Expressive Arts Festival May 4, 2016

Join us for a celebration of the power of creative expression & mental health.

Fellowship Place is pleased to invite the general public to the agency’s first annual Expressive Arts Festival from 5:00-7:30pm on May 4 at the headquarters of Musical Intervention, 23 TempFlyerle Street in New Haven. Supported by the City of New Haven Mayor’s Community Arts Grants Program, this free event will showcase the creative talents of the agency’s clients. The evening will include:

  • Art exhibit and sale
  • Live performance by Fellowship Place’s seven-piece band
  • Live Poetry readings by Fellowship Place’s writers group
  • Refreshments and healthy snacks presented by Fellowship Place’s Food Service Training Interns

The Expressive Arts Festival will kick off community celebrations for “May is Mental Health Awareness Month”. Fellowship Place hopes this event will expose the public to the artistic talents and accomplishments of people living with a mental illness, promote mental health awareness and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. MINDMAP CT, a collaboration between the Yale Dept. of Psychiatry, the CT Mental Health Center, and the CT Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services, will sponsor a booth at the festival with information about the early detection and treatment of mental illness.

Fellowship Place seeks to help adults with mental illness lead more meaningful, fulfilling and healthy lives by offering resources, education, and opportunity.  The agency provides a wide range of services, including supportive counseling and case management, supported housing, job training and career development services, social & physical recreation programs, expressive arts therapy, and skill building groups.  More than 650 people a year are served.

For more information, visit www.fellowshipplace.org or contact Melissa Holroyd, Development Director (203) 401-4227 x1211, mholroyd@fellowshipplace.org

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Annual Friends & Family Night

CSN Employment EventOn April 7, Fellowship Place honored employer Travis Taigen, Senior Talent and Acquisition Specialist at Yale New Haven Hospital, for Outstanding Employer Contribution to a Nonprofit Employment Program.  Travis has served on Fellowship Place’s Business Advisory Council, facilitated a workshop at Fellowship Place to talk about careers in the health care field, conducted mock interviews and resume critiques for program participants, and hired program participants at Yale New Haven Hospital. Richard Cummings, Construction Worker with St. Bari Capital Construction was also honored for completing a maintenance internship and obtaining a Job in the Community.

Pictured from left to right Travis T., Fellowship Place Director of Career Development Services Sandi Sibilio, and Richard C.

Fellowship Place announces our 2016 Birgitta Johnson Campership Fund contest winners!

The Birgitta Johnson Campership Fund awards camp scholarships annually to Fellowship members who wish to attend Camp CONNRI, an adult retreat and vacation center operated by the Salvation Army located on over 250 acres overlooking a lake in eastern Connecticut. The campership fund was established in 2015, in memory of longtime supporter and former President of Fellowship Place’s Board of Directors, Birgitta Johnson.

The 2016 awards were announced in March. Winning entries included Best Art Project, Best Essay, and Best Overall Winner. Congratulations to Ray D. & David F. for best essay, Pat C. for best art project, and Mary M. for best overall winner. To enter, Fellowship members were asked to submit an application along with a 1-page essay or a piece of artwork expressing why they would like to go to Camp CONNRI. A panel made up of Fellowship Place Board members judged the entries.

Best essay

 

 

Best art 

 

 

 

 

Pictured from left to right in photo 1 are Fellowship Place Board member Sue Cohen, essay winner Ray D., Fellowship Place Executive Director, Mary A. Guerrera, essay winner David F., and Fellowship Place Board member Ruth Sachs. Pictured from left to right in photo 2 are Fellowship Place Executive Director, Mary A. Guerrera, and best art project winner Pat C.

 

Fellowship Place Panel Discussion: Barriers of Finding Employment when you have a Criminal Record

Fellowship Place hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday March 29, to discuss the barriers of finding employment when you have a criminal record, and strategies for overcoming those barriers. About 125 people attended and contributed to the discussion, which included employment rights, resources available to ex-offenders, as well as how to discuss a criminal record with an employer.  The panel was moderated by Clifton Graves, Project Fresh Start, City of New Haven. Panel members included:

  • Timothy Lyles, Employer, Regional Sales Manager, Avagrow International
  • Trevor Johnson, Certificate of Employability Coordinator and Adult Probation Regional Manager
  • Dwight Dickerson, Owner, Tri-Cord, LLC
  • Two individuals with a criminal record, who are stably employed
  • Kirk Lowry, Legal Director, Connecticut Legal Rights Project

     

    Empl Crim Hx Panel Discussion3

    From left to right: Kirk Lowry, Novem Alston, Dwight Dickerson, Trevor Johnson, Timothy Lyles, and Clifton Graves. 

Watch Video: “Recovery Is Crocheting”, Featuring a Fellowship Place Client

Liz, a Fellowship Place client, shares her very personal account of how learning to crochet has helped her stay focused on her road to recovery. Video produced by Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) with support from the CMHC Foundation.

Revovery is Crocheting from Connecticut Mental Health Center on Vimeo.

Watch Video: Recovery Through Music Featuring a Fellowship Place Client

Shenette Lopez, a participant in both Fellowship’s Young Adult Group and Expressive Arts Program, shares her very personal account of the important role music plays in her recovery from mental illness. Video produced by Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) with support from the CMHC Foundation.