Centerstone Hosts Reclaiming Lives Breakfast On May 25

ALTON - Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral healthcare, will host its second annual Reclaiming Lives Breakfast on Thursday, May 25 from 7:30 TO 9 a.m. at Post Commons, 300 Alby Street, Alton, IL.

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at centerstone.org/reclaiming-lives-breakfast. Tickets are $40 each and the deadline to purchase tickets is May 5.

The focus of the event's presentations will be Elevating the Voices of Children and Youth.

We invite you to join Centerstone for a meaningful conversation that will help you understand childhood trauma and its impact on a child's emotional, developmental, and overall health and well-being, said Erin Camfield, Centerstone Director of Advancement.

The featured speaker will be Dr. Anne Scheer, a children's sociologist at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's Department of Population Science and Policy in Springfield, IL. Her presentation will be the room where it happens: community trauma, racial disparities, and why true change is only possible if we really listen to children and youth.

Since 2020, Dr. Scheer has been leading efforts in Alton to transform the city into a UNICEF-recognized Child-Friendly city. Building on her previous research with children and youth, which includes a focus on punitive school discipline and racial disparities in urban education; trauma-informed practices and their role in creating more equitable school climates; or rural students’ perspectives on health, nutrition, and well-being, Dr. Scheer's work around the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) in Alton seeks to engage children, youth, their families, and communities in identifying priorities for action and solutions that are both locally feasible and sustainable on our path to creating a city in which all children are happy, healthy, and safe. Further supporting this work, Dr. Scheer also leads a local coalition of 14 stakeholder organizations working to improve health equity, collaborates with local law enforcement to address high rates of youth violence, and explores innovative, low-barrier, community-based responses to the current crisis in children's and youth mental health.

Joining Dr. Scheer are Centerstone experts, Hannah Chapman and Brittany Tillman, who will discuss childhood adverse experiences and their impact on emotional, mental, and physical well-being, as well as the importance of providing trauma-informed care and the goals of Centerstone's Trauma, Treatment, and Training (CT3) program. CT3 aims to increase access to trauma-focused treatment for children, adolescents, and their families who have experienced traumatic events. CT3 develops and maintains local capacity to implement trauma-informed practices and provide evidence-based, informed trauma treatment interventions.

Chapman is a Licensed Social Worker (MSW, LSW) and works as the project director/grant coordinator for CT3, a project funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). Chapman began working with the CT3 program as an MSW intern and has now accrued more than 1,400 hours of trauma work with the CT3 program post-graduation. Through the grant, Chapman has become certified in Teen Triple P Parenting and is in the process of becoming certified in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and becoming a trained eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapist. Chapman maintains a small caseload of clients while managing the CT3 program. Chapman graduated with distinction from Capella University in March 2022 and previously worked as a school secretary for 8 years, which gives her a unique perspective of the effects childhood trauma has on a child's ability to relate to others and excel in school.

Tillman, MSW, LSW, works as a counselor and team lead for CT3 providing direct services for children enrolled in CT3. Brittany graduated with a master's degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis. Through the grant, Tillman has become certified in TF-CBT and Teen Triple P Parenting program as well as a practitioner in Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) and has been trained in EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). Tillman previously worked with Atlanta's largest homeless service organization which gives her a unique perspective on the correlations between social and economic stressors and childhood trauma.

The event benefits patient care at Centerstone.

Centerstone's Reclaiming Lives Breakfast is an annual event that showcases how Centerstone is delivering care that changes people's lives, and how gifts can positively impact and transform lives, said Camfield.

We invite you to join Centerstone in making a positive impact in the lives of our youth. Supporters of the Reclaiming Lives Breakfast help advance Centerstone's mission of delivering care that changes people's lives, ensuring care is available in our communities.

For more information about the second annual Reclaiming Lives Breakfast, contact Camfield at Erin.Camfield@Centerstone.org or (618) 521-0243.

More like this: