National Addictions Chair Delivers Keynote at 2017 Forum

Community Hope, in partnership with the Mental Health Association (MHA) of Morris County, will host the Annual Learning Forum and Wellness Fair on Thursday, May, 4th 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey, 60 N. Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ. The theme of this year’s event is “Putting the Pieces Together:” How Our Emotions Guide Our Well- Being with a focus on the impact of the social dimension of wellness. An Expo Hall featuring 54 wellness related vendors will open at 10 AM.

The one-day health fair and educational forum is an educational event geared toward promoting wellness and recovery for health care professionals; individuals with mental illness; their family members and caregivers. The Forum is also open to the public and is offered as a free public service of Community Hope and the MHA of Morris County.

Keynote speaker Sean Campbell, State Alliance Coordinator at NJ Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Director of Campbell Outreach Group, which has reached over 20,000 people across the US and Canada through presentations, trainings and seminars to promote mental health and wellness at national conferences, schools and universities, professional development settings, and community forums. Mr. Campbell has presented at over 40 college campuses across the United States to promote mental health awareness and wellness. He has facilitated collaborative leadership seminars for youth throughout the Middle East and North Africa (in Yemen, Oman, Tunisia and Qatar) through the US State Department’s English Access Microscholarship Program, Kennedy Lugar YES Program, and others. Mr. Campbell created and implemented a county-wide public health campaign, titled the Wellness for Bergen County Initiative, for Bergen County (NJ) Department of Health Services, training dozens of diverse community partners to address the county’s current public health goals. He also has recruited additional speakers to present on crucial healthcare issues on college campuses (such as body image, substance abuse and recovery).

There will be four interactive workshops starting at 10:30 A.M. The workshops are: “Nutrition and Mood” by Vivian Moreno-Berrio, NJ SNAP-Ed Program Associate Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County, “Coping with Stress using the Arts” by Danny Marain, BA, MT-BC, Music Therapist-Healing Arts Program Atlantic Health System, “Sand Play Therapy” by Toni Zachos-Kaplan, MSW, LCSW Lighthouse Counseling & Sand Play Training Center, LLC, and “Horticultural Therapy: The People-Plant Connection” by Pat Czarnecki, HTR MBA GreEn’ergy, LLC, Horticultural Therapy & Garden Specialists.

Last year, the Health and Wellness Fair drew more than 200 attendees including mental health professionals, disability service providers, individuals with mental illness and their families and care givers. This event is open to the general public, admission is free. Community Hope provides housing and support services to individuals, including veterans, and families struggling with mental illness, homelessness, poverty and addiction. Community Hope is the largest charity in New Jersey serving homeless veterans and veteran families and serves 220 individuals a day in its residential recovery programs. The agency will provide housing, services and case management to more than 1,300 individuals and veteran families this year.

The Mental Health Association of Morris County is a non-profit, charity organization dedicated to serving people with mental illness and their families. Incorporated in 1953, the Mental Health Association of Morris County (MHAMC) is a local chapter of the New Jersey Division of the National Mental Health Association, today known as Mental Health America.