Hopewell Therapeutic Farm Community

? Meet a Hopewell Team Member Monday ? Clinician and art therapist?Clare Conway?began her Hopewell journey in 2019 as an intern, then was hired when she graduated and became licensed as a professional counselor.?She has since earned her LPCC (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor) credential. She is also a registered art therapist and a registered yoga teacher. ? Clare staffs the University Circle Transition program three days a week, where she assists residents who are working on becoming more independent after their stay at the farm.?She also supports clinical programming at the farm one day a week, facilitating an art therapy group, yoga, and ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention, a treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). ? “On any given day residents may experience a significant amount distress and unease.?Seeing residents experience even small moments of relaxation via art, nature or yoga is very meaningful to me,” Clare said. ? One of Clare’s goals is to finish restoring her century home with her husband. She loves drawing and painting especially with watercolor and ink.?If she were marooned on a desert island, she would need her sketchbook! ? Thank you, Clare, for everything you do! ???? ??

?? ?? Hopewell Family Fun Day ?? ?? The Hopewell Employee Appreciation Committee and kitchen staff organized Family Fun Day on October 5 for staff, their families, residents and friends to enjoy an afternoon of fall activities on the farm. Over 35 staff and family members and 10 residents participated in fun fall activities including apple picking, making cider in an old-fashioned hand cranked cider press, socializing around a fire, painting pumpkins and making s’mores.?Folks also went for nature walks, kids played tag, and many took photos on our bucolic grounds.

Hopewell staff celebrated and showed support for people with mental illness by wearing green ribbons on October 10, World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is “My Mental Health at Work.” Employees were treated to donuts to show appreciation for everything they do to reduce the stigma of mental illness and support mental health awareness at work.

Welcome Stephen Williger to Hopewell's board! Steve received his Master of Science in Psychiatric Social Work (MSSA) from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University and his Juris Doctor from Cleveland State University College of Law. He worked as a therapist for several years and subsequently began his law career, first as a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals, and then as a trial lawyer with two large law firms. Before and after his retirement, Stephen served on numerous nonprofit boards and was the board president of several nonprofits, including The Center for Community Solutions, FBI Citizens Academy Foundation of Cleveland, HandsOn Northeast Ohio, and the Federal Bar Association of Cleveland. He is currently president of Insight Meditation Cleveland, an organization that has served Northeast Ohio insight meditators for decades, and is on the board of the Buddhist Insight Network, an organization that works with meditation groups around the world. Steve began practicing insight meditation over 20 years ago, was certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction in 2015, and successfully completed the 10-week Yale University course, The Science of Well-Being, in 2020. Steve has offered introductory meditation sessions for law firms, bar associations, colleges, social workers, and therapists, first responders, boards, and private groups.

A resident was on an outing with his clinician and he said, "You know what Daniel? When you give everything time, it all takes care of itself and then you realize you don't need to make a big scene about anything."

Happy Autumn! As of the middle of September, Hopewell gardens produced: 494 pounds of tomatoes 70 pounds of lettuce 66 pounds of green beans 82 pounds of cataloupe 70 pounds of onions 130 pounds of yellow squash 131 pounds of zucchini 70 pounds of watermelon Thank you residents and staff!

Join Hopewell at the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club on Wednesday, October 30, at 5:30 for our Exploring Mental Health event, "Nurturing Nature: Promoting Health and Wellbeing through Nature Contact." David Victorson, PhD, will discuss how spending time in nature has been shown to have significant benefits for human health, both physically and mentally.?Exposure to green spaces reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.? Learn more and register today! https://lnkd.in/gRhPJYH7

? Meet a Hopewell Team member ? Meet September Employee of the Month,?Andrew Hunt,?a member of the maintenance team, who has been with Hopewell for over 2 ? years. In addition to maintenance some of his favorite things at Hopewell are chasing cows to tag or take to market and picking up chickens! Andy is a great part of the Hopewell community and always lends a helping hand with a smile. He really likes all of his coworkers and talking to residents.?Andy enjoys spending time with his wife and kids and his new hobby of bow hunting. He also finds tinkering on vehicles therapeutic.?Congratulations, Andy! ?? ?? ??

Welcome to Hopewell's new board member, Emily McConnell. She is a dedicated fundraising professional with over eight years of experience in the philanthropic sector. Currently serving as the Director of Giving and Grants at the nonprofit University Circle Inc, Emily takes pride in contributing to the organization's efforts to foster a vibrant and welcoming community in University Circle. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and holds a Certificate in Applied Business from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Beyond her career, Emily finds joy in traveling, listening to podcasts, and exploring the outdoors with her two dogs.

Visit our site to learn more about Ecotherapy and get more information about our upcoming FREE virtual CEU series. https://lnkd.in/gDs_mCPW