Human Service Forum

Arc-a-Palooza
2024-02-17 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)

Dialogues Across Differences: Critical Skills to Build Equity in All Communities
2024-02-16 11:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
When is it possible to build connection and foster social change when we experience tensions across class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and gender expression?
Dealing effectively with differences across social location is often the most challenging aspect of working with families, communities, groups and organizations. We can unintentionally recreate fear based, critical “calling out” cultures instead of fostering and strengthening the changes we seek to make.
We can try another way. Join us February 14, 15, and 16, 11am-3pm EST, via Zoom to learn how.

Creating a Savings and Spending Plan
2024-02-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Bank of America, 225 Memorial Ave, West Springfield, 01089, United States
On Thursday, Feb. 15, Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) will host a FREE financial seminar for the community.
Sue Zielenski of Bank of America will present the topic: “Creating a Savings and Spending Plan” at the Bank of America Financial Center at 225 Memorial Ave in West Springfield. The class will start at 6pm and end at 7:30pm. There is no cost to attend, but participants are required to sign up. Every registered guest is entered for a chance to win the door prize. To sign up, visit https://bit.ly/3On4saZ
“With the ease of digital wallets and debit cards, it’s easy to lose track of your spending,” said Olga Callirgos, GSHFH Homeowner Programs coordinator. “I think it’s really important to have a game plan every month to make sure you’re on the right track towards your financial goals.”
This seminar is the second financial class hosted by Greater Springfield Habitat since the start of the New Year. To keep up-to-date about future Habitat events, visit habitatspringfield.org/upcoming-events
GSHFH is dedicated to strengthening communities by empowering low-income families to change their lives and the lives of future generations through homeownership and home preservation opportunities. Since 1987, Greater Springfield Habitat has built or repaired 129 homes in Hampden County.

Dialogues Across Differences
2024-02-14 11:00 - 2024-02-16 15:00

Guardianship and Alternatives Webinar
2024-02-13 18:00 - 19:30
Coming of Age: Turning 18 in Massachusetts
with Frederick M. Misilo Jr., Esq., Fletcher Tilton PC

Tuesday, February 13, 2024, 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Zoom webinar
Please let us know if you need interpretation no later than February 6.

Join Family Empowerment and Frederick Misilo Jr. of Fletcher Tilton for one of our most popular webinars. This is a topic that affects people with developmental or intellectual disabilities and people in any situation where guardianship might be considered.

Guardianship and Alternatives-Turning 18 in Massachusetts will provide an overview of the legal ramifications of reaching the age of emancipation at 18 in Massachusetts.

The Zoom Webinar will include a description of the range of decision-making options, such as Guardianship, Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy and more. There will also be an introduction to basic federal and state services and benefits and the transition from educational settings to adult services. Topics covered include basic eligibility criteria, common misconceptions, prioritization for services and supports and appeals.

Frederick M. Misilo is the Chair of the Trust and Estate Department at Fletcher Tilton PC. His practice focuses on all aspects of estate planning including the areas of elder law, special needs estate planning, estate and trust administration, guardianship, and adult service advocacy. Attorney Misilo also serves as President of The Arc of the United States, the nation’s largest and oldest community-based civil rights organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Mr. Misilo is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Florida.

Persistent Coughing
2024-02-13 18:00 - 19:00
A cough is a natural reflex to help clear and protect the airway. An occasional cough is normal, and typically a cough will go away on its own but what if a cough lingers and lasts for weeks. Join Dr. Sybille Liautaud and Dr. O’Neil Green, Pulmonary Critical Care, Baystate Pulmonary Non-CF Bronchiectasis Clinic, for a discussion about coughs that are the result of damaged airways, non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, and non-tuberculosis myobacteria. Learn how they are diagnosed and treated.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Suicide Prevention
2024-02-13 12:00 - 15:15 | Webinar
Live Interactive Webinar
Instructor: Lindsay Bornheimer, Ph.D., LCSW
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 3
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for suicide prevention is an evidence-based intervention that is both valuable and effective in practice with clients. This workshop will provide training for clinicians to learn about the intervention approach and gain skills for delivery, with a specific focus on the adult population (18+). Clinical skills will be broken down into phases of treatment with use of examples and recommended techniques. Importantly, anti-oppressive practice will be discussed in addition to navigating challenges in delivering CBT for suicide prevention.

Food Security
2024-02-13 10:00 - 11:00
COSA meets to discuss Food Security on Tue, Feb 13 @ 10am (Zoom)
Speakers will include Koby Gardner-Levine from Congressman Jim McGovern’s Office
and Lev BenEzra from Amherst Survival Center.

February 2024 Breakfast- Artificial Intelligence, Human Service
2024-02-13 07:30 - 10:00 | Mount Holyoke College Willits-Hallowell Center, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA, United States
This event is now going to be virtual due to impending storm. Registrants should check their email for the event link. Contact proot@humanserviceforum.org with any questions.
No matter how you feel about artificial intelligence, it is not going away and will be more and more prevalent as time roles forward. Find out more about it, whether or not to use, how, and for what. Delcie Bean, of Tech Foundry and Paragus Strategic IT, shares his vast knowledge over a delicious breakfast.
Networking, thought provoking presentation, and great food on February 13th.
Breakfast Speaker:
Delcie Bean always wanted to create a company where he was excited to come to work every day and where his co-workers felt more like friends and family. This vision has carried Paragus through its growth and transition to employee ownership. His passion for economic development projects in the Valley led him to create Tech Foundry, a technology education nonprofit. When he’s not working, he loves spending time with his family, hiking, trail riding and enjoying ice cold grapefruit juice.

HSF Annual Sponsors:

HSF Breakfast Sponsors:

Navigating Clinical Racial Dynamics as a Multiracial Therapist
2024-02-12 12:00 - 16:15 | Webinar
Live Interactive Webinar
Instructor: Sarah Yang Mumma, Ph.D., LCSW
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 1.5
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
This webinar will be recorded.
A vital aspect of clinical social work education and professional development is engaging with literature that explores the clinical experiences of therapists that hold similar social identities to oneself. The therapist’s experiences of clinical process, including as it relates to their social identities, has been the subject of clinical literature. There is empirical research and case studies examining the clinical experiences of white therapists and, to a lesser extent, therapists of color; however, there is limited literature focused on the clinical experiences of multiracial therapists. Having oneself reflected in clinical literature is vital to the professional development of multiracial therapists as they grapple with how their multiracialness emerges and contributes to racial dynamics within the clinical dyad. Careful exploration of countertransference reactions and clinical processes benefit from accessing research on the experiences of other multiracial therapists. For monoracial supervisors supervising multiracial therapists, knowledge of common experiences of multiracial therapists can improve the quality of supervision they provide.
This course draws from empirical research to address common racial dynamics within the multiracial therapist and client dyad. It will explore how multiracial therapists experience, understand, and navigate racial dynamics in psychotherapy with diverse clients. It will provide information on common racial clinical experiences multiracial therapists have including racial coding, countertransference, therapists use of own race and disclosure. The exploration of these themes is not isolated to the clinical room and acknowledges the impact of broader socio-political context. A composite case study drawn from the instructor’s clinical work will be used to deepen exploration and understanding of these themes. Applying this information to clinical supervision will also be addressed.

Gandara Center celebrates New Family Resource Center in Sprinfield
2024-02-09 11:00 - 12:00 | Gandara Center, 1095 main street i, Springfield, MA, 01104, United States
The Gándara Center will be hosting a Ribbon Cutting celebration at its new Family Resource Center on Friday, February 9th from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. The new program located at 1095 Main Street in Springfield, provides a number of resources for families in one convenient and accessible location.
The FRC provides parenting programs, support groups, information and referral resources, assessment services, early childhood services and educational programs for families whose children range in age from birth to 18 years old. Families can also get help navigating through housing, education, courts and legal systems as well as health insurance, EBT and behavioral health services.

BIG LOVE LITTLE PERFORMANCES
2024-02-08 18:30 - 21:30

Medication Tips From the Pharmacist
2024-02-07 18:00 - 19:00
Medications continue to revolutionize medicine. But starting new medications, taking over the counter medications, or managing on-going medications can sometimes be challenging. Join Mark Heelon, Pharm.D., Medication Safety Officer, Baystate Health, for a discussion on helpful medication management tips like what questions to ask your pharmacist, bringing medications to the hospital, properly administering medications to your child, and other helpful medication management tips.

VolunteerConnect Program
2024-02-07 17:00 - 18:30

It's Going to Be All Right - Black History Month Event
2024-02-07 16:00 - 19:30 | Holyoke Library, 250 Chestnut Street, Holyoke, MA, 01040, United States
Join the Consortium’s Anti-Oppression Committee (A.O.C.)., in honor of Black History Month, to discuss the ‘Importance of the Civil Rights Movement, Then and Now’. We will be viewing the film, “Eyes on the Prize II” by Sam Pollard with a discussion facilitated by Professor Heather Z. Caldwell, Associate Professor of Westfield State University.
This free, hybrid event is presented by the Consortium’s Anti-Oppression Committee (A.O.C.).
Please register in advance.

Navigating the Menopause Transition
2024-02-05 18:00 - 19:00
The road to menopause can be long and winding, with many women experiencing hot flashes and other bothersome symptoms for 7-10 years or more during the perimenopausal period. After menopause, some symptoms related to hormonal changes may persist for life. Join Vanessa Ross, CNM, Menopause Society Certified Provider, Baystate Midwifery and Women’s Health, for a discussion about what is menopause, what to expect and how to manage your symptoms.

Minimally Invasive, Maximally Effective: New Technologies in the Cardiac Cath Lab
2024-02-04 12:00 - 13:00
Join us for an insider’s view of the latest devices and innovations used in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab for procedures such as valve replacement, stroke prevention, and more.
This event is being held on-line as a webinar and also in-person at the Baystate Health Education Center, 361 Whitney Ave, 2nd Entrance, Holyoke, MA.
Please register using the corresponding registration link whether attending virtually or in-person. All other Heart & Vascular Events will be virtual.

Long COVID-19 & Mental Health: Emerging Research and Implications for Practice
2024-02-02 13:00 - 16:15 | Webinar
Live Interactive Webinar
Instructor: Ellie Lipton, M.S.W., LCSW, LICSW
February 2, 2024, 1 – 4:15 p.m. ET
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 3
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
The CDC estimates that in 2023 19% of adults in the U.S. are experiencing Long COVID-19 symptoms. Long COVID, or post-COVID syndrome, describes a range of symptoms that emerge or persist four weeks after initial infection of SARS-COV-2. Symptoms can impact every organ system in the body, most notably the cognitive, cardiac and respiratory systems. Common symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal distress, changes in mood and post exertional malaise.
Emerging research overwhelmingly points to Long COVID exacerbating pre-existing mental health symptoms and impacting emergent mental health problems. While researchers are unsure of the cause of Long COVID, current theories suggest that the COVID-19 virus causes lasting organ damage, reduces circulating serotonin and/or causes inflammation and autoimmunity.
This course will explore the mental health impacts of Long COVID in adults. The course will provide an overview of Long COVID and discuss emerging research on Long COVID, including Long COVID’s impact on both pre-existing and emergent mental health concerns. This course will include implications for clinical practice and policy creation.

Clinical Practice in Treatment Systems: A Psychodynamic Systems Approach
2024-01-29 13:00 - 16:15 | Webinar
Live Interactive Webinar
Instructor: Cathleen Morey, Ph.D., LICSW
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 3
Clinical practice in treatment systems is complex and challenging. Effective clinical practice is contingent on knowledge and skills that are particular for systems-based work involving multiple mental health practitioners and clients interacting in a relational matrix. Yet, not all clinical theories and constructs that were developed for application in individual, group, and family modalities are directly transferable to the practice setting of a treatment system. In this seminar, Cathleen Morey, Ph.D., LICSW, outlines a conceptual framework that synthesizes contemporary psychodynamic principles with systems theory – referred to as a psychodynamic systems approach – to inform and advance knowledge of systems-based clinical practice. This approach considers the interplay of dynamic processes among the four levels of the socially co-constructed system, as well as patient, staff and organizational factors that uniquely impact clinical processes in systems of care. Five key clinical phenomena are frequently actualized in systems work: transference, countertransference, splitting, projective identification and enactment. Definitions of these phenomena formulated from a dyadic perspective and a contemporary psychodynamic systems approach will be offered, and their similarities and differences will be discussed.
Based on Morey’s empirical research, she will describe the construct of system enactment and its relevance for clinicians practicing in treatment systems. She will outline a four-step framework for engaging system enactments to repair alliance ruptures with patients, restore intra-staff functioning and address problematic organizational dynamics. Throughout the seminar, Morey will highlight social justice and anti-oppressive elements of a psychodynamic systems approach. Case discussions will illustrate the application of concepts in ways that are clinically relevant for participants.

Community Impact Team, Virtual Open Office Hours
2024-01-26 10:00 - 13:00
Virtual Open Office Hours
The Community Impact Team will have virtual open office hours for nonprofits and other stakeholders on the following dates:

Friday, January 26, 2024, 10AM to 1PM

Catchafire Day
2024-01-10 09:00 - 11:30
Catchafire Update
HSF in coordination with The Beveridge Foundation, Community Foundation of Western Mass, and the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation are excited to be able to offer access to Catchafire for a third year to our members.

HSF members have accessed support and services valued at over $465,000.00 FOR FREE! HSF Executive Director, Becca Coolong, will let you know how HSF has used Catchafire for services ranging from rebranding to creating print materials to data analysis to strategic planning. We know that TIME is the biggest barrier to use so she will update you on how little time it really takes. This event will help programs, and locations in your organization benefit from having access to Catchafire. This is not just a resource for senior leaders, it is a resource for everyone!

Following the informational hour Becca will give technical assistance to start or move forward your projects.

Register Now!

Thank you to our Annual Sponsors
