health

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly event at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education event is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, Banyan Treatment Center, Dark Matter Coffee, and Three Run Two.

Today's Conversations Cafe episode is titled Mental Health & Intersectionality. Recorded live at the UIC Forum, as part of Hope for the Day's Conversations Summit 2019 and hosted by Hope for the Day COO Carl Evans, this panel focused on addressing the nuances of stigma and mental health in an intersectional context for issues affecting people of color, individuals among LGBTQ+ populations and immigrants. These challenges are compounded further by historic elements within America, such as racism, non-secular and secular prejudices, cultural and language barriers.

Our panelists include:

Hannah & Charlie Lucas, creators of the NotOK App

Brandon Breaux, Chicago-based artist & designer

Elise Swopes, photographer, creative, and influencer

Nick Heineman, Project Manager at SocialWorks

Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia, currently of Chicago Beyond and more amazing credentials than we can name in our short intro!

Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit 2019 educated, inspired, and activated attendees with an exciting mix of breakout sessions created and led by diverse groups of youth, mental health professionals and academic partners, covering a vast spectrum of topics from mental health, arts, and technology, to social justice and activism. The summit was graciously hosted by The University of Illinois at Chicago at the Isadore & Sadie Dorin Forum (The Forum).

Casey Ryan joins us today and she is our first guest that sought us out to make an appearance on our show! Anthologies of Hope is all about stories and journeys and Casey’s is one that I am grateful that we get to bring to you! We jump into Casey’s background, beginning with alcohol and drug addictions at the ages of 13 and 15 respectively; treatment & recovery of those addictions, as well as mental health issues through the standard process of care in the American recovery system; how she transformed her life to thrive in corporate America, only to leave that behind to empower others with her own life-coaching expertise!

We talk about the downfalls of the current addiction recovery movement in the United States, how it fails to address both addiction and uniquely disparate mental health issues at the same time, as well as the existence and impact of mental health stigmas in the workplace!

As you can hear, that’s a lot to cover in the ninety minutes we’ve got in this episode, so be sure to check out Casey’s coaching website, and the Self Made & Sober podcast appearance we mention in the episode!

Blog Launch & Big Announcement!!!

Conversations Cafe: Boys Don't Cry

Today's Conversations Cafe episode is titled Boys Don't Cry. Recorded live at the UIC Forum, as part of Hope for the Day's Conversations Summit 2019, this panel focused on confronting stigmas that compel silence on mental health matters for those that identify as male and was expertly hosted by Hope for the Day COO, Carl Evans.

Our panelists included:

Davey Muise, musician and lived experience advocate

Dan Carcillo, retired Chicago Blackhawk and lived experience advocate

Adam Hill, director of the Chicago Bulls Stampede drumline

Jordan Meyers, founder of Banyan Treatment Centers

Jeremy Foster, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Chicago

Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit 2019 educated, inspired, and activated attendees with an exciting mix of breakout sessions created and led by diverse groups of youth, mental health professionals and academic partners, covering a vast spectrum of topics from mental health, arts, and technology, to social justice and activism. The summit was graciously hosted by The University of Illinois at Chicago at the Isadore & Sadie Dorin Forum (The Forum).

We are joined by Amanda Vitrano this week to discuss the loss of her sister Lauren; how it affected her personally, professionally, and socially; how a chance encounter with Hope for the Day through a workplace Peervention workshop altered her course of advocacy; and finally, what self-care really means and why she is making it her mission to redefine self-care for anyone who needs to hear it and feel it.

Through the loss of her sister, Amanda, felt called to do the work that wasn’t what she wanted to do, but what she needed to do. In this work, she created The Learn for Lauren Foundation, as well as establishing a scholarship at the University of Illinois at Chicago in her sister’s memory. Amanda covers all the hard work necessary to bring all of that to fruition, as well as what it meant to her and her family to see the community come out and support the cause in her sister’s name.

You can read more about Amanda’s non-profit, The Learn for Lauren Foundation, and all the great work they are doing in the Chicago area at learnforlauren.com, as well as on Facebook and Instagram at learnforlauren.

Conversations Cafe: You Can't Wear That

The Conversations Cafe is 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, and Banyan Treatment Center.

Today's Conversations Cafe episode is titled You Can't Wear That. Recorded live at the UIC Forum, as part of Hope for the Day's Conversations Summit 2019, this panel focused on exploring stigmas that impact the mental health for those who identify as female and was expertly hosted by Hope for the Day board member, Christmas Eger.

Our panelists included:

Rosabelle Eales, an LA-based Artist & Creative Management professional

Hannah Lucas, Co-creator of the NotOK app

Amy Sumpter, co-host of the Shaped Podcast

Jenna Korsten, mental health advocate and Stoneman Douglas High School alumna

Kenya Hawkins, Clinical Counselor at Youth Guidance, focusing on their Working on Womanhood program

Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit 2019 educated, inspired, and activated attendees with an exciting mix of breakout sessions created and led by diverse groups of youth, mental health professionals and academic partners, covering a vast spectrum of topics from mental health, arts, and technology, to social justice and activism. The summit was graciously hosted by The University of Illinois at Chicago at the Isadore & Sadie Dorin Forum (The Forum).

Our first guest of Season 3 is Joel Frieders. Joel is a man of many talents, but most of all, he exudes charisma and his passion for suicide prevention burns very bright. We cover Joel’s experience as an Alderman for the United City of Yorkville, IL, as well as his journey to becoming the Public Policy Director for Hope for the Day.

The main focus of our discussion this episode continually circles back to Joel’s main passion project - the National Suicide Prevention & Action Month Proclamation (NSPAMP). After painfully losing multiple friends, loved ones, and mentors to suicide, Joel decided it was time something had to be done to break the silence and the stigma around talking about suicide and the impact it has on our communities.

Conversations Cafe: The Light Project

This week’s event is titled The Light Project. We talk with photographers and Hope For The Day Agents of Impact, Jamie Parker and Chris Callen. Jamie and Chris are the brains behind the The Light Project, a portrait series in collaboration with HFTD. They ask two questions - "How mental health and suicide have impacted your life?" and "What gives you hope?" As the person shares, Jamie and Chris capture two portraits to show that we have all darkness and light.

You’ll hear what inspired Jamie and Chris to create The Light Project in its current form, some of the highlights they’ve had along the way, and their plan for making it generally available in 2020! Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in the Light Project at the end of the episode and it was one of the most well-engaged interactive events at our Conversations Cafes to date!

The Conversations Cafe is 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, and Banyan Treatment Center.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

If you are in the Chicago area, don’t miss the chance to attend one of my favorite night’s of the year - and I haven’t even experienced it in person yet! Hope for the Day’s signature event, The Hope Ball, hosted at Salvage One in Chicago’s West Loop, brings the Chicagoland community together for an evening of celebration of the future of mental health that we are all creating together as a community! Don’t miss the presentation of the Partner in Prevention Award to Old Irving Brewing and Keynote Speaker, Dan Carcillo, mental health and lived experience advocate, as well as a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Conversations Cafe: Out of the Darkness

The Conversations Cafe is 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, and Banyan Treatment Center.

This week’s event is titled Out of the Darkness and features one of Hope for the Day’s premier Partners in Prevention, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois (AFSP). We cover some of the history of AFSP on a national level; the research, partnerships, and programming that AFSP IL does year round; and cover their upcoming Out of the Darkness Walk coming up on September 21st, 2019 at Montrose Harbor in downtown Chicago.

Our guests this week discuss how mental health and suicide have impacted their lives, as well as what brought them to their work with AFSP directly. Joining us on this episode are Courtney Collins, Regional Director of AFSP IL & MO; Cara Levinson, Secretary for the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Education Outreach Committee; Mike Bushman, Author, and AFSP Board Member and Volunteer; and Steve Moore, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Advocacy & Policy Committee, and Caption of the Race AFSP team. For more information on the AFSP IL Leadership team, you can check out their website.

Be sure to check out Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit, hosted in downtown Chicago on Saturday, September 7th, 2019. The Conversations Summit will empower young voices through interactive sessions for learning, dialogue, and activism. Best of all, the event is free but you do need to register ahead of time.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Conversations Cafe: Resiliency

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly event at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education event is brought to you by Hope For The Day, with support from our partners in prevention, Banyan Treatment Center, Dark Matter Coffee, and Three Run Two.

This week's live Conversations Cafe event, simply titled "Resiliency", featured interviews focusing on options for mental health maintenance to develop resiliency for ourselves and for the people we care about the most in our lives: our children, our friends, our family, and all the communities we belong to as individuals.

Also, be sure to check out Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit, hosted in downtown Chicago on Saturday, September 7th, 2019. The Conversations Summit will empower young voices through interactive sessions for learning, dialogue, and activism. Best of all, the event is free but you do need to register ahead of time, so head on over to conversationssummit.com for more details and to get your tickets today!

Our guests include a plethora of Hope for the Day family:

Sarah Moss, leader of Hope for the Day's Team Thrive.

Matthew Hoffman, creator of the You Are Beautiful movement. Visit 3368 N Damen right here in Chicago for more details.

Veronica Padilla, creator and author of Gentle Mentals.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.