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Thank you HEA Pride Committee for your support!

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1. How to Open Up Lines of Communication Between Parents & Kids

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1. How to Open Up Lines of Communication Between Parents & Kids

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Meredith Keller, LPC

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Click the links in the side panel to explore resources for those specific categories. Below you can find handy guides that are free to download.

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Thank you for your donation of gift card for a free unlimited membership for 30 days!

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Wellness for Today

Hope for Tomorrow

Suicide is Preventable

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BoroSAFE is a community collaborative with an aim to provide access to mental health resources, emotional well-being best practices and suicide prevention resources across the entire Hillsborough Community.

Our Goal:
To proactively connect the community with resources surrounding mental health for all community members.

Co-Chairs:
Kristen Saleeba  ksaleeba@htps.us
Chad Berman     cberman@htps.us

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Mission Statement:
BoroSAFE is a community collaborative with an aim to provide access to mental health resources, emotional well-being best practices and suicide prevention resources across the entire Hillsborough Community.

To proactively connect the community with resources surrounding mental health for all community members. Ensuring the entire community is able to work on their emotional wellbeing, no matter where on the mental health continuum they may fall. Our Cause:

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Mission Statement: BoroSAFE is a community collaborative with an aim to provide access to mental health resources, emotional well-being best practices and suicide prevention resources across the entire Hillsborough Community. To proactively connect the community with resources surrounding mental health for all community members.

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2. Beyond Awkward: Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder

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2. Beyond Awkward: Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder

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Alison Keaton, School Psychologist, HTPS

While most of us exhibit some form of anxiety in social situations, including speaking in front of large groups, or attending a party where you don’t know anyone, people with Social Anxiety Disorder may feel the same levels of anxiety by completing a task as basic as going to the grocery store. Social Anxiety Disorder involves an intense fear of being judged by others, and can impact our friendships, family relationships, and work or school environments. During this presentation, we will discuss the signs & symptoms, causes, and treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder. We will also discuss ways that social anxiety may impact students and their classroom behavior.

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Cyndi Salemy, Food for Mood
Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or just not yourself?  The last couple of years have upended everyone’s lives, and it’s no wonder that healthy nutrition and lifestyle habits have taken a backseat.  Unfortunately, unhealthy habits can impair your emotional resiliency and contribute to mental illness.  Nutritionist, Cyndi Salemy, will show how simple changes in how and what you eat can bolster your body’s natural ability to enhance your emotional well-being.

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Thank you for the gift card donation!

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BELLA PIZZA is the place to go for the BEST PIZZA in HILLSBOROUGH. Our top secret recipe pizza sauce, homemade dough and fresh ingredients will quickly make you a fan! We promise that once you have a taste, you will definitely be back again soon.

Customize your pizza with our wide range of available toppings or choose from some of our customers' favorites ﻿ our specialty pizzas.

Hungry for something other than pizza? View our menu to choose from delicious options including subs, cheesesteaks, pasta dishes, salads and more.

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BELLA PIZZA is the place to go for the BEST PIZZA in HILLSBOROUGH. Our top secret recipe pizza sauce, homemade dough and fresh ingredients will quickly make you a fan! We promise that once you have a taste, you will definitely be back again soon.

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4. Just Talk About It: Understanding Depression, Suicide, & Anxiety 

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4. Just Talk About It: Understanding Depression, Suicide, & Anxiety 

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Alona Leviner-Sommer, Clinician Minding Your Mind
This workshop focuses on discussing the signs and symptoms of the mental health issues most prevalent in adolescents through young adulthood, and how to know the difference from typical teenage behavior.

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Educating Adults to Lead the ConversationFormatThis 90-minute program opens with a Minding Your Mind clinician discussing the signs and symptoms of the

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5. Name It to Tame It! Helping Your Child Manage Intense Emotions (Grades K - 4)

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5. Name It to Tame It! Helping Your Child Manage Intense Emotions (Grades K - 4)

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Susan Coyle will share resources to spark important conversations and teach your kids a set of essential mental health skills. With her experience as a parent, grandparent, educator, counselor and administrator, Sue will specifically focus on how you can help your children to recognize and manage intense emotions, without giving in to the urge to act in impulsive ways that can make problems bigger.

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Our professionally-trained young adult speakers provide educational programs built around lived experiences. By far our most requested offering, students hear stories of hope and recovery from young adult speakers who successfully and productively cope with their own mental health challenges.

Our speakers - dynamic young adults who have struggled with mental health issues - share their personal stories and recovery.

The issues addressed in these presentations include: mood disorders, suicide ideation, eating disorders, addictive behavior, trauma, self-harm, and bullying.

Every presentation offers an educational component, including:

the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions

that mental health issues are common and treatable

the similarities between physical and mental health

negative vs. positive coping skills

how to ask for help yourself or for a friend

These programs are designed to work well in school assemblies and health classes, and can be adapted for other interest groups, e.g. athletic teams, clubs, etc.

One in five teens will experience a mental health issue this year, yet less than 20% will seek treatment. 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24. Stigma coupled with shame is often a significant barrier that discourages individuals from seeking treatment for a situational or chronic mental health issue. A study conducted by The Scattergood Foundation found that after seeing a Changing Minds: Stories Over Stigma program, students are more likely to express willingness to seek help, are less likely to think students with mental illness are dangerous, less likely to be afraid, less likely to think students with mental health issues should be in different classes, less likely to be angry with students with mental illness, and less likely to avoid them socially.
These improvements demonstrate that Minding Your Mind's Changing Minds: Stories Over Stigma program is effective for improving attitudes about seeking professional help, is an effective stigma-reduction program, and one of the few in the country that has the data to prove it

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Changing Minds: Stories Over Stigma - Minding Your Mind

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Our professionally-trained young adult speakers provide educational programs built around lived experiences. By far our most requested offering, students hear stories of hope and recovery from young adult speakers who successfully and productively cope with their own mental health challenges. Our speakers - dynamic young adults who have struggled with mental health issues - share their personal stories and recovery.

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As a teenager entering high school, Scott knew his life was going to change – everyone goes through changes in high school, right? What he did not expect was that the change would come in the form of depression.

After being cut from his high school basketball team, Scott began to feel worthless and spent his days mentally abusing himself. It was also around this time that Scott developed severe acne that made him extremely self-conscious about his image. Throughout college, Scott struggled to pull himself out of the self-hatred and negativity that filled his mind, but the issues only grew.

Scott was able to turn his world around by incorporating positivity into his life. It was difficult at first, trying to put small points and acts of positivity into every day. Sticking with these efforts, the more Scott implemented different strategies focused on changing his mindset, the more he began to see his life drastically change. Scott learned how to achieve self-security regardless of what life threw his way. By harnessing the power of positive self-talk, Scott realized that thoughts are just as important as actions.

Scott has a passion for helping others; his goal is to help people overcome the everyday mental obstacles that hold them back in life. His story is powerful, relatable, and relevant to students, and will give parents a window into what their children may be thinking and feeling about themselves. Scott works to inspire others to climb out of the darkness and find the light in their lives.

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Scott works to inspire others to climb out of the darkness and find the light in their lives.

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1. How to Open Up Lines of Communication Between Parents & Kids

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1. How to Open Up Lines of Communication Between Parents & Kids

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Meredith Keller, LPC

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2. Beyond Awkward: Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder

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2. Beyond Awkward: Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder

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Alison Keaton, School Psychologist, HTPS

While most of us exhibit some form of anxiety in social situations, including speaking in front of large groups, or attending a party where you don’t know anyone, people with Social Anxiety Disorder may feel the same levels of anxiety by completing a task as basic as going to the grocery store. Social Anxiety Disorder involves an intense fear of being judged by others, and can impact our friendships, family relationships, and work or school environments. During this presentation, we will discuss the signs & symptoms, causes, and treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder. We will also discuss ways that social anxiety may impact students and their classroom behavior.

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3. Emotional Resiliency through Sleep and Movement

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3. Emotional Resiliency through Sleep and Movement

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Cyndi Salemy, Food for Mood
Poor sleep quality and a lack of energy are often associated with mental illness.  This session explores the importance of sleep and physical movement in effective emotional regulation.  Nutritionist, Cyndi Salemy, will share tips for getting the most out of your sleep and address how physical movement enhances your mental health.

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Join Chelsea Green, certified art therapist, for a mindful hour of emotional exploration through the use of visual arts. Grab some paper and color materials of your choice and dive into understanding your feelings and emotions in a new way.

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Bring a yoga mat, comfortable clothes, and any other yoga props such as blankets, pillows, and blocks (or block substitutes). We will begin with a brief centering practice in which the focus is mindfulness and breath work, followed by an all levels yoga slow flow, closing with a mindfulness meditation and final resting pose, savasana.

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Josh Wolf - Certified Mental Health First Aid Trainer - Empower Somerset.
Everyone’s pain might not be obvious, but suicide is preventable. How do we know if someone is at risk of suicide? What should we be looking for? How can we support them? In this session, we will highlight the warning signs of individuals at risk of suicide or other mental health challenges. Josh will share what it has looked like in his own life to navigate these challenging topics and we will discuss how we can be a resource to others in order to provide support to those who might be silently struggling/suffering.

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5. Name It to Tame It! Helping Your Child Manage Intense Emotions (Grades 5 and up)

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5. Name It to Tame It! Helping Your Child Manage Intense Emotions (Grades 5 and up)

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Susan Coyle will share resources to spark important conversations and teach your kids a set of essential mental health skills. With her experience as a parent, grandparent, educator, counselor and administrator, Sue will specifically focus on how you can help your children recognize and manage intense emotions, without giving in to the urge to act in impulsive ways that can make problems bigger.

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In May, 2018, to honor a young life, a child of a colleague, who unfortunately lost hope and died by suicide, the first Hope for Tomorrow event was held. Sponsored by the staff at Woods Road Elementary School, the event was an outdoor fair on the grounds of the Woods Road Fire House, and included games and activities for students and families, as well as a variety of resource tables on wellness and mental health services available in the community.

The fair took place in May, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, and was such a success, it was repeated in 2019 and planned again for 2020 - that is, until the Covid-19 pandemic altered life as we know it. As the pandemic raged on, creating unprecedented stress for every segment of the population, BoroSafe was eager to respond, and in early 2021, the idea of a Virtual Hope for Tomorrow event was born. The feedback from the first event was so positive, we are excited to once again offer this virtual event.

We hope that you will find our speakers knowledgeable and uplifting, and we have included a trivia game with prizes at the end so there will be some fun! And in case you were wondering, yes, BoroSafe is also planning another in-person event for May, so stay tuned!