Winter ‘17-’18

Winter 2017—’18

Volume 29, Issue 4

HFM Prevention

Council

Inside this issue:

Clubhouse News 2

Recovery Center 2

4 Rivers Alliance 3

ASAPP’S Promise 3

High Disguise 4

Happy New Year!

Let’s jump right in with the big news…after 12 plus years of service to the HFM Prevention Council

Ann Rhodes is stepping aside from the Executive Director role. Ann had planned on retiring later

this year, but has decided to become our new Family Navigator (she will be helping families under-

stand and navigate the addiction treatment and recovery process) starting this January. Ann will be

an amazing asset to the families in our area and it is an area that she cares deeply and passion-

ately about. We are blessed that she will be filling this role for the council.

Ann did wonderful work during her tenure as executive director. When she started in the fall of

2005, the council consisted of a staff of six individuals (and I don’t believe all of the positions were

even filled) and she has grown the council to 20 employees. In the last three years alone, Ann se-

cured funding for the Creative Connections Clubhouse, the RC Recovery Center, Peer Engagement

Specialists, Drug-Free Communities money for the Hamilton County coalition, StopAct money for

the Fulton County coalition, Family Navigator position, and Recovery Housing. Truly inspiring! Her

outreach to the community has changed many lives and she has become a state-wide voice for the

recovery movement. The long tenures of our staff shows the respect and dignity with which Ann

treats all people.

So we won’t say good-bye yet, but we will say thank you, Ann!

All of this means that I have very big shoes to fill! Fortunately for me, we have an awesome staff

that never fails to amaze me.

Our Creative Connections Clubhouse has in the past year tripled, almost quadrupled, the number of

students that attend the clubhouse on a regular basis. TJ, John, Dana, Sergio, Casey and Richard

work tirelessly to make sure that these teens succeed in school and life.

The Recovery Center opened in June and has been growing ever since. Ginger and Jason have built

an amazing center from the ground up. And with the addition of our peer specialist, Erinn, in Sep-

tember and the family navigator, Ann, in January, it will continue to grow and serve individuals and

families in recovery.

On the prevention side, our four educators, Margaret, Yvonne, Alicia and Paul, are incredibly busy

doing programs in schools across the three counties. During a regular school month they reach

over 1000 students (unduplicated numbers!) plus conduct presentations, attend community events

and countless other activities. Shawn has developed the Choices program into his own vision and

it is so popular that he has scheduling issues. Rachel L. works with the 4 Rivers Alliance in Hamil-

ton County and coordinates the myriad of great activities that the coalition is accomplishing.

Linda continues to hold us all together on the financial side of things. Without Linda we would not

be able to operate and function as efficiently as we do. But since we have grown so fast, in Novem-

ber we hired Rachel F. (yes, that is three Rachels) to help with the finances. Welcome, Rachel!

I look forward to working with all of you to make our communities healthier!

Rachel Truckenmiller

Executive Director

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receiving help, based on

shared understanding, re-

spect and mutual empower-

ment between people in

similar situations.” Erinn

and Jason have been an

example of that – through

the activities and support

groups offered at the

Center, to the sharing of

their experiences, the

relationships they’ve built

with individuals and groups

facilitated at the Center,

and mentoring and goal

setting with participants.

They have also built

relationships with agencies

including St. Mary’s Hospi-

tal, Inpatient and Outpa-

tient Addictions, Family

Counseling Center,

Victorian Manor, Fulton

County Drug Court and

Fulton County Correctional

Thanks to funding from

NYS OASAS, The Rob Con-

stantine Recovery Commu-

nity and Outreach Center

welcomed two Peer

Engagement Specialists

aboard in 2017.

Erinn Eschler and Jason

Woodard work within the

community as recovery sup-

port staff, using their own

experience with addiction

and recovery to be re-

sources for individuals and

families suffering from sub-

stance use issues. Jason

and Erinn work with emer-

gency departments, correc-

tional facilities, and other

points of entry where indi-

viduals may show signs of

wanting recovery and sup-

port.

Peer support has been

defined as “offering and

Facility.

Erinn and Jason have

been through a series of

trainings since September

of this past year to ensure

they have the knowledge to

meet all challenges and

competencies. These stud-

ies include Trauma

Informed Care, NARCAN

Training, Ethics of Recov-

ery Coaches, Medication

Assisted Treatment, Moti-

vational Interviewing,

CCAR Recovery Coach

Academy, Youth Mental

Health First Aid, and Man-

dated Reporter Training.

Our Peer Engagement Spe-

cialists are available

through a 24-hour hotline:

518-705-4627

-Erinn Eschler

On Tuesday November

21st, the Creative Connec-

tions Clubhouse hosted a

community Thanksgiving

Dinner. Over 150 commu-

nity members were in

attendance. Dinner was

cooked by the Sentinel of

Amsterdam and was served

by the Amsterdam High

School Academy teachers.

We would like to thank all

who helped us make this

evening a great success!

The Clubhouse enjoyed

decorating for Christ-

mas! Mrs. Gavry came in

and assisted Clubhouse

members in learning how

to sew stockings to deco-

rate the Christmas tree.

Furthermore, Robin Devito

and JeanMarie Reinke

came in and donated the

supplies and their services

to help Clubhouse mem-

bers create gingerbread

houses to take home!

-Dana Garguilo

The Creative Connections Clubhouse

Rob Constantine Recovery Community and Outreach Center

“Our Peer

Engagement

Specialists are

available

through a

24-hour

hotline:

518-705-4627”

Page 2 HFM Prevention Council

Four Rivers Alliance has

been working on a social

norms campaign. Using

survey data results, we

worked with a graphic de-

signer to create posters

with the messaging that

most kids don’t drink alco-

hol on a regular basis, nor

are they using marijuana at

high rates. This campaign

is targeting not just youth,

but the whole community.

Posters have been distrib-

uted throughout Hamilton

County. If you’d like to

hang posters in your Hamil-

ton County business, office,

etc., email Rachel Lauria at

rlauria@hfm-

preventioncouncil.com.

The coalition held

another successful Family

University Night, with

speaker Dave DeCelle, from

the National Center for

Missing and Exploited

Children. At Lake Pleasant

Central School, Dave spoke

to parents, community

members and school staff

about keeping youth safe

online. Mr. Parslow’s Home

& Careers class provided

dinner for anyone who at-

tended. Thank you Mr.

Parslow & students!

Four Rivers is also in the

midst of our annual Lights

on for Life Campaign. We

are again collaborating

with Hamilton County

District Attorney, Sheriff’s

Department, Stop DWI, and

Highway Department. This

year the displays will be

updated, but the messag-

ing is the same: Don’t drive

distracted. Distractions

could mean under the influ-

ence, or even distracted by

cell phones and other

Fulton County’s drug free coalition is always looking for new members. The more

members of the community that are represented, the better job we can do to

prevent substance abuse in our community. We meet the first Tuesday of every

month at 9:30am in the training center at the HFM Prevention Council.

Our members recently gave us quotes about why they are coalition

members. Here are a few of their responses:

The coalition offers an opportunity to participate with a variety of stake-

holders in one place to develop a comprehensive approach to prevention

activities for the region it serves.

ASAPP’s Promise is where I go to obtain information on my community and

how to assist that community even better.

One of my favorite aspects of the coalition meetings is the networking and

sharing with other agencies in the area.

Coming together to help one another.

-Rachel Truckenmiller

Four Rivers Alliance

ASAPP’S Promise

“This

campaign is

targeting not

just youth, but

the whole

community.”

Page 3 Volume 29, Issue 4

“The more

members of

the community

that are

represented,

the better

job we can

do to prevent

substance

abuse in our

community.”

High Disguise - This 1 hour program is geared toward parents and other caring adults in the

community (21 years of age and older). The presentation gives participants the opportunity to

explore a mock teen bedroom. Participants will search for hidden drugs and paraphernalia,

while learning about concealment methods and drug

culture references. This will be followed with an

in-depth discussion about the room and current trends.

An opportunity for questions and answers will follow.

If you would like to schedule this presentation for your

organization, please contact Paul Meher, Alicia King

or Ginger Cato at the HFM Prevention Council.