Keepin' It Teal

Since we began recording podcasts, LaFASA has had quite a bit of change in personnel. You'll hear some familiar voices, but also new voices and learn about new positions. Listen as we talk serious, and cut loose, get to know the people at LaFASA in 2024.

Are you living your optimal life? Maybe you're experiencing pain or other maladies that affect you and prevent you from living the way you want to live. Did you know that your mind plays a huge role in your physical health and that the body can show physical symptoms manifested from past trauma or from living with secondary trauma as a care-taker? Lynn Duhe with the Miracle Wellness Center joins LaFASA on our podcast, Keepin' It Teal, to discuss how this happens and how a holistic approach can help your body function at optimum levels.

We are excited that we could talk with her during May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. For more information about the Miracle Wellness Center, go to miraclecenterbr.com

LaFASA talks with Ashley Baustert, mother of Madison Brooks, the LSU sophomore who was sexually assaulted and left on a dark highway without a cell phone. Ashley talks about who Madison was and how she continues to make a difference in the lives of others through the Madison Brooks Foundation. LaFASA is always impressing the point that prevention lies in stopping the power imbalances that result in assault. However, that doesn't diminish the importance of by-stander intervention. Bystander intervention is in real-time prevention efforts. For information about how you can help as a bystander, visit LaFASA's page here.

Zoe Fay-Stindt's poetry has appeared in museum galleries, on the radio, on the streets of small towns, in community farm newsletters, and other strange and wonderful places. Their work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and has been featured in RHINO, Muzzle, VIDA, Southeast Review, The Florida Review, Ninth Letter, Poet Lore, and others as well as gathered into a chapbook, Bird Body, which won the inaugural Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize with Cordella Press.

Join us in this podcast and Zoe reads passages from Bird Body and we discuss the meaning of her words taken from the pages, Bird Body, a chapbook of her poetry written to heal from her own sexual assault.

You can find Bird Body at https://www.cordella.org/products/bird-body

Dogs are the best. It's been shown that the friendship of a dog can decrease stress, increase endorphins, and increase our life expectancy. For those who have suffered trauma in some capacity, dogs are especially beneficial and Service Dogs can enhance their independence and healing process in ways other methods, such as counseling and therapy, can't. However, service dogs can be incredibly expensive (and rightly so) and without the help of grants or loans, many are not able to experience that type of companionship. This poses a hurdle, that for some is too high to clear.

However, Dog Training Elite can make Service Dogs accessible to a much larger percentage of those in need. Their method is to train a dog and owner as a team to achieve the goal of the handler's own dog becoming their service dog. By using positive training methods, they empower both owner/handler and dog to be an outstanding team committed to each other.  

One last note, if you have a dog, but you're not experiencing joy from your dog, it could be you just need a little help in recognizing what kind of training your dog needs. Betsy and Ed can assess your dog and offer suggestions so that you have the best relationship possible with your dog.

Betsy Feaster and her husband, Ed Erb, are veterans with a passion for dogs and for helping the community. We invite you to listen to this conversation and find out about Emotional Support Dogs, Therapy Dogs, and Service Dogs and just how awesome dogs are in general.

Dog Training Elite Southeast Louisiana

[email protected]

The Malinois Foundation

September is Service Dog Awareness Month and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Did you know that most government programs cannot help prevent homelessness? They are structured to help someone who has already received an eviction notice. While government programs can be a safety net, the primary goal is prevention. Hope Ministries is an organization with amazing and dedicated people who want to help people from becoming homeless. This is important in the sexual assault movement because when people are put in compromised situations, such as facing homelessness or being on "the streets," they are in survival mode which can lead to actions that result in sexual assault, among other victimizations. Hope Ministries has programs in Baton Rouge as well as statewide, that promote human dignity by empowering people with resources and programs that give the skills necessary to maintain employment and housing and present a solution to generational poverty. You'll definitely want to learn more about this amazing organization and the programs they offer by listening to this episode. 

If you're interested in finding out more about Hope Ministries go to HopeBR.org or call 225.355.0702.

Below are some of their programs and workshops:

The Way to Work© is a client-centered program that provides a structured environment to help participants achieve and maintain employment, housing, financial and family stability. HOPE’s Success, Financial, and Career coaches work with participants to identify issues that lead to crisis and contribute to instability, then formulate a plan to overcome barriers to employment.

Going Beyond© is a workforce training program. This workshop series educates employees on the workplace fundamentals and expectations of their employers, including the importance of attendance, attitude, conflict resolution, critical thinking, communication, and much more.

Understanding your Workforce© is a customized professional development training for companies’ executive, mid-level, and line supervisors to help employers increase retention and productivity.

Understanding the Dynamics of Poverty© is HOPE’s professional development training. It is a six-hour interactive training for social workers, teachers, clergy and anyone who wants to understand how generational poverty impacts our community.

LaFASA has added text-based contact for crisis and general assistance to it's Helpline. This is amazing and adds another dimension to the ways that survivors can get help. In this podcast we talk with Katie Boleware, the program's coordinator, and her intern Courtney, about how the program got started, was formed, the volunteers, who we encourage to call, and how things are going. Below is information on how to contact the Helpline.

LaFASA offers free and confidential support to all survivors and their loved ones statewide through our helpline. 

Being grateful has some pretty awesome side effects. Let's talk about those things.

LaFASA recently spoke in a podcast with Mark Medina from Metro Centers for Community Advocacy, one of LaFASA’s dual member centers. We talk about how important it is to consider all family members, including pets, who are affected by domestic violence. Local DV agencies and advocates can also help those in need to create an action or safety plan when someone is considering escaping a dangerous situation. The AWI and National Domestic Violence Hotline have published safety plan resource pages on their websites that include pets. Anyone who works with pets will empathize with this topic and conversation.

Virginia Tucker is the writer and director of the 9 minute short film "Touched," a film that addresses sexual assault and the after effects it has on survivors.

It is one of 20 finalist films competing September 30 thru October 1 at PrizeFest in Shreveport, La. LaFASA sits down with Virginia to discuss her film, what inspired it, and how it can impact sexual assault awareness. Find out all about the film and Virginia at https://linktr.ee/TouchedFilm or attend on site or virtually through prizefest.com/tickets

If you are a survivor in our state in need of assistance, please contact LaFASA's helpline through talk, text or chatline services. Talk with someone at 888-995-7273 24/7 or starting October 1, 2021 Text M-F 12pm to 4pm at 225-351-7233 or chat at LaFASA.org