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NCVA Quarterly Newsletter Issue 11

Written by Katy Molony on November 14, 2025. Posted in Uncategorized.

November 14, 2025

ISSUE 11

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

The Amplified Voice: Intern Edition

From the Interns’ Desk

This special edition of our quarterly newsletter was created entirely by our Communication and Outreach Interns, Jordan Dumornay and Eli Berry! Over the past few weeks, they’ve connected with leaders from every department across our organization—asking thoughtful questions, gathering insights, and transforming those conversations into stories that highlight the heart of our work. Through their words, you’ll get a fresh perspective on the people, purpose, and passion driving our mission forward.

What reach do our trainings have?

We had 271 Registrants in 45 Counties during Quarter 1 of Fiscal Year 2026

Participants from various regions across the state of North Carolina attended the trainings this year. Last quarter, we added new counties to our list of counties reached. Over the course of the lifetime of our program, we’ve reached registrants from 92 of the 100 counties in N.C.

Reaping the Benefits of Quarter 1 NCVA Trainings

During Quarter 1 (July 1, 2025 – September 30, 2025), NCVA conducted a total of 13 trainings to reach the public (e.g. youth and families), provide technical assistance for the workforce, and foster systems level change.

Training	Date	Number of Participants
Triple P*	7/17/2025	7
What is Family Peer Support	7/24/2025	3
Navigating Rights and Resources: A Roadmap to Understanding 504s and the IDEA	8/12/2025	24
Family Leadership and Advocacy	8/14/2025	17
System of Care NC from the Family Perspective	8/20/2025	10
Calm (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means)	8/28/2025	20
Trauma Informed Care	9/4/2025	19
Youth Support Partner 101	9/8/2025	9
Family Support Partner 101	9/9/2025	11
Youth Engagement Webinar	9/12/2025	14
From Challenges to Change: A Special Education ECHO for Family and Youth Leaders	9/18/2025	9
WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)	9/24/2025	17
Family Partner Quarterly Meeting	9/30/2025	28

*Training facilitated by the Bringing Out the Best program in a collaborative effort to educate Youth Peer Partners and Family Partners being certified through NCVA.

Upon completion of the trainings, approximately 99% of the participants indicated being satisfied with the results of the trainings and shared positive feedback on the satisfaction surveys.

How many people have we we trained?

We have had over 943 Participants across our 145 trainings so far!

Where can I find a Peer Support Professional?

There are currently 28 Certified Family Peer Support professionals in 23 counties

and 24 Youth Peer Support professionals in 19 counties

Frederick Douglas

Family Training Coordinator

Family Partner 101
December 2-4, 9-10, 2025
9 AM

Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) December 18, 2025
9 AM

Supporting Families, Strengthening Futures

By Eli Berry

Fred Douglas serves as the Certified Family Training Coordinator at NC Voices Amplified, supporting family peers across North Carolina through training, technical assistance, and consultation with agencies. Her work ensures that family peers can step confidently into their roles while amplifying the voices of children, youth, and families with their lived experience.

Her days look different almost every day—sometimes she’s bringing authentic family peer voices to local, state, and national conversations about children’s mental health. Other days, she’s assessing and providing training for new family peers or helping agencies implement the family peer role. “The most rewarding aspect of my role is providing confidential space and a sounding board for family peers when they are looking for resolutions to difficult challenges they’re having,” she said.

Fred highlights some big wins from this past quarter: “We provided technical assistance to 20 family peers for their certification and recertification, expanded training partnerships to include IDD and first-episode psychosis populations, and recently included a trauma-informed supervision training for youth and peer support.” She also points to a huge step in policy: “We have been part of the conversation around a family peer Medicaid definition. Being able to give voice to the needs of that role and that Medicaid is listening to the expertise of those of us in the field is extremely important.”

She brings her own lived experience into every part of her work. “The reason they were hired is because they have experience. They still may have a lot of support that they may need to provide to their children. They need a family peer that they can also connect with, to give them support and encourage self-care,” she explains. Fred also helps family peers navigate tricky situations in agencies. “I provide that kind of atmosphere for family peers, brainstorming solutions, doing scenarios, and coming up with non-traditional ways of approaching resolutions to issues,” she stated.

Fred draws hope and inspiration from the families she works with. “The hope comes from the resiliency of the families. They continue to look to the next day, deal with circumstances, and look for hope the next day. We now are seen as part of the solution,” said Fred.

And she wants readers to really get why training and supporting family peers matters: “Our greatest success comes when children, youth, and families’ voices, courage, and resiliency are valued and celebrated.”

Through her guidance, support, and advocacy, Fred makes sure family peers are ready and empowered to make a real difference in the lives of families across North Carolina.

Kara Lynch

Communication & Outreach Coordinator

Amplifying Voices, Building Connections

By Eli Berry

Kara Lynch runs communications and outreach at NC Voices Amplified, managing social media, planning coursework for interns, and preparing exhibits for events and conferences across North Carolina. Her work plays a key role in connecting the organization’s internal efforts with the communities it serves. As Kara explains, “Effective communication and outreach bridges the gap between our internal work and the communities we serve by painting pictures that make sense to community members. For example, a potential YSP can only recognize their lived experience as valuable insight if we share how current youth support partners benefit and develop through our training.”

For Kara, the most rewarding part of her work is seeing that impact click for the people she serves. “I love explaining what we do and hearing people say, ‘I know someone who could benefit from your training program,’” she says. Reflecting on the first quarter, one of her favorite moments was “interviewing and hiring our communications interns for this semester. Just seeing their interest and excitement of learning about what nonprofit communications looks like behind the scenes was refreshing,” said Kara.

Storytelling is central to Kara’s approach. She believes that stories are often the difference between someone simply hearing about NC Voices Amplified’s work and truly seeing themselves or others benefiting from it. “Storytelling is the cornerstone of our program. Effective storytelling is often the difference between someone hearing about what we do and immediately being able to see themselves or someone else benefiting from our training. If I know a story has the potential to give someone else the opportunity to see themselves, I try my best to highlight that story,” she explains.

Ultimately, Kara’s work is deeply voice-centered. “NC Voices NCVA’s work is voice-centered and deeply personal. We are only as successful as the voices we amplify,” she says, reflecting the organization’s commitment to empowering youth and families across North Carolina.

Chandrika Brown

Collaboration Coordinator

Turning Lived Experience Into Lasting Change

By Jordan Dumornay

Every day, Chandrika Brown shows up for families and youth across North Carolina with one clear purpose: to make sure every voice is heard. Her work isn’t just a job, it’s a reflection of her own journey as a parent, advocate, and community leader.
Before her current role even existed, Chandrika was already doing the work fighting to be heard, navigating systems that weren’t built with families in mind, and learning how to overcome barriers to access and understanding. “No one was there to share their voice for me,” she recalls. “So now, I make sure families don’t have to face those same struggles.”
Through her involvement in local collaboratives and advisory boards across the state, Chandrika brings the family and youth perspective to every table. Her lived experience helps bridge the gap between service providers and the families they serve. “We know what it feels like to be on the receiving end,” she explains. “That changes how we approach work. We can help agencies understand that what’s being offered and how it’s delivered really matters.”
Even after years of advocacy, Chandrika continues to learn and grow. Though she admits she’s “not a fan of politics,” she’s embraced the importance of understanding policy so she can better support families and help them access the resources they deserve. Her experiences as a mother and advocate never stop informing her work: “Being a mom and an advocate never stops,” she says with a smile. “It helps me see what’s missing and speak up for what families need.”
Recently, Chandrika was recognized for her dedication, receiving an award from Conrad and Onslow County for being a strong advocate for youth and families. But recognition isn’t what drives her. “We don’t do it for the awards,” she says. “We do it because it’s in our heart.”
For Chandrika, true success isn’t measured in accolades, it’s seen in the lives changed, the barriers broken, and the voices amplified. “Our primary goal is to enhance the voices of families and youth across North Carolina,” she says. “We can’t do that unless we truly understand them, have their back, and make sure their voices are at the center of everything we do.”

Kyle Reece

Youth Training Coordinator

Youth Engagement
November 21, 2025 1 PM

Building Pathways for Youth Voice to Lead

By Jordan Dumornay

For Kyle Reece, success this quarter has meant seeing youth empowerment in motion. Through his leadership in training and technical assistance, Kyle is helping young people and professionals across North Carolina build stronger, more inclusive connections.
“We hosted another successful Youth Peer Support Partner Training this quarter,” Kyle shares. “It’s something we do every few months for young people who want to use their lived experience to support others.” But this quarter brought something new, the first ever Youth Engagement Training, a four hour workshop designed for anyone who works with youth and wants to learn how to engage them more effectively.
The training was a major milestone. “We were proud to see people from all across North Carolina, not just youth, learning how to connect with young people who face mental health challenges,” Kyle says. “It’s about making sure youth feel heard, understood, and supported.”
Kyle has watched the youth peer support role expand statewide, with organizations like managed care agencies (MCOs) beginning to hire more youth peer support partners. “We’ve been advocating for years for the value of youth peer support, and now we’re seeing it take off,” he explains. “Young people are getting trained, professionals are learning how to engage them, and the system is starting to respond.”
His passion for this work comes from personal experience. “Having received mental health support myself, I know how powerful it is to have someone who understands what you’re going through,” Kyle says. “That lived experience makes a difference; it gives hope and a sense of belonging to young people facing challenges.”
Across community collaboratives, Kyle has seen real change. “We’ve had more youth-led events like a mental health day in Chatham County this August where young people explored positive coping skills like meditation, art, and healthy sleep,” he shares. “We’re also seeing more youth with lived experience joining collaboratives and shaping residential programs. Their voices are making an impact.”

Sherrell Hicklen House, Ph.D.

Associate Director of Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development

Numbers With Meaning: Tracking Our Impact

By Eli Berry

Sherrell House serves as the Associate Director of Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development at NC Voices Amplified, bringing her expertise in research and evaluation to programs that impact youth and families across North Carolina. She leads efforts to assess program effectiveness, write grants, and identify opportunities to better integrate services for the community.

Since joining NC Voices Amplified, Sherrell has focused on bridging research, evaluation, and community impact. “I was excited to come in, evaluate these amazing programs that we already have, and look at the effectiveness so that we can continue these programs—but also write grants to create new programs for youth and families in the community,” she explains. Her background as a faculty member in child development and family studies gives her a unique perspective, allowing her to bring research-driven insight to practical evaluation.

A central focus of Sherrell’s approach is combining data with community voices. “Include the numbers, like this is what we found,but I always pull in the quotes. It connects really, really greatly with those numbers and helps to tell the whole story,” she said. She emphasized that qualitative feedback from youth and family partners is just as important as quantitative results. “It’s the numbers plus the narrative—the first-hand experiences—that tell the full story,” she added.

For Sherrell, the most rewarding part of her work is seeing how these programs create real impact. “It’s exciting to watch programs I evaluate make a difference in communities, even if we’re not working directly with families. We are indirectly impacting families by working with the folks who will be working with them,” she explains. By evaluating trainings for family and youth partners, she ensures that participants are empowered to support families effectively.

Reflecting on the NC Voices Amplified team, Sherrell highlights the passion that drives their work. “NC Voices Amplified has a staff full of folks that are passionate about the work that they do and passionate about healthy developmental outcomes for youth and families. We all come from different walks of life, we all have different roles, but it’s all for one common goal,” she said.

Sherrell’s work demonstrates that evaluation is not just about numbers—it’s about connecting research, community voice, and program development to create meaningful, lasting change for youth and families across North Carolina.

Willow Burgess-Johnson

Program Manager

Trauma Informed Care
December 11, 2025
12:30 PM

From Challenges to Change: A Special Education ECHO for Family and Youth Leaders
December 16, 2025
11 AM

Listening Deeply and Leading With Lived Experience

by Jordan Dumornay

Every day, Willow shows up for families and young people with one guiding belief, that those most affected by the system should have the loudest voice in changing it. “One of the values of our program is listening deeply,” she says. “We reach out regularly to families, youth peers, and family peers to ask what they’re seeing as the real needs out there not just in numbers, but in lived experience.”
Through continual needs assessments and open dialogue, Willow and her team make space for honest conversation. “We provide regular opportunities for family peers to come together and talk about their experiences,” she explains. “It’s about creating room for those voices to shape what comes next.”
Willow’s commitment to family and youth driven care doesn’t stop there. Her team also ensures that lived experience is represented at every level, serving on advisory boards across child welfare, juvenile justice, physical health, and developmental disability systems. “We want to make sure the youth and family perspective is part of every decision,” Willow shares.
Her leadership is deeply rooted in empathy and personal experience. Having started her career as a domestic violence advocate and later as a licensed clinical social worker, Willow learned early on that real understanding comes from the people she serves. “I learned much more from the families I supported than I ever did out of a book,” she says. “And when I faced my own challenges with mental health and my child’s challenges, it opened my eyes even more. Navigating these systems firsthand changes how you lead.”
That perspective has shaped Willow’s passion for peer support, a cornerstone of recovery that values lived experience as expertise. “Peer support doesn’t just help individuals it helps systems learn,” she explains. “It gives direct feedback about what’s working and what isn’t, and that’s how we grow stronger.”
As North Carolina faces a behavioral health workforce shortage, Willow sees peer support as both a solution and a source of hope. “Peer support naturally brings more diversity and representation into the field,” she says. “We just need to make sure peers have the infrastructure, understanding, and career growth they deserve.”
Looking ahead, Willow is most excited about the opportunity for cross system collaboration where child welfare, education, juvenile justice, and healthcare work together instead of apart. “My not so hidden agenda,” she says with a smile, “is to see youth and family peer support in every child serving system across North Carolina. That’s how we bridge the gaps and make sure every family has the support they need.”
For Willow Burgess-Johnson, leadership is about more than strategy; it’s about listening deeply, leading with empathy, and building systems that honor every voice. Her work is a reminder that when lived experience leads, transformation follows.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Need Help?

Call or Text the 24/7 Lifeline at 9-8-8

@NCVoicesAmplified

@ncvoicesamplified

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NCVA Quarterly Newsletter Issue 10

Written by Katy Molony on August 18, 2025. Posted in Uncategorized.

AUGUST 15, 2025

ISSUE 10

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

From Reflection to Reach: Building on Success

Best Practices at NC SOC Meetings

The NCVA team attended 194 SOC Collaborative meetings this year. While attending these meetings, best practices were observed at 95% of the meetings. This is an increase from best practices being observed at 82% of the meetings during FY 24. Examples of best practices include highlighting the impact of the work people have done/ are doing; informal/conversational tone for meeting; creating opportunities for highlights/spotlights to share information and resources; family/youth funding/compensation; facilitator keeps up their own positive energy; welcome and introductions/(greeting people as they join); and engaging people in icebreakers to ease anxiety and decrease power differential.

In addition, we are in the process of collecting interview data to explore the best practices by local SOC collaboratives that help to increase meaningful youth/family participation in local and statewide collaboratives. This data will be used to develop a best practice guide. Here are two examples of best practices suggested to increase SOC Collaborative engagement from youth members attending SOC collaboratives.

Behavioral Health System Needs Assessment

The NCVA team is in the process of conducting a brief behavioral health system needs assessment, which will lead to a larger needs assessment to better understand the experiences that family partners have with the behavioral health system. When asked about what services and supports in the behavioral health system need to be changed, two examples of the following responses were provided.

Example 1

“I think all behavioral health care could use some improvement. They could even learn from HFW programs. Especially exercising family voice and choice. As well as understanding that there is absolutely no cookie cutter way to provide services.”

Example 2

“The system of care when it comes to group homes and intensive in home. I feel like intensive does not truly get to the core and the upper levels of systems of care is based on medicating the child and not truly allowing a child to be looked at as individual.”

A larger needs assessment is scheduled to be conducted by the NCVA team during the Fall. More to come soon!

During Quarter 3 (January 1, 2025 – March 31, 2025), NCVA conducted a total of 14 trainings to connect with the public (e.g. youth and families), provide technical assistance for the workforce, and foster systems level change.

What reach do our trainings have?

We had 747 Registrants in 65 Counties in Fiscal Year 2025

Participants from various regions across the state of North Carolina attended the trainings this year. Over the course of the lifetime of our program, we’ve reached registrants from 90 of the 100 counties in N.C.

Training Our Way to Transformation

* Training facilitated by the NC HFWTP in a collaborative effort to educate Youth Peer Partners and Family Partners being certified through NCVA.

**New Trainings offered by NCVA in Quarter 3.

Upon completion of the trainings, approximately 97.5% of the participants indicated being satisfied with the results of the trainings and shared positive feedback on the satisfaction surveys.

How many people have we we trained?

We have had over 943 Participants across our 145 trainings so far!

Where can I find a Peer Support Professional?

There are currently 28 Certified Family Peer Support professionals in 23 counties

and 24 Youth Peer Support professionals in 19 counties

Frederick Douglas

Family Training Coordinator

Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) August 28, 2025
1 PM-5 PM

Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) September 24, 2025
9 AM- 4 PM

Back to School Success: A Matter of the Heart

Hello Parents,

Well, summer break is almost over, and our children are facing a time of transition. This can be a time of both excitement and anxiety. There is a lot of excitement to shop for new school clothes and supplies, meet new teachers, and maybe attend a new school. But for many, it can be a time of anxiety, especially if there were challenges in the previous school year. As a parent of a
child who has mental health challenges, I remember the anxiety I would get when I would hear those three little words: “Back to School”. My mind would reflect on the
previous year’s experiences and think about what things need to remain the same and what additional strategies should be documented in this year’s plan.
What I have learned over the years to ease the transition back to school and to support my child’s good mental health is not to be so hard on myself. Take a step
back and acknowledge all the successes that were achieved last year. Yes, I know it can sometimes appear that these successes are few and far between, but I
promise if you look closely, you will find them for both you, your child, and your family. I have learned that even though I need to prepare for the upcoming year, I
should also live in the moment and rely on the knowledge I have gained and the support and services I have identified that have been helpful. It’s important to
walk into the new year not as “Super Mom” but as my child’s greatest supporter and advocate. These are just a few tips that I believe will be beneficial to know in
the approaching new school year:

• Start gradually shifting to a school-day sleep schedule a few weeks before school starts, beginning the transition from the flexibility sleep schedule for summer into the more structured sleep habits for school nights.

• Create and organize a designated study area that is organized and free from clutter to reduce distractions and maximize their ability to focus.

• Educate yourself on healthy eating habits and balanced diets, which provide essential nutrients and vitamins to support brain health and energy levels.

• Engage in regular physical activity, such as sports, dancing, or walking, to release and manage stress. These can be activities that you and your child do together.

• Get plenty of rest!

• Reduce screen time on social media, especially before bed, to improve sleep quality and reduce potential anxiety.

• Encourage interactions with classmates and friends, when possible, to renew old friendships and build new ones.

• Continue to attend school events and be in communication with your child’s teachers to build a strong collaborative support system.

• Make sure your child knows that they can share their experiences at school with you, whether good or bad.

• Help children recognize what triggers their anxiety and develop healthy strategies to overcome them.

• Speak up if you think your child is exhibiting behaviors that you believe need additional services or supports.

• Make sure you and your child take the time to celebrate when you accomplish something important to you!

• Ask about Family Peer Specialist programs to provide support in navigating systems.

Kara Lynch

Communication & Outreach Coordinator

Youth Peer Support 101

September 8-9, 2025

10 AM – 4 PM

Out Reaching

Over the last fiscal year, NCVA’s outreach metrics have grown nearly 20%. What does this mean and why is it important? This means that the word is spreading about who we are and what we do. It is important because we exist to enhance the peer support workforce in NC, and this cannot be done unless people know who we are and the support and training we provide.

About three years ago, when I began in this role, I had no idea about the amount of work it would take to raise awareness about something so great and necessary. Coming from a youth peer support role I just knew in no time, everyone would know about the great work being done for the youth and families of this great state. Excited, nervous and uncertain of how it would all work out, I began what has been the journey of a lifetime.

From learning how to post engaging social media content to speaking with countless individuals across the state at conferences and outreach events, I’ve seen the questions about what we do transform into excitement about what’s coming next in our programming. The question is no longer what do you all do? The question is now what new trainings are you rolling out next and how can I be a part of what you’re doing? Watching this shift has been incredibly humbling to watch.

I’m proud of our growth and the work we’ve done to raise awareness through every process we’ve created. Outreach goes far beyond how many clicks, likes and shares resulted by our efforts. In retrospect, I can see how every post, every email, and every conversation is a part of a larger picture that cannot be quantified only in data, but in the stories we exchange, the reach we gain and the lives that will ultimately be changed because of what we do.

Chandrika Brown

Collaboration Coordinator

Family Partner 101
September 9-11, 16-17, 2025
9 AM-4 PM

Closing the Gaps That Hold Students Back

As a Family Partner, we support families of different walks of life. Some have young children, and some have middle school and early high school youth. And we try our best to support them to the best of our ability. For myself, I have never really run into a family or youth that I was unable to help, until recently or so I thought. I met a young man that was attending one of our state universities. He is the first in his family to attend college and from another state. All his life he had a mental health diagnosis, but it has never prevented him from achieving in school because he always had support from his teachers. Things changed once he got to college. Being a student athlete became very difficult for him. Staying on top of his class assignments, projects and tests became challenging with no guidance in sight. When I was introduced to him we began to talk about how things were challenging for him and how he felt he wasn’t doing as well as he knew he could. After midterms he was suspended from games until he got caught up on assignments and improved his grades. He did that but it didn’t last long. He fell behind again and that’s when I discovered he needed his assignment and schedule written out in plain view for him to keep up with. We began that process, but it was a little too late. At the end of that semester, he was dismissed. We wrote a letter of appeal to explain his situation; however, his appeal was denied with an explanation that gave him an opportunity to redeem himself and a chance to return to school early. We worked hard on getting things rolling. We got him reconnected with his therapist, enrolled in a community college to help pull up his GPA and to earn the missing credits. Although we put together transition and action plans for how he would support himself once back on campus, we hit a roadblock. There is a big gap in assistance for out of state students. They can’t use the services from home, but they also can’t get assistance from the state they are in for 10 months out of the year. They are penalized for not seeking help but cannot receive the help they need because they are not a residence of that state. It must make sense and for these young adults it does not. They often feel like they are fighting a losing battle. I stood by his side through this whole journey. I followed his lead throughout this whole process. We wrote another appeal letter and included the supporting documents of all his plans. I spoke with his parents and connected them to OARS to get him registered for services on campus. I assisted his mom in completing FAFSA and keeping up with all emails related to his appeal and other services on campus. After a long battle and endless nights, the decision came, and he was re-admitted to school with the possibility of returning to the sports team. He was so excited, he said he felt like nothing was going to work out for him. We advocated for the coaching staff to file for a waiver for him to play while continuing to work on catching up on his credits. We are still awaiting the decision of the waiver, but in the end he and his parents feel they had more success because they had support. This is a success for me because a big goal was accomplished through a youth-led process that I supported. It showed me that there are other gaps that we need tackle to help our youth succeed in life. My journey supporting young people is just beginning.

Kyle Reece

Youth Training Coordinator

Youth Engagement
September 12, 2025 1 PM- 5 PM

Success With Training Youth

Over the past few months, the NC Voices Amplified Youth department has had fantastic opportunities to train young people and connect with organizations that are helping youth in NC and across the country.

We had our first ever graduating class of Speakers Bureau Youth Advocates- and we were thrilled with all the progress and commitment to advocacy they brought to every session. We are so excited to see all the amazing work they will do in the future!

We represented North Carolina and the work that we are doing with Youth Peer Support at the Training Institutes hosted by UCONN at the National Harbor outside of DC. We are extremely excited to see all the amazing work that is done across the country and were thrilled to be invited to present on Youth Voice withing community and residential settings. We presented a youth leadership training to a local youth group in Alamance County. The young adults we trained are excited to start advocating for themselves and their peers within their community through a photo voice project.

As we are coming into the fall semester, we are excited to host another Youth Peer Support Training, as well as a Youth Engagement training for anyone wanting to engage youth. We also can’t wait until we offer our next Speakers Bureau cohort in the fall!

As we continue to train youth on self-advocacy and peer support and connect with organizations that support youth across the state and the country, we are so excited to see young people getting the support they need and advocating in amazing ways!

Willow Burgess-Johnson

Program Manager

Trauma Informed Care
September 4, 2025
12 PM – 4 PM

From Challenges to Change: A Special Education ECHO for Family and Youth Leaders September 18, 2025
11 AM – 1 PM

What’s Next for NCVA?

NC Youth and Family Voices Amplified is continuing to grow our impact on NC. NCVA continues to work collaboratively with multiple systems in NC to grow the Family and Youth Peer Workforce. In an environment where services are cut-back or curtailed, peer support becomes even more vital to support people navigating complex and changing systems and to provide a genuine connection that inspires hope. NCVA is looking to increase awareness of mental health experiences, to decrease stigma, and increase hope. We regularly communicate out to the public the resources available and information about Youth and Family Peer Support. NCVA is also launching a content creation project to highlight the voices of those with lived experience on our social media. As we get the word out more about the supports offered by NCVA we are seeing an increased demand for training and technical support. NCVA is growing the capacity to support local communities in engaging youth and family in community collaborations. Currently NCVA attends most of the local System of Care collaborative meetings across NC. We provide consultation and feedback to the local collaboratives. Our ability to attend these meetings in-person has been limited, and so with an expansion of our Community Collaboration team we will be offering additional in-person supports to local SOC Collaboratives. NCVA is listening to the community and we are expanding the offerings we have for both training and technical assistance. Our training program has a number of new offerings this year to support ongoing professional development of the Youth and Family Peer Workforce. We are also adding to the core curriculum recommended for Youth and Family Peers to complete training.The core trainings will provide the 88 hours of training needed for National Family Peer Certification. NCVA continues to see fruitful collaborations through out the state. This model has led to more in-person Youth Leadership and Advocacy training through out the state which we expect will continue. NCVA is excited to offer our second Speakers Bureau Training for Youth with lived experience to better prepare them for sharing their stories publicly. NCVA works very closely with an evaluation team to help us to understand better what makes for effective training for Youth and Family Peer Support Specialists. NCVA is excited to have the opportunity to continue learning about how to effectively train and support Youth and Family Peer Specialists, and to have the opportunity to better understand the impact of Family Peer Support services on families and youth. Through an historic investment in behavioral health supports, the NC General Assembly allocated funding for Family Peer Support services in NC communities. NCVA is thrilled to partner with Alexander Youth Network and Monarch NC to build effective Family Peer Support services. Through this partnership we anticipate gaining deeper insight into the impact of Family Peer Support Services on Youth and Families.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Need Help?

Call or Text the 24/7 Lifeline at 9-8-8

@NCVoicesAmplified

@ncvoicesamplified

go.uncg.edu/ncvayoutube

ncvoicesamplified.org

Scan (or click) the QR Code below to join our Listserv!

Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
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The Intersection of Identity and Lived Experience

Written by Willow Burgess-Johnson on June 24, 2024. Posted in Uncategorized.

My family recently visited a photography exhibit at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds offices, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage in NC. My wife and I were the 19th couple to be legally wed in NC on that day, on the front steps of the building where my wife now works. We brought our 6-year-old twins to witness our “law marriage,” as we decided to call it, drawing a distinction between it and our “love marriage” which had taken place a dozen years earlier.

Family is what you make it, it is about what you love into being. I remember as a child my favorite aunt described the agonizing choice, she felt she had to make in the 1960’s between being true to herself as a woman who loved other women and being able to have a family and children. She chose to live in truth and relied on the strong bonds with her brother and sister to create a sense of family. My aunt has always doted on my cousins, my sister and myself as though we were her own children. She sought her own path in the world, living authentically and creating family in her own way.

I thought of my aunt when, as a young woman, I fell in love with the woman who is now my wife, and we discussed adding children to our family. With deep love, hope and intention, we developed a plan to build and protect our family despite the fact that NC had not legalized same-sex marriage yet, so we would not have the protection and rights that come with legal marriage. On a beautiful day in May, in front of our friends and family, we held our first wedding, our “love wedding.” Though the wedding was not legal at that time, we legally changed our last names so our family could all share a name. For years, my wife and I carried pouches of documents any time we left the house, with 14 legal agreements that helped establish some of the most important rights of marriage. The hospital visitation agreement addressed one of my biggest fears, because no matter how much I and my extended family considered my wife my next of kin, hospital staff who didn’t know our family could have decided to keep me from seeing her at a time of great crisis if we hadn’t taken several legal steps to protect ourselves against that possibility.

When we decided that we wanted to have children, we intentionally crossed our biological and legal relationships with the children to ensure that we, as their mothers, would have the strongest possible ties to them. We were fortunate enough to be able to use in-vitro fertilization (IVF). However, the law had not caught up to science; my wife had to sign away her legal rights and donate her eggs for me to carry our children. This meant that after their birth, she had to adopt them back to regain legal ties to her own biological children.

The day after giving birth to our twins at 35 weeks’ gestation, I remember walking down the hall towards the NICU and my wife and I could hear and distinguish the cries of our children from the cries of all those other babies in the NICU. We have been listening out for their voices as best as we can ever since. Building a family with love, hope and intention while experiencing a broader world that doesn’t recognize our family, or views it with hatred, discrimination or disrespect is bound to impact those of us who experience it.

Generally, I try to deal with anxiety and uncertainty in life by learning as much as I can about what I’m facing. My career as a social worker, along with lots of meaningful conversations with other people living through similar experiences helped me to feel more prepared to build a happy, healthy gay family. However, I was not prepared for the overlap of post-partum depression and the

part of motherhood where I felt a sense of stark vulnerability coupled with an overwhelming sense of responsibility to protect my children from the world. I knew I could love resilience into them, but that I cannot protect them from the ignorance and hate that families like ours sometimes experience in the world.

We have always carefully chosen communities, schools and care providers for our children. Still, the kids would sometimes report that another child in class used the word “gay” as a slur, or that they were made fun of for having 2 moms. Compared to the hateful speech I regularly heard in school when I was their age, it always seemed rather mild to me, and yet I can’t help but wonder if it still seeps into my children’s hearts, making them feel like they don’t belong.

Like for so many families, the years around the pandemic were full of grief, loss, and anxiety. For our family experienced this experience started in 2018 when we took on primary care for a terminally ill aunt. In the following year, my father and mother-in-law were both diagnosed with terminal cancer. In 2021, we had a three-month period during which we lost our family dog, my dad and my wife’s mother in rapid succession. My children were struggling to manage, and I was struggling to support them. Our whole family was spinning, and we needed to find ease, grace and kindness.

During this time of loss, my daughter developed major mental and physical health symptoms. After years of supporting families in crisis, I was in the other chair now, getting handed phone numbers and names scribbled on post-it notes from all the places we went to find help, and feeling frustrated at the lack of expertise and available resources to meet our family’s complex needs. I couldn’t stop thinking about how hard this was even though our family had the privilege of a lot of access to information, connections and resources. I wondered how other people got through this. I started to ask myself the question “Am I the person with the most knowledge of my child’s condition in my area?” My wife and I reached out to every professional and personal contact we knew to get our daughter in with a specialist whose office is less than 3 hours away from home. Then, we had a crisis when my daughter had a bad reaction to a medication. All the anxiety about being treated as a “real” family came back. This meant that amid worrying about a potentially very serious issue with our child’s health, we had to explain over and over that she has two mothers and no father. We wondered if she was going to be allowed to have the support and comfort of both of her parents, like other children, at the hospital when she was there and in distress.

I love and am proud of the family I have created. I do not think that my being a lesbian caused my own or my daughter’s mental health challenges, but the uncertainty of walking in a world with an identity that is not always accepted by others does contribute to the anxiety I carry and the ease with which I am able to get support. I think back on my aunt’s experiences and how excited she is to celebrate my children like they were her grandchildren. Then I ponder what the world might be like if I am lucky enough to have grandkids one day. I hope that if one of them is queer, they are free to be true to themselves, have a family in the way they define it and can get support without fearing being seen as illegitimate. Sometimes taking the long view helps me have hope, to recognize that even though we still need to continue to grow our capacity for empathy and acceptance, that change is happening right in front of us every day.

Upcoming Trauma Informed Care Training: September 26, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on July 5, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual training on Trauma-Informed Care. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: September 26, 2023 12 p.m. -4 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Youth and Family Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Christine E. Murray, Ph.D., LCMHC, LMFT and Meredith Hooks, MA.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Frederick Douglas, Family Training Coordinator, at fmdougla@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Youth Expo: September 23, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on July 5, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual Youth Expo. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: September 23, 2023 at 10 a.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Family and Youth Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator and Chandrika Brown, Collaboration Coordinator. Please contact Kyle Reece at kjreece@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Engaging Youth In Residential Treatment Webinar: August 18, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on July 5, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual training on Engaging Youth in Residential Treatment. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: August 18, 2023 3:30 p.m. -5 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Family and Youth Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator, at kjreece@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Youth Engagement Webinar: July 26, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on July 5, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual training on Youth Engagement. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: July 26, 2023 3:30 p.m. -5 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Family and Youth Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator, at kjreece@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) Training: June 22, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on April 27, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual training on Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) Training. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: June 22, 2023 9 a.m. -4 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Family and Youth Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Amber Reed, MA, QP, NBC-HWC, CNWE, RYT 200
Owner & CEO, Heartmath Certified Trainer & Clinical Practitioner.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Frederick Douglas, Family Training Coordinator, at fmdougla@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Youth Support Partner 101 Training: June 14-16, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on April 27, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified will offer this free, virtual training on Youth Support Partner 101. Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion to document their attendance. See below for additional details:

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: June 14-16, 2023 10 a.m. -4 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Youth Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator and Kara Lynch, Communication and Outreach Coordinator.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Kyle Reece, Youth Training Coordinator at kjreece@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.

Upcoming Trauma Informed Care Training: June 6, 2023

Written by Kara Lynch on April 27, 2023. Posted in Training Programs, Uncategorized.

How to register: Please click here to access and complete the registration form.
Date and time of the trainings: June 6, 2023 12 p.m. -4 p.m.
Program format: The training will be held virtually via Zoom.
Intended audience: Priority will be given to current and prospective Youth and Family Peer Support Partners. Participants will receive confirmation if they are approved to attend this training, and only approved participants will receive the Zoom links to participate.
Cost of the training: This training is free to attend, thanks to the generous support of the NC DHHS Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
Presenters: This training will be presented by Christine E. Murray, Ph.D., LCMHC, LMFT and Meredith Hooks, MA.
Who to contact for additional information: Please contact Frederick Douglas, Family Training Coordinator, at fmdougla@uncg.edu for additional information about this training program.