Our Mission Statement: MHAAO is an inclusive peer-run organization
dedicated to self-direction honoring the voice of lived experience
|
|
Congrats to Rachelle Ross for celebrating 1 year at MHAAO on November 25th!
Congrats to Jesse Maxwell for celebrating 1 year at MHAAO on December 2nd! In his words, "I am so glad I am on the team. I really do feel pretty blessed!"
Congrats and HBD to Tara Prince for celebrating her belly button birthday on December 9th!
Congrats to Jessica Carroll for celebrating 6 years at MHAAO!
Congrats to Bill Beall who will be celebrating 10 years in recovery on December 12th! In his words, "As they say in the meetings I go to, NO FRONTS!! So it's a few more days for me, but thank you. Best part is I get to start expunging my criminal record. I never thought I'd see this opportunity."
Congrats to Amber Lakin for celebrating 1 year at MHAAO on December 16th!
Congrats to Jimmy Walker for celebrating 1 year at MHAAO on December 16th!
Congrats to Jenny Manzanares for celebrating 3 years at MHAAO on December 19th!
|
|
Glenn Brinson
Peer Support Specialist for EVOLVE Washington County Shelter
|
|
What drew you to the peer movement?
What drew me to the peer movement was my colorful past being a motivation for me to support my peers on their journey.
What about our organization most excites you and/or is there anything you are looking forward to in your new role?
MHAAO is peer-run, and that I see is an inspiration for me to give back to my community that I have taken so much away from in a positive way.
What do you do for self-care?
What I do for self care is give back to my community by helping pass out food boxes, volunteer with other non-profits, and serve on a board with a non-profit that I believe has the same outlook as I.
|
|
Chelsea Humphrey
Peer Support Specialist for EVOLVE Multnomah County VIMOS
|
|
What drew you to the peer movement?
What drew me to the peer movement was the opportunity to let my peers know I care and the ability to support peers just like me on their journey.
What about our organization most excites you and/or is there anything you are looking forward to in your new role?
What excites me about MHAAO is the level of care they share, not only with coworkers but also our community. I also get excited in my current role when I have the ability to offer support and to make a difference in a peers day.
What do you do for self-care?
What I like to do for self-care is cook, read a good book, watch movies and sometimes it’s doing nothing at all.
|
|
Nikisha Todd
Peer Support Specialist for Pathway Home
|
|
What drew you to the peer movement?
I wanted to help people struggling with addiction and to be an advocate and share my own personal story, experience, insight, and perspectives of what it took for me to recover. Most importantly, I want to be a concrete role model that other people navigating their own addiction recovery can see that recovery works!
What about our organization most excites you and/or is there anything you are looking forward to in your new role?
What excites me the most about this organization is that it is peer-run, which gives this organization a unique advantage to connect with people on a different level.
I am definitely looking forward to working with the incarcerated population because I know all the essential layers of support needed for a person who is incarcerated and all the support needed for an individual after release from jail/prison as well. I believe that having a strong support system will dictate a person’s success in their recovery and will decrease their chances of recidivism.
What do you do for self-care?
As for self-care it’s very important for me to get my spiritual food at the very beginning of my day and the ending of my day, everyday, with my all time favorite, TD Jakes. I love to speed walk in the rain and do my hip hop fit workouts and my dance workouts with Keaira Lashae. Most importantly I read my self-help books, do journaling or art therapy, and at times I add tools or revisit my tools in my Wellness Recovery Action Plan, just to name a few.
|
|
Tristin Denney
Project Coordinator for Pathway Home
|
|
What drew you to the peer movement?
The value and impact of the advocacy piece that happens within the peer movement is what I find so important. Being a part of a movement that supports and believes in the peers in our community and their ability to overcome challenges is such a beautiful thing. Watching as the movement has gained a voice in legislation and policy at both national and state levels is so inspiring and I just feel blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of it.
What about our organization most excites you and/or is there anything you are looking forward to in your new role?
I am just so excited to begin working on the new Pathway Home project! I am looking forward to creating invaluable community connections for the success of our re-entry peer population. Having the ability to begin working with peers pre-release, getting them connected to the necessary resources, I think is going to make such a huge difference. With the Pathway Home program we have an opportunity to provide support in a way that will allow change to happen and as a result we are hoping to see a reduction in recidivism rates which is amazing!
What do you do for self-care?
For me self-care is finding a quiet calm place where I can fully relax and decompress. Taking time to breathe and recollect my thoughts. Going hiking, camping or spending the day soaking up some sunshine by the lake or at the river. Spending time with my closest friends who help keep me grounded. Going on little family adventures, reading a good book, taking bubble baths or just lying in bed all day binge-watching my favorite series.
|
|
Megan Fried
Peer Support Specialist for EVOLVE
Kaiser Recovery Pathways
|
|
What drew you to the peer movement?
The school program I was enrolled in offered the classes through MHAAO. After my first few days of training, I knew then I had found my calling!
What about our organization most excites you and/or is there anything you are looking forward to in your new role?
I get excited at seeing all the new programs. I love how peer-centered MHAAO is and all the resources they offer those that truly need it.
What do you do for self-care?
For self care, I go on family adventures. My fiance and our two daughters call ourselves "the scrambled legs family," because we drive so long when we get out to walk our legs feel scrambled!
|
|
Molly Griggs,
Peer Wellness Specialist for EVOLVE Washington County CHOICE Program
|
|
"We had what feels like a big success in the WACO CHOICE program. A peer who we support had left their home and gone on a "walkabout" for almost two months before ending up a "J. Doe" in a hospital up in Washington state. Once they were identified and able to talk with us, we ran into a number of hurdles to getting them home. Behavioral health and county providers had no ideas about how we could get the peer back into Oregon, as there is no real way to move someone under care for mental health across state lines, so we couldn't just transfer them home.
Our peer was far away from their supports and their known life and facing commitment hearings and possible long term hospitalization in another state and/or release from said hospital with a bus ticket back to Oregon and no support to facilitate the trip's success. We were able to advocate for our peer and once everyone was onboard, we arranged an approval of funds to drive up and get our peer and bring them home after more than two months away! They are happy to be back in their home and seeing their medical team. Sometimes to get results, you just have to be a peer!"
|
|
Melinda Hicks,
Peer Support Specialist for EVOLVE Clackamas County Older Adult
|
|
"One of my peers was in a physical rehab center for a long time and recently was able to go into an assisted living facility and will be in an all inclusive health and mental wellness program!
The program also assists older people with social connections, older adult education classes, transportation, and navigating social services!"
|
|
Organization-Wide Updates |
|
Admin Update:
- MHAAO has updated its fiscal and employee policies and procedures and they have been reviewed and approved by the Board. We will be sharing these procedures in January.
- Welcome to René Stewart, our new Executive Assistant. Please go to René for any assistance need on computers, tablets, or phones. Please go to René for any office supplies or COVID-19 related supplies such as hand sanitizer, masks, or face shields.
- If you haven't already, check out our Annual Report!
|
|
|
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative Update:
- The DEI committee created a community feedback form for feedback on DEI issues.
- The DEI committee is also creating a training on Denouncing White Supremacy (Working title).
|
|
Trauma-informed Care Initiative Update:
- Kristin has been working towards scheduling two organizational training with community partners.
- Kristin is working on an outline for the ProQol and Parallel process for MHAAO’s policies and procedures.
|
|
- The Peerpocalypse committee has collected nominations for the Oregon specific Home Grown Peer Leader of the Year award and the National Peer Leader of the Year Award. The committee will be voting this next week.
- The Peerpocalypse committee has extended the workshop proposal deadline to January 8th. We are asking for everyone's help in getting the word out. MHAAO will offer technical assistance to presenters who need it.
- To submit a proposal or to view examples of what virtual workshops look like, click the links below!
|
|
|
- We completed our first Quarterly reports utilizing Recovery Link!
-
Onboarded and served the Washington Co Shelter programs with Glenn Brinson and Zane Macziewski. The project started November 1 and ended November 31.
-
Filled the Clackamas Co Zero Suicide with Chantelle Volk and they love her!
-
Hired our first Hispanic/Latino outreach worker Arthur Aguilar.
-
Transferred OHSU impact and HBBR Program manager, Rachelle Ross, to Jail navigator and Sean Mahoney from Jail navigator to OHSU.
- Started the recruiting and onboarding for the Multnomah Co. VIMOS program. We will be transferring staff from Washington Co Shelter to the VIMOS program starting December 1.
- Started the interviewing process, training, and onboarding staff for the FEMA CCP program
-
Filled position at Kaiser with Megan Fried.
-
Dawn Martin transferred from HACC to Clackamas County Community Based Program. Thank you Dawn!
-
Christine Rodrigues is our new PSS at Northwest Housing Alternatives in November.
-
Welcome back Tiffanie Kearney!
-
Shoutout from Amy Brinkley, fellow Peer Support Specialist for HACC:
- "All of us in Resident Services at HACC are sooo happy that Tiffanie is BACK!! To see her sweet face on Zoom this morning was heavenly and that voice, yay!! Her peers are looking forward to engaging with her again and I am jumping up & down in celebration for her!!! No words to eloquently express my joy, but WOW! I am ecstatic!"
|
|
- Interviewed and hired 2 case managers, 2 PSS’s, 1 peer manager, and 1 project coordinator.
- Presented program to the Clackamas County Workforce Partnership.
- Had initial meeting with Department of Corrections to investigate the possibility of partnering.
- Started building grant specific electronic record system with I-Trac.
- Continued planning process for program implementation in December.
|
|
-
Emily Nelson and Molly Griggs completed our first ever online PWS training cohorts! Congratulations to our graduates and trainers!
-
Our next virtual PWS will be held in January 2021: https://www.mhaoforegon.org/current-trainings (Due to high demand, training is full but we are accepting wait-list applicants)
- Development of a culturally-specific PWS training is complete, and this training will be offered in the future. Thank you to everyone who participated in the development of the training!
-
Thank you to Katrina Dejeu, Outreach Intern, for helping raise awareness of MHAAO's trainings and technical assistance! Katrina's internship program will be ending in December, and we have appreciated the opportunity to work with her and wish her all the best!
|
|
|
OPDSCo - OHA Needs Assessment:
-
Marianne O'Neill-Tutor and Adrienne Scavera presented on the Peer Delivered Services Needs Assessment to the Metro Plus Association of Addiction Peer Professionals.
-
Final needs assessment report and executive summary are live at https://www.mhaoforegon.org/needs-assessment
|
|
|
University of Washington Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC)
-
Adrienne Scavera facilitated a regional consult call on designing peer programs.
- A supervisor consult was also facilitated, on the topic of supporting staff in times of crisis.
- A peer support-specific meeting was held too, on the topic of self-advocacy.
- To register for these future calls, click the links below!
|
|
OHA - Opioid and Pain Training
-
Have lived experience with chronic pain or opioids? Please reach out to Adrienne Scavera (ascavera@mhaoforegon.org)! We will be working on gathering a group of peers to provide valuable input on the training.
-
Adrienne Scavera presented at the statewide Drug Overdose Initiative Coordinator meeting.
- Monthly meetings with Oregon Health Authority are ongoing.
|
|
PeerZone
- Monthly PeerZone Facilitator connection webinar for USA/Canada/UK facilitators was held in early December.
-
Starting soon, Molly Griggs will be offering virtual PeerZone workshops with a focus on Washington County!
|
|
|
|
If you have stories about yourself or a peer that you would like to have featured in MHAAO's newsletter, blog, or social media, please email Kaity Riordan, Marketing, Communications & PR Coordinator at kriordan@mhaoforegon.org or give her a call at 509-936-3135! She's always looking forward to hearing from you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
