Anthologies of Hope

Conversations Cafe: Boys Don't Cry

October 18th, 2019  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 16 mins

activism, art, conversations-cafe, conversations-summit, mens-issues, mental-health, social-justice, technology, youth

Today's Conversations Cafe episode is titled "Boys Don't Cry". Recorded live at the UIC Forum, as part of Hope for the Day's Conversations Summit 2019, this panel focused on confronting stigmas that compel silence on mental health matters for those that identify as male and was expertly hosted by Hope for the Day COO, Carl Evans.

Our panelists included Davey Muise, musician and lived experience advocate; Dan Carcillo, retired Chicago Blackhawk and lived experience advocate; Adam Hill, director of the Chicago Bulls Stampede drumline; Jordan Meyers, founder of Banyan Treatment Centers; and Jeremy Foster, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Chicago

Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit 2019 educated, inspired, and activated attendees with an exciting mix of breakout sessions created and led by diverse groups of youth, mental health professionals and academic partners, covering a vast spectrum of topics from mental health, arts, and technology, to social justice and activism. The summit was graciously hosted by The University of Illinois at Chicago at the Isadore & Sadie Dorin Forum (The Forum).

Amanda Vitrano

October 16th, 2019  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 19 mins

anxiety, depression, family, hope-for-the-day, season-three, self-care, stigma, suicide, suicide-prevention, support-network, workplace

We are joined by Amanda Vitrano this week to discuss the loss of her sister Lauren; how it affected her personally, professionally, and socially; how a chance encounter with Hope for the Day through a workplace Peervention workshop altered her course of advocacy; and finally, what self-care really means and why she is making it her mission to redefine self-care for anyone who needs to hear it and feel it.

Through the loss of her sister, Amanda, felt called to do the work that wasn’t what she wanted to do, but what she needed to do. In this work, she created "The Learn for Lauren Foundation", as well as establishing a scholarship at the University of Illinois at Chicago in her sister’s memory. Amanda covers all the hard work necessary to bring all of that to fruition, as well as what it meant to her and her family to see the community come out and support the cause in her sister’s name.

You can read more about Amanda’s non-profit, The Learn for Lauren Foundation, and all the great work they are doing in the Chicago area at learnforlauren.com, as well as on FB and Instagram at "learnforlauren". Amanda’s guest page at anthologiesofhope.com/guests/amanda-vitrano also has all the contact info, additional links you may need and more of her background as well! Be sure to check that out after listening today!

Conversations Cafe: You Can't Wear That

October 11th, 2019  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 3 mins

activism, art, conversations-cafe, conversations-summit, mental-health, social-justice, technology, womens-issues, youth

Today's Conversations Cafe episode is titled "You Can't Wear That". Recorded live at the UIC Forum, as part of Hope for the Day's Conversations Summit 2019, this panel focused on exploring stigmas that impact the mental health for those who identify as female and was expertly hosted by Hope for the Day board member, Christmas Eger.

Our panelists included Rosabelle Eales, an LA-based Artist & Creative Management professional; Hannah Lucas, Co-creator of the NotOK app; Amy Sumpter, co-host of the Shaped Podcast; Jenna Korsten, mental health advocate and Stoneman Douglas High School alumna; and Kenya Hawkins, Clinical Counselor at Youth Guidance, focusing on their Working on Womanhood program.

Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit 2019 educated, inspired, and activated attendees with an exciting mix of breakout sessions created and led by diverse groups of youth, mental health professionals and academic partners, covering a vast spectrum of topics from mental health, arts, and technology, to social justice and activism. The summit was graciously hosted by The University of Illinois at Chicago at the Isadore & Sadie Dorin Forum (The Forum).

Joel Frieders

October 9th, 2019  |  Season 3  |  47 mins 27 secs

hope-for-the-day, nspamp, public-policy, season-three, stigma, suicide, suicide-prevention, support-network

Our first guest of Season 3 is Joel Frieders. Joel is a man of many talents, but most of all, he exudes charisma and his passion for suicide prevention burns very bright. We cover Joel’s experience as an Alderman for the United City of Yorkville, IL, as well as his journey to becoming the Public Policy Director for Hope for the Day.

The main focus of our discussion this episode continually circles back to Joel’s main passion project - the National Suicide Prevention & Action Month Proclamation (NSPAMP). After painfully losing multiple friends, loved ones, and mentors to suicide, Joel decided it was time something had to be done to break the silence and the stigma around talking about suicide and the impact it has on our communities. Listen to Joel talk about NSPAMP and then check out facebook.com/NSPAMP for more details! You can also check out more background, related articles, and all his contact info on Joel’s guest page on our website at anthologiesofhope.com/guests/joel-frieders.

Conversations Cafe: The Light Project

October 2nd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  58 mins 29 secs

anxiety, art, community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, depression, hope-for-the-day, live, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention

This week’s event is titled 'The Light Project'. We talk with photographers and Hope For The Day Agents of Impact, Jamie Parker and Chris Callen. Jamie and Chris are the brains behind the The Light Project, a portrait series in collaboration with HFTD. They ask 2 questions - "How mental health and suicide have impacted your life?"_ and _"What gives you hope?" As the person shares, Jamie and Chris capture two portraits to show that we have all darkness and light.

You’ll hear what inspired Jamie and Chris to create The Light Project in its current form, some of the highlights they’ve had along the way, and their plan for making it generally available in 2020! Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in the Light Project at the end of the episode and it was one of the most well-engaged interactive events at our Conversations Cafes to date!

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, and Banyan Treatment Center.

Conversations Cafe: Out of the Darkness

September 5th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 14 mins

afsp, community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, hope-for-the-day, out-of-the-darkness, partners-in-prevention, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention

This week’s event is titled "Out of the Darkness" and features one of Hope for the Day’s premier Partners in Prevention, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) of Illinois. We cover some of the history of AFSP on a national level; the research, partnerships, and programming that AFSP IL does year round; and cover the upcoming Out of the Darkness Walk coming up on September 21st, 2019 at Montrose Harbor in downtown Chicago.

Our guests this week discuss how mental health and suicide have impacted their lives, as well as what brought them to their work with AFSP directly. Joining us on this episode are Courtney Collins, Regional Director of AFSP IL & MO; Cara Levinson, Secretary for the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Education Outreach Committee; Mike Bushman, Author, and AFSP Board Member and Volunteer; and Steve Moore, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Advocacy & Policy Committee, and Caption of the Race AFSP team.

Be sure to check out Hope for the Day's inaugural "Conversations Summit", hosted in downtown Chicago on Saturday, September 7th, 2019. The Conversations Summit will empower young voices through interactive sessions for learning, dialogue, and activism. Best of all, the event is free but you do need to register ahead of time, so head on over to www.conversationssummit.com for more details and to get your tickets today!

The "Conversations Cafe" is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day; with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, and Banyan Treatment Center.

Conversations Cafe: Resiliency

August 31st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 51 mins

art, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, resiliency, running, suicide-prevention, survivor, therapy, writing

This week's live Conversations Cafe event, simply titled "Resiliency", featured interviews focusing on options for mental health maintenance to develop resiliency for ourselves and for the people we care about the most in our lives: our children, our friends, our family, and all the communities we belong to as individuals.

Also, be sure to check out Hope for the Day's inaugural Conversations Summit, hosted in downtown Chicago on Saturday September 7th, 2019. The Conversations Summit will empower young voices through interactive sessions for learning, dialogue, and activism. Best of all, the event is free but you do need to register ahead of time, so head on over to conversationssummit.com for more details and to get your tickets today!

Our guests include a plethora of Hope for the Day family - Sarah Moss, leader of Hope for the Day's Team Thrive; Matthew Hoffman, creator of the You Are Beautiful movement; Rick Osowski (that's me!), creator and host of Anthologies of Hope; and Veronica Padilla, creator and author of Gentle Mentals.

The "Conversations Cafe" is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois and Banyan Treatment Center.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Conversations Cafe: PAWS to COPE

July 31st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 31 mins

community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, emotional-support-animals, hope-for-the-day, ptsd, service-animals, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention, therapy-animals

This week's live Conversations Cafe episode is titled “PAWS to COPE - The Power of Pets”, and is filled with discussion & education on Therapy Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Service Animals, no matter whether they are furry, feathered, or scaled.

Our guests this week include a plethora of Hope for the Day Family - Jackie Carmody, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor & a registered board certified Art Therapist; Pam Baren Kaplan, a professional pet loss grief recovery and life coach; Ryan Shannon, a United States Veteran and Director for Hope for the Day’s upcoming Project RED Team; Roger Rosenquist, Director of the Chicagoland chapter of Pets for Vets; Sandee Thomas and Tesla, Sip of Hope’s resident therapy dog team and leaders of a therapy dog ministry at Willow Creek Church in Barrington, IL.

Pam’s upcoming book, titled "Tails of Unconditional Love: Your Journey to the Other Side of Pet Loss Grief" is available for preorder now and scheduled to be released on August 15th, 2019. You can find the Amazon preorder page via www.anthologiesofhope.com/paws.

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, and Banyan Treatment Center.

Conversations Cafe: Wide Wonder

July 24th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  47 mins 7 secs

community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, hope-for-the-day, sip-of-hope, stigma, suicide-prevention, wide-wonder

The Wide Wonder Bus Tour, sponsored by Insight Behavioral Health Centers, made its Chicago stop at Sip of Hope and the Cruze-Harringtons participated in a fireside chat with Carl Evans, Director of Programming for Hope for the Day.

Robyn Cruze & Tim Harrington are the founders of "Wide Wonder", described as "one bus, two parents, two teens, and a dog in a year of service in search of wide wonder". To date, they have traveled over one thousand miles in the quest for breaking stigma and bringing everyday mental health conversations to local communities. Sound familiar?

Robyn and Tim spoke with Carl and dished on what the experience has been like bringing Wide Wonder to a number of communities across the united states, what it’s been like to bring a family along for the ride, and why this mission is so important to them, both in proactive advocacy but also while being in active recovery themselves. You can find more information on their family and the Wide Wonder mission at their website www.widewonder.life .

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois, Banyan Treatment Center, and Eating Recovery Center.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

Sip of Hope 1-Year Anniversary Retrospective - Part 2

July 3rd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  51 mins 5 secs

community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, dark-matter-coffee, hope-for-the-day, live, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention

This week wraps up our multi-part series celebrating Sip of Hope's first birthday! Celebrating on May 1st, 2019, we recorded founders, staff, friends, and family of Hope for the Day and Sip of Hope, capturing how the first-of-a-kind coffee shop - with all of its profits directly benefiting proactive suicide prevention - came to be, as well as what makes it tick on a daily basis.

Mike Vinopal, from Hope for the Day, joins us again as we bring you interviews with the awesome Sip of Hope baristas. Our interviews cover everything from what brought them to Sip of Hope, what they learned in the past year working at Sip of Hope, memorable experiences with shop patrons and community members, as well as how Hope For The Day's proactive suicide prevention (or "peervention") strategy has benefited their lives on a daily basis.

After listening to all the wonderful answers from the Sip of Hope barista family, you can see why the coffee shop has thrived in its first year and why the Logan Square community has embraced it wholeheartedly. Here's to the first year and many more!!!

Conversations Cafe: Living OUT Loud

June 30th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 10 mins

conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, gender, gender-identity, hope-for-the-day, lgbtq, pride, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention

Conversations Cafe: Living OUT Loud - Celebrating the Power and History of PRIDE

June's episode is in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Dedicated to celebrating the power and history of PRIDE, we will be using pieces of art to start these important conversations about the origins of PRIDE, mental health and the intersection of gender, identity, and orientation, and how to advocate and be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

Our excellent guest panelists joining us this week are Dr. Ashley Molin, Gracie Fischer, and Krystal Baisden.

Dr Ashely Molin is licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Director of Behavioral Health at Center on Halstead, the midwest’s largest & most comprehensive LGTBQ+ community center. Gracie Fischer is a student at the University of Illinois Chicago and a HFTD surrogate and member of the HFTD education team. Krystal Baisden joins us from the Be Super Initiative, a movement calling for everyone to be the hero that is already inside them by using comic books and superheroes to address social justice issues.

Special thanks to Partners in Prevention, Busy Beaver Button Co. who gave participants the opportunity to take part in a special art engagement, creating their own buttons to celebrate the stigmatized parts of our own individual identities be it gay, trans, non-binary, immigrant, or suicide survivor.

Join the conversation. We are in this together.

The Conversations Cafe is a monthly live podcast recording at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar featuring education and open forum dialogue on the intersections of Mental Health within our communities. This education programming is brought to you by Hope For The Day with support from our partners in prevention, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention of Illinois and Banyan Treatment Center.

Sip of Hope 1-Year Anniversary Retrospective - Part 1

June 12th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  47 mins 2 secs

community, conversation-cafe, conversations-cafe, dark-matter-coffee, hope-for-the-day, live, sip-of-hope, suicide-prevention

This week kicks off our multi-part series celebrating Sip of Hope's first birthday! Celebrating on May 1st, 2019, we recorded founders, staff, friends, and family of Hope for the Day and Sip of Hope, capturing how the first-of-a-kind coffee shop - with all of its profits directly benefiting proactive suicide prevention - came to be, as well as what makes it tick on a daily basis. This episode brings you a handful of awesome long-form interviews with Jonny Boucher, Founder and CEO of Hope for the Day; Kyle Hodges, Minister of Propaganda for Dark Matter Coffee; Luis Arroyo, Cook County Commissioner; and Brian Kmiecik, General Manager of Sip of Hope. Mike Vinopal of Hope for the Day joins us to bring you this week's interviews!

Background music for this week's interviews comes from Soundstripe artist, Shane Becker, with the songs titled "Harmonics" and "Cloud Ninety 9".