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Over the summer, an officer from the Gaston County Police Department and his K9 partner visited the Gastonia Day Activity Center and conducted a demonstration for the residents and employees.

The officer explained how his K9 partner protects him and helps him catch the “bad guys.” He discussed the dog’s training and the special commands he uses with him. One of the center’s staff even put on a special protective sleeve and participated in a demonstration of the dog’s bite command. The officer ended the visit by taking questions from residents and staff.

Thank you to the Gaston County Police Department for sharing this informative presentation!

The RHA unit in Trenton, Tennessee participated in Gibson County’s Relay for Life Benefit on June 15, 2019 to raise money for cancer research. Lacey Elliot, Administrative Assistant, acted as the team leader for the unit. Georgia Rutherford and Dustin Lowrance, both Behavior Specialists, Luz Poole, Custodian, and Lesli Haliburton, Lacey’s mother and supportive community member, rounded out the team. In the months leading up to the benefit, the team organized numerous bake sales, prize raffles, and t-shirt sales in order to raise money for this special cause. Luz, an honored survivor for the event, raised hundreds of dollars by herself! She also sold the most raffle tickets and t-shirts out of the entire team.

Pictured right: RHA Trento Tennessee Unit Relay for Life 2019 Team (Left to right: Lacey Elliot, Georgia Rutherford, Luz Poole, Dustin Lowrance, and Lesli Haliburton)

The theme for this year’s Relay for Life event was Disney and the Trenton Unit selected The Jungle Book as inspiration for its campsite at the benefit. The highly creative team decided to paint a massive backdrop based on classic scenes from the film and use stuffed animals as props to show that they were “Wild About A Cure!” Numerous stuffed animals were borrowed from the staff members of the unit to add to the scenery. Dustin and Georgia took on the task of painting the backdrop and making jungle themed decorations.

At the event, the team hosted a bake sale, prize raffle, and face painting at its campsite. By the end of the night, the RHA Trenton Tennessee Unit had raised nearly $1,000 and took the Best Campsite prize! The Relay for Life team, as well as the whole Trenton Unit, are very proud of their achievements during the benefit.

The RHA Trenton Tennessee Unit’s Winning Relay for Life Campsite

Luz Poole represents the RHA Trenton Tennesse Unit Relay for Life Team

Dustin Lowrance and Georgia Rutherford of the RHA Trenton Tennessee Unit get into the Relay for Life Spirit with Face Painting

RHA Trenton Tennessee Unit Relay for Life team members pose with their Best Campsite award (left to right: Luz Poole, Lacey Elliot, Georgia Rutherford, and Dustin Lowrance)

Tammy, a person supported by RHA in Lincolnton, North Carolina, enjoys writing recipes on index cards, going grocery shopping, and cooking new meals. Tammy and Beth, the Direct Support Professional who works closely with her, had gone grocery shopping at several grocery stores that just weren’t the right fit. Earlier this year, Beth and Tammy started grocery shopping at the Food Lion in Lincolnton, NC. In Tammy’s own words:

My name is Tammy. Me and my staff started doing our shopping for groceries at the Food Lion in Lincolnton in February, because other grocery stories did not treat me like a person, like I like to be treated. When we walked into the Lincolnton Food Lion, Gene greeted me with a smile and was very friendly. Greg helped us find things I was looking for. Then I got to [the] register and got to meet Josh. He is a cashier. Each time we go they help us out with the groceries, always treat me as an individual with respect, know me by name and make me feel welcome. Them and Beth never make me feel different like other places have. We’ve even went to other Food Lions just for a few things, but [they’re] not like my Lincolnton Food Lion. Thank you Josh, Gene and Greg.

Robert, a person served by RHA in Augusta, Georgia, had been estranged from his brother for two years. No one knew where he was. Robert and his brother are both deaf, and Robert’s brother had gone into the system many years ago. Robert had been asking about him for a while and had missed him very much.

Augusta Area Administrator Tonya Self discovered through her part-time work with another agency that Robert’s brother had entered that program. After following proper channels and making sure that Robert’s brother was open to being reunited, his brother’s program was invited to attend the Augusta Unit’s Friends and Family Day in June and Tonya encouraged Robert’s brother to go.

The Family and Friends Day event was sponsored by the Augusta Masons. Through donations the August Unit was able to create a festive Hawaiian luau — complete with a roasted pig that volunteers funded and cooked.

As Robert’s expression shows he was very happy to be reconnected with his brother. The reunion was something Robert had identified as one of his dreams in his individual support plan and his team helped make it happen.

Since their initial reunion on Family and Friends Day, and with the help of Group Home Supervisor Tiffany Churchwell, the brothers have continued to see each other regularly and this year they plan to spend their first Thanksgiving together since they were very young!

RHA’s SHORE Program in Wilmington, North Carolina, provides outpatient therapeutic services and support to young people, ages 15 to 30, who are experiencing certain life challenges due to symptoms associated with schizophrenia spectrum and similar psychotic disorders. Services include assessment, development of an individualized treatment plan, case management, individual, group and family therapy, substance use treatment (if needed), medication management, educational support, supported employment, and discharge planning. Peer Support Services are also offered as part of the program.

Below, Alabama Stone, an RHA Behavioral Health Certified Peer Support Specialist, shares the story of one SHORE program participant, Justice, who has used his artistic talents as a tool in his own recovery and to fight the stigma associated with mental health challenges.

Known in the local art scene as, FUDGEWILLI, Justice has been a consumer at RHA for four years. He has been an active client of SHORE and is incredibly involved in SHORE’s many art projects and peer outreach groups. From making music to film production, standup comedy to performance art, writing poetry to creating children’s books — FUDGEWILLI does it all.

Justice has been creating art ever since he can remember: “I started with making little books in like kindergarten, but remember being like 15 and drawing and making music and making clothes—I’d take anything I could afford to mess up to make art.” He continues, “I made a ceiling fan a couple of months ago, it’s still in my closet. It’s blue and I saved it from being thrown in a dumpster — I’m doing a one man show in the summer; I’m sure I’ll use it.”

While Justice continues to create on all levels, with all mediums, he’s recently focused his work on self-publishing books. His most recent, Take Your Medicine Eddy Jefferson has been celebrated for its message and unique art.

Take Your Medicine Eddy Jefferson is a children’s book addressing the battle of psychosis, where the narrator is speaking to the character, Eddy Jefferson — a beautifully bizarre conglomerated image, a hybrid of a prescription bottle, person, angel, and superhero. The narrator encourages Eddy to continue to take his medication, anti-psychotics, to keep him well and to “fight the battle with psychosis.” When asked what led him to write the book Justice responds, “the narrator, me, is telling him (Eddy) to take his medicine so he doesn’t have to deal with symptoms and things like that when he didn’t take it.” Justice continues, half-smiling, half-laughing, “it’s kind of funny because I wasn’t taking my medicine when I wrote it.”

Throughout his time in SHORE, Justice has shared that the phrase, “take your medicine” has been weaponized by some of the people in his life. This is what led him to take to the page. “I wanted to use a nurturing tone to encourage young people to take their medication.” Justice continues to advocate for his community and to fight the stigma associate with mental health through his art, and is in school for Film and Video Production Technology, with plans to eventually make film adaptations of his books.

FUDGEWILLI is the definition of an artist, challenging himself with new projects, and utilizing art as a tool in his recovery. Justice has done a lot for his peers in RHA’s SHORE program and gives insight and encouragement to his community. His books are available online at Amazon, and can be ordered by request at Barnes & Noble.

Disasters can happen anytime and anywhere, as many in North Carolina have learned with the hurricanes in the last few years. Since January 2019, Cindy Pizzino and her team have been working under a grant from FEMA, administered through Sandhills Center (Local Management Entity-Managed Care Organization), to provide education on disaster preparedness as part of the Hope 4 NC Crisis Counseling Program.

The Hope 4 NC program provides many disaster-related services such as individual crisis counseling for natural disaster survivors, sharing support and information on resources and services available to disaster survivors, public education, and community networking.

The Hope 4 NC program has produced some impressive results since its inception. Some results as of October 21, 2019:

• A total of 221,079 individual survivors have been served through Hope 4 NC CCP since September 14, 2018 when Hurricane Florence made landfall.

• More than 32,000 individuals were referred for more intensive community services, including health, behavioral health and disability services.

• More than 56,134 individuals were served since July 1, 2019. On average 3,500 individuals are served weekly. This surpasses the estimated 49,900 to be served through the RSP, by 13%.

• Since Hurricane Florence’s landfall, Hope 4 NC has served 9% of the total population of survivors living in the 27 most impacted North Carolina counties.

On Cindy’s team, Miriam Davila who started in March is working hard in their service counties with Spanish-speaking residents to share the information. Over the summer, she spent a lot of time helping children learn how to stay safe during natural disasters. There is a very substantial Spanish-speaking population in the rural counties the team covers and Miriams’ hard work developing strong relationships in these areas has made it possible to reach new individuals.

The team’s two newest members Vicky Berrier and Caroline Jones both jumped right in and are hitting the pavement hard to share the message and involve themselves within the community to arrange presentations and discussions about disaster preparedness.

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Over the summer the team participated in many community events. They also worked with more than 120 students at the Hope Academy on activities about disaster preparedness including an activity where the students made artwork representing floods and thunderstorms. [See photos above.] They also recently gave a presentation at First Health and hope to be approved to present and share throughout First Health’s system in the future. They are also working with school system superintendents to be able to visit schools and help equip kids with disaster preparedness information.

If you know of anyone who would like to receive information on disaster preparedness, please contact Cindy Pizzino at 336-618-1158 or cindy.pizzino@rhanet.org.

In late May, Project SEARCH celebrated the conclusion of a year of hard work for Pitt County Schools students with disabilities.

Project SEARCH is a combined education and internship program for students with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, who have completed their high school or community college academic requirements, but who have not yet officially graduated. It is designed to give them the skills to gain employment after high school and contribute to their communities.

The Pitt County Project Search program is a partnership between Vidant Medical Center, Pitt County Schools, RHA Health Services and the N.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

Students in the program work on employability skills in the classroom for the first hour and last half hour of the day. The rest of their day is spent at an internship for which they applied, interviewed and were selected.

At the ceremony in May, students received their certificates and had an opportunity to reflect on their time in the program. After graduation the students will receive assistance with finding gainful employment.

WATCH THIS VIDEO from WNCT to see interviews with the May 2019 Pitt County Project SEARCH graduates.

Since its inception, Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to over 300 sites across the United States and Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.

Learn more about all of RHA’s Employment Services programs.