ACMHS October Update

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Update to the Community, October 2018

ACMHS/FCMHS Welcomes New Board Members!

We are thrilled to welcome our first Board Member from Fairbanks! Linda Setterberg was elected October 25. Setterberg is the Coordinator for the Fairbanks Reentry Coalition, which works to create a community that is supportive of citizens returning from jail and their rehabilitative process, and she knows mental health services are an important piece. She has a personal connection to the mission of ACMHS/FCMHS as a parent of a child with Serious Mental Illness and a survivor of suicide loss. She is an active member of the Fairbanks community, volunteering and serving in multiple capacities, and hopes to be a strong advocate for increasing services in the Fairbanks area.

Nicole Jones-Vogel joined the Board of Directors in September 2018. She is employed as a Land Manager with the Municipality of Anchorage, and was motivated to join the ACMHS/FCMHS Board by her experiences trying to find accessible services as a foster parent. She says, "Mental Health needs are so widespread and many can't or won't seek services; I'm interested in being part of the solution to changing the stigma of mental illness."

Finding Help with Parenting Challenges at ACMHS: Parenting with Love and Limits

It’s the last of six evening sessions for this group of five families enrolled in Parenting with Love and Limits® (PLL). That means it’s potluck night, and the younger kids especially can’t wait to load up their plates with sub sandwiches, chips and homemade pasta casserole, carried in with oven mitts by one of the dads.

Once the group settles in, the first task is checking homework. Clinician Ann Conducy queries them – did the parents read the chapter about “restoring nurturance” in their relationships with their kids, how to find the balance between soft love and tough love? Do the teens have “positive parent” moments to report? Read More!

Mental Illness Awareness Week Event - October 11, 2018

ACMHS and NAMI Anchorage hosted a gathering at the Wells Fargo Alaska Heritage Museum to mark Mental Illness Awareness Week and update the community on programs. ACMHS has been focusing on our core mission - providing quality behavioral health services and increasing access to those services. NAMI has been working to increase family support and education programs, especially for young Alaskans. The two organizations are pleased to be working together to help facilitate a youth-led action group to promote awareness of mental health issues in the Anchorage area. Click here to learn about our November 5 organizing meeting!

Fairbanks Community Mental Health Services is taking part in their first workplace giving campaign for the United Way of Tanana Valley! Way to go, FCMHS!

Alaska Seeds of Change will celebrate its second birthday on November 30th! Stay tuned for event details via facebook and www.Akseedsofchange.com

Open House at FCMHS!

November 29

4:00 - 5:00 pm

1423 Peger Road

More details coming soon!