Conference Season
Spring is here and that means Conference season is here with it!
Allegheny County’s grassroots volunteer group, the Allegheny County Coalition for Recovery (ACCR), is hard at work strengthening their membership and presence in the community. The most effective way to do this has been showing up to conferences and events in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. ACCR has several key areas they shine a light on as it relates to wellness, mental health awareness and removing the stigma in recovery. Throughout the years, the coalition has completed several projects in partnership with CCBH, PA Peer Support Coalition, and NAMI.
The ‘Get Connected’ double-sided flyer was created in 2019 by members of ACCR’s quality improvement committee with the purpose of shining a light on the deadly effects of social isolation. The double-sided flyer provides resources for anyone who has felt isolated and alone. Collectively, we all have experienced this type of trauma due to the events of COVID-19 and the 2020 pandemic making these resources extremely relevant. ACCR representatives shared the flyer at the WQED film screening of ‘Alone: Isolation Hurts’ hosted in partnership with NAMI Keystone Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) Greensburg campus on March 29th, 2023. Copies of the “Get Connected” flyer will be housed in the wellness center at the Pitt Greensburg campus, for college students and visitors alike to take at will.
In more recent events ACCR hosted a table at the ‘11th Annual Adolescent and Young Adult Health Research Symposium’. The event took place at UPMC’s Children’s Hospital on April 13th, 2023, and featured ACCR’s work with Transition Age Youth promoting youth resiliency. Kits customized by the child & family planning committee of ACCR were passed out to conference attendees. The main goal: providing support, hope and encouragement to any young person in the age range of 15 to 26 years old, also known as TAY (Transition Age Youth). The table was a success. The kits have been distributed throughout multiple sectors of the behavioral health field; and we look forward to seeing the feedback provided by the TAY who scan the QR code for a short survey.
Thank you to all the conference staff for this opportunity and for welcoming our organization to the table. ACCR will continue its mission in wellness and recovery! We look forward to many more events to attend. For further details on this work, please check out the ACCR website @ http://coalitionforrecovery.org/ and Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/ACCRecovery.
HAPPY SPRING, HAPPY CONFERENCE SEASON!
