Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey there everybody and thank you for tuning in to your best, you, real conversations on mental wellness are. What kind of lisp did I just throw in there? Oh, wow.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: I didn't even hear it.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Oh, I did. I felt it. Hey there everybody and thank you for tuning in to the second episode of your best, you, real conversations on mental wellness. We're really excited to be here and just how like last week we, we had Andrew o' Grady on to talk about his goals and expectations when it comes to this program. We are also co sponsored and working with the Northern and Southern Dutchess Community Coalitions. So we wanted to have with us Andrea Kuchi, community coalition leader for both Northern and Southern Dutchess community coalitions and youth leaders specifically for the Southern Dutchess Community Coalition. Since they are such a big part of getting this podcast up and going. We wanted to get Andrea in here to talk about her goals and expectations and what you can be expecting from Andrea. How are you?
[00:00:56] Speaker B: I'm very good. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. Again, thank you so much for being a part of this show and this initiative altogether. You know, we've been working and talking for a while now about different ways that we can use media and outreach to, you know, help serve the community.
And you know, there's a number of things that we'll be doing together in the future, but you know, this is one of the first big rollouts that we're really doing and to have this collaboration MHA with the Northern and Southern Dutchess Community Coalitions, I think that's great.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: Right.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: In order to get this message out. So if for people who may not know about the coalitions, I know we were talking about this before, getting on the mic is like, it's hard to just sum it up in a quick elevator pitch, but could you give a brief overview for anybody who may not be aware of them?
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Sure, absolutely. The Southern Duchess Community Coalition is a coalition of individuals of the community. We are grassroots. Our initiatives are for opioid settlement funds. So we are funded by oasis. They fund us for a certain amount of years and those initiatives have to align with what we are doing with the settlement funds. Actually with Dutchess county being one of the largest counties with the with an overdose rate, it's obviously necessary and needed.
So our initiatives are to make sure that we are preventing overdoses, bringing awareness to medication management and opioids itself. And then the Northern Duchess Community Coalition is drug Free Facilities Communities. Our funder is the CDC and we are a health and wellness initiative. So we have a variety of different initiatives that we go through through the Northern Dutchess Community Coalition for Substance Misuse and Mental well Being, making sure that our communities are healthy and how to provide families and youth with all the tools that they may need to make sure that that is happening for them.
So across the board, I am making sure that our communities are healthy. They are making, we are all making sure all of the community members are supported in with the resources that they need to make sure that they live a better quality of life.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Now that's fantastic and beautifully summed up. Okay, you do got the elevator pitch going. That's terrific.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: I mean, it's a mouthful, but. And there's so much more that goes into that. I mean, we are, we're. We are focused on prevention. We do a lot of advocacy work and we make, we. We want to make sure that our community members voices are heard. So, yes, I am the coalition coordinator and I am the one who's executing a lot of this, but I'm actually getting a lot of my material because I talk to our community members. I make sure that I hear what they want and what they need. And if I'm not doing that, then I'm not doing my job. Because we are here to make sure that we're serving the community. And I think that that's important because that's, that's everything that we need to do to make sure that the help is there. Yeah, yeah.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: It's. It's hard to help somebody when you don't know how to help. And it's through that communication that you can get it. So obviously, as you said, there's a lot that you can go into and there's a lot to learn. That's one of the main reasons why we're doing this program in general, to help demystify some of that stuff. So besides highlighting a lot of MHA staff and a lot of MHA programs, but we're also going to be highlighting a lot of coalition programs and coalition staff and coalition stories at the same time, too, because a lot of these stories go hand in hand. So, Andrea, what. What are the goals that you're hoping that this program and programs that we're going to be putting out in the future? Stay tuned. But for your best view sake, what are the goals that you hope that this show can do for the community?
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Sure. So I thought this was a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to actually showcase that we do collaborate and we are a partner with other agencies and other communities in our own communities. I want to build up the safety net and give people the power in their hands that they feel that we can be trusted and that the people we work with can be trusted because we don't have all of the answers. And without partnership and collaboration, we can't provide everything to the community. So it's important for me to make sure that I'm building a safety net of individuals that can help all of our community members.
And with this being obviously a mental health and wellness podcast, breaking the stigma behind all of what others may think that mental health is, as well as substance misuse, bringing those two things together showcase that, you know, we together want to make a change in what that looks like.
So they go hand in hand. I feel like, yeah, I want to make sure that it starts from the foundation and we're making sure that we are providing that toolkit to our community members. I can go to them and do prevention work in substance misuse and provide, you know, harm reduction products. But if I'm not giving them tools to help them along the way, then again, I'm not doing my full job. So it's.
I think it's a wonderful opportunity for our communities to see us come together and just build a stronger community for them.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: Amen to that. And one thing in regards to what you were saying about the partnerships, the level of partnerships, this is not an out of the blue partnership. The coalitions in MHA have been working in various degrees for a while now. I remember the first week that I was in here, somebody said to me, it was like, connor, I gotta run. I'm doing something over with the Southern Dutchess Community Coalition. I was like, oh, shoot. I did like a lot of work with them. You all know all them. That's awesome.
So do you just kind of want to backpedal here and just kind of. It's like, what has the partnership between MHA and the coalitions looked like prior to this current project here?
[00:06:22] Speaker B: So obviously, connection is one of our biggest partnerships. So I make sure that I stay connected with employees or other partners that have are with mha and we make sure that we are talking and discussing what is happening in our communities and how we can collaborate. And that's like just an open dialogue that we've been having. And with that, I've learned what could actually help serve our community. So one of the most recent partnerships that we've had is been. We held a DEA panel in. Yes. In the Wappinger Central School District at the high schools. And this was a request of the community just because there was Not a lot of awareness of actually what was going on in the students lives by teachers and parents. And they just didn't realize how significant some of these topics were. And I didn't want to go in as a presentation because I felt like, why, why would I.
I'm saying this in like the best possible way. Why would they want to listen to me rant? Yeah, I work with the youth population. I do a lot of make sure that there's a lot of peer to peer because I think that the students like to hear it from the students big time. So going into a high school and doing a presentation, I've learned that they don't want to hear from me, they want to hear from their, their, their peers.
However, that wasn't the part of purpose of the panel. So we kind of took a different approach from it. And I said, how about we let the students ask the questions and then we answer the questions based on what their interest is. Yes, we have a million things that we can share with them and want to share with them to provide prevention efforts and awareness and make sure that they feel safe.
But if we're not answering the questions that they want answered, then we're not really helping.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: They're going to tune out.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: They're going to tune it out. So I brought in a large panel to each one of the schools and MHA was part of that. And it was, it was such an amazing experience because we didn't have just one person that had a specialty. We had a variety of different specialties up there. MHA was there supporting the mental health aspects. We had up here, we had the DA's office, we had the DEA's office, we had forensics labs there, we had school counselors there, we had our key counselors there, and we had the SOR officer there. And there was a couple other people and they.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Sounds pretty stacked.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: It did. It was pretty big.
Just supporting us. You know, they were there that, just making sure that if there was any other additional questions that they were there to make sure that we had that support. Because I mean, when you're working with students, especially about these very difficult topics, because you never know where the question's coming from. They could either be a student that lives in a, in a home that has a lot of questions because they see it in their home. Yeah. Or they could be a friend of somebody that would like to have some answers and questions and you know, you just never know what, where they're coming from when they're asking the questions. So making sure that you have that group of people to support them in any way possible. Was. Was the purpose.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: And it was good because what happened was we. I made sure that the panel, you know, presented the material, and then we had the students ask us, you know, the questions. And there was a variety of different questions, and a lot of it was important because, you know, they didn't know where to get the resources. How do I. How do I go about doing this? Like, where do I go?
Or there was the question of, you know, how do I know it's safe? Because, like, my doctor says it's okay, and you're telling me that it's not okay from, you know, the street perspective. Yeah. And my friend knows this person and their doctor says this. And it was a lot of unknowns.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Seemed very, like, surprising to me just because I was like, wow, like, they're really. They're really invested in learning why we're talking about these things.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Yeah, those are some deep questions. Those are questions that adults are asking. Yes, yes, without a doubt.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: There was a lot of that. And it was so impactful for them to be able to have the answers from the professionals. It wasn't me just going up there and saying, hey, like, this is what we do with our work. And I think this would be great for you. Make sure that you do these things. It was like, you ask the question and you're going to get the answer from factual people that have the information in the background. So, yeah, you know, working with MHA in that perspective, you know, on the wellness part of things, it showcased the fact that if we were able to provide them with support in something they may feel very uncomfortable talking about, it allowed them to feel comfortable talking about, like they were sharing real life stories, you know, up there, and they were able to be relatable. And that was important. You know, we were. We were showing them we are real people. We have these stories, we know these things. We're not just sitting here lecturing you, you know, got personal, you know, and it. And when you're talking that, that builds the safety net, that builds the connection, that builds the rapport, everything. So that opens up the doors to make things happen.
And I feel like that's our biggest collaboration we could have because I. I'm not technically a mental health professional in that sense. So, yes, I have a background in it, but that's not my expertise at this moment. So I want to provide you with somebody that has that expertise and make sure that you feel comfortable with that person. And I'm showing You. That they can honestly have that conversation with you. So that, you know, that that has been our most recent and one of our biggest collaborations that we've had.
And I think that that just led to other opportunities, you know, helped the community understand that we were all real people and we're all facing certain things, and maybe it may not all look the same, but it's.
It's real. And you're. You're not alone.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Yeah, These are real questions. These are real things that are happening in their lives. I remember, you know, when I was in high school, there are things that would come up that I didn't understand. Whether about family members, what about friends, Whether it was abusing prescription drugs, whether it was abusing. Just stuff off the streets. You know, I knew plenty of drug dealers, you know, that was. And it wasn't like I was in a wrong crowd. It was just, you know, people. And even them is like, just on face value, is like, great people, but like, whatever they get mixed up in. In and of itself. That's crazy.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: So you have that all there. One of the things that I have always noticed when I've had the opportunity to speak at schools or do anything with youth, I was a camp counselor for many years, but in my new life here, doing a lot more of this media and entertainment stuff, I've actually had had the pleasure of speaking on a lot more career day panels or things like that with kids and of all ages. Of all ages, you know, elementary, middle, and high school. The biggest way that I've always seen the engagement one, let them ask the questions and let them lead the narrative.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: But.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: But also not just speak at them, but tell a story, find a way to make it, relate to them. And I've been in no shade to anybody I've been on these panels with. But some people will just, like, kind of list off their resume, and you'd see people kind of just phase out.
So I don't like doing that. I don't like necessarily just listening off my resume. I try to, like, all right, where am I going today? Do I have a story that kind of relates to what they might want to hear?
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: Let me try this out. And that hopeful that story will hopefully open up, you know, more interest. Yes, I've been lucky that way. So as you've been working with these DA panels, but also through the work that you do, you have your clubhouses, you have your youth groups, you have all that. What are the. What are some of the big things that you've noticed about how the youth have opened up.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Well, I've had a variety of different situations. So this year I've had. I've been lucky enough to be a youth mentor on top of being, you know, part of the coalition.
And the conversations aren't driven through the coalition, and they're actually driven through what the youth is interested in.
So when you have those conversations based on who they are and you can relate to them on that sense, rather than what the initiative is, they become more open to have conversations about their personal life.
So sometimes going at it in the direction of, like, well, this is my job and this is what I'm doing, and these are. This is the reason why I'm in the position I'm in. This is my why. And, yeah, you know, it's connective, and you're being honest with them, but you're already facing the problem that they may be struggling with, and they might not be ready to have that conversation. What I've noticed is with. With my mentor groups and the leadership groups that I have been part of, you know, we talk about whatever of interest it is that they would like to talk about, and then when it comes the time to talk about what I do and what my roles are, you know, they become more interested to hear more about it. And then, you know, we'll have a couple sessions in, and then we'll have a bigger and larger conversation where they're sharing a little bit more.
Michelle and I, we hosted. Well, we were not hosting, but we hosted our coalition at an event, and they. We were talking about Narcan and the importance of sports safety and, you know, making sure that kids felt safe in their sports and not felt peer pressured, because that's a huge, you know, huge thing in the sports industry. And, you know, just bringing awareness to sports injuries and if you're injured and what happens, you know, if you, you know, or a medication and just, you know, all the red flags and making sure those conversations were happening.
And one of the students came up to us and just said, hey, do you think that I can have a couple extra Narcan kits? And I said, absolutely, because. Never say no, because you don't know why they're, you know, why they need it.
And they. I said, yeah, sure, no problem. I said, do you. You know, how many do you need? And they just said, well, I probably just need a couple. But I go to a lot of festivals and we're not doing anything, but the people around me are. And I want to make sure that I'm protecting myself while I'M there.
And I thought, wow, like, one, you're admitting that you go to these things, which some may feel very, you know, I don't do anything. I don't go to places where these things are happening. She said, my friends and myself go. We like to have fun. We like to listen to the music and stuff, but there's a lot of things around us that makes us uncomfortable. And I did not realize this was something that could help us while we're there, to make us feel comfortable.
And was that the truth? I don't know, you know, but she. The person was very open about it, and we had that conversation, and she was very thankful, and I actually made sure she walked away with more than enough for her and her friends because I want her to be able to have a good life and not have to think that she's doing something wrong.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: So, you know, the conversations is just, you know, making sure that we're allowing them to feel comfortable before we pressure them into having any other conversations.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: Yeah. I think the festival story is, you know, very intriguing. You know, as somebody who, you know, at a very young age, I was going to bars, concerts, festivals, all that to see music. Sure, I may not have been necessarily indulging in what was happening around me, but plenty of stuff was happening around me, and I was aware of it, and I knew that some of it, you know, a lot of it I didn't understand or I didn't know fully yet at the time. I think that's great awareness of that student in who came up to you, you know, whether or not they are partaking in anything or not, just the awareness of what's around them. And also as somebody who, you know, I'm going to be very open as somebody who's been drugged before, it's good to know, you know, you have something on hand should anything go wrong. You know, fortunately, in my case, it was a very. I ended up being very safe, and it could have turned out a lot worse, but fortunately I was fine. But you don't know that. You don't know that. So when you have these resources and you have these things around you, it does offer more of a safety net to meet the terms that you were saying, big time. Yeah, I think that's huge. I think that's huge. And that's great that they are able to come to you and open up like that and have those discussions. That's. That's impactful.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: It takes time sometimes. I mean, it's not always.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: It's not an overnight thing.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: It's definitely not an overnight thing. I mean, they're, they're not easy conversations. Never even with adults. You know, these are, it's very vulnerable, you know, especially if you're coming from certain backgrounds or having certain situations and you're, you're, you're scared to say anything, you know, not because you just, you know, I don't want to talk about that. I have a, you know, a disorder or I don't want to know, let anybody know that my family is going through this situation or they just don't know the, the terms to use or how to express it or anything. And it becomes a huge barrier in the conversation because some people say like mental health and mental illness and they're like, but I don't have an illness. I just work on my well being and I don't, you know, so there's just, there's those conversations where they, the terms are very confusing for people and they don't want to admit one thing because they're not sure if that's what they want to admit to. And that's, that's fair and valid because if you're not sure of how you're expressing yourself, you're representing yourself in a way that you're like, I don't want to be that person or, and maybe a little bit of judgment comes with that. But we try to make sure that, yeah, maybe you're not fully understanding of what this looks like, but that's what we're here to help you figure out.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: So that you're not feeling alone and you're not feeling siloed. And yes, there is a lot of stigma out there, but that's because of. I, I personally feel there's awareness to a certain extent. It is definitely changing over time and the conversations are getting deeper and more aware in the public.
But I think education, and I say education in the sense of like they may not know the difference between mental illness and mental health or mental wellness and mental illness. And that's a, that's my, our job to make sure that those definitions of those things are out there so that they know the difference, so that they can define or feel like relevant to what that's going on in their life.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Big time. Big time.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: So, yeah, so I think that's where you're trying to get into all the places. But they don't know how to latch on because they don't know which direction they're latching on to. That's what we're here for, without a doubt. And that's what, like, our collaborations are here for. And that's what we're trying to make sure that our community is receiving the awareness of it and then the education piece behind it, making sure that the pathway they need or want to take is there for them, but they know which road to take.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's. That's huge. That is so huge to be able to have, you know, definitely speaking from personal experience and the people around me. You know, it's an incredibly empowering thing when you start to learn the vocabulary, start to learn the language, because it. You. Knowledge is power in that case. And I remember high school, college, and, you know, post college, starting to understand more and starting to be able to articulate it better through various resources. Whether that was through counseling, through therapy, through different groups that I started working with, it's something else. And to be like, oh, wow, I can speak to this now. This has a name. This has. I wasn't able to put words to it before, and with that, there's so much power in it. And as he said before, there's a lot of barriers out there, whether it's household, whether it's cultural, whether it's community.
A lot of. A lot of shame and a lot of guilt can be brought with these things. And also not even that, but just a misunderstanding too. We fear what we don't know, and that can be said about anything and everything. Yeah, we fear what we don't know. So when you can put the knowledge into people's hands and into people's minds, you give them the power and that really, really moves things along.
So we've been talking a lot about the youth programs, of course, because, you know, that's a big part of your job. But I want to also just address this is not a youth centric coalition. You have youth part of it. But there are things for adults, too. And there might be adults out there who are listening to this. They see a clip, they're confused as well.
What are the things that you are offering for the adult community here for people who might be learning later in life?
[00:22:56] Speaker B: A huge part of our coalition is for the adult population. We do make sure that their voices are equally as heard, just as we would with the youth, because every voice matters. It doesn't matter age, it does not matter your age.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: And sometimes the older you are, the harder it is to unlearn things.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: It's very true. Again, we make sure that we provide our community members with as many resources as possible.
Again, through collaboration and partnerships. You know that that's a big one. It is harder to sometimes get the trust of an adult because like you said, sometimes it is very hard to unlearn something.
However, there has been many situations where we've had conversations with individuals that may have had a mindset and quickly change when they realize that family members aligned with a lot of this people that they know very close to them and unfortunately they're, it's not never too late, but they feel like it's too late and we have to change that mindset for them because you're never going to feel like you're getting the help if you're saying it's too late.
[00:24:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: So.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: And sometimes based off what you just said there, they may already know the answers, but they need somebody to say it to them to validate it.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Yes.
So just again, having a conversation with them pressure free, like it's not something that is forced. You have to be in the right mindset to make sure that you have the vision of what you really want to do at the, at the end. Because if they're not ready, you know, that's, that's something that's very individualized and you want to make sure that you're leading your conversation in the mindset they're at, at that moment. So like you don't want to give them too much information because then it's like, it's overwhelming and they're like, well, again, I don't know what all that means. Like, so how can we just start at the base? You know, so we make sure that depending on which coalition we're working from a lot of the times that we're working through the Southern Dutchess, you know, there's very deep conversations because with the use of opioids, you know, they're, they're experiencing a little bit of a different situation than maybe somebody who is talking about, you know, wanting to change the alcohol laws in, in, you know, the Northern Duchess area.
So they, the person that may be talking about wanting to change the alcohol laws may be some parent or somebody who may have lost their child to an, to an accident or even an overdose at that point. But they, and then we're talking on the Southern Duchess side of things where they have also may have lost somebody from an overdose or they may be very deep into their own, you know, journey of struggles and wanting to make sure that they can get out of it. You know, so it all is very important and it's all highlighted to the max priority in their life. But looking at them are very different and we Take those, take those conversations at where they're at. Maybe the person that's struggling really hard in their, their opioid phase, I would say, because there's phases of that and they could be early into their journey or they could be very far into that journey. And that's where we will say, you know, maybe this person could help you a little bit better. Because as much as you want to advocate for it, like you also are asking for help. And that is where we can lead them to other resources big time.
And then with, you know, on the other side of things where we can step into policy and advocate for certain things on, on, you know, the alcohol related things. So it really depends on what the conversation is, the topic, and we're there to support them regardless of what they, what the need is, what their voice is saying.
We just, our participation is either completely hands on or we make sure that we lead to the point where somebody else could be hands on, but giving them the same amount of attention that we would in the coalition. And at times that's very hard.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: You know, and it's worth every single second of it because you're helping an individual. But it's all over. I mean, we cover a lot of different topics. And that's why I think the toolbox is very important to make sure that we have it filled with all of the things that we need.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: Naturally. Naturally. You know, you brought up a couple of things there that two, two similar talking points I want to bring up with that. You know, talking about the substance abuse, whether it is through alcohol, whether it is through opioids, whatever it is.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: The.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: Alcohol, the opioids, whatever it is, is a mechanism, but there's a reason that brought them there. And everybody's got a different story of why they're there and there's whole lot more going on outside of that. So I'm sure a lot of the conversations that you guys have, obviously the root of it might stem from the substances, but then you learn so much about the person's life and it's not necessarily changing the habit of an addiction or abuse disorder. It is rather change. Maybe not rather, but really looking at the root of what it is and what kind of lifestyle and behavioral changes can be made, that's. That seems to be one of the core things that I'm learning through mha, some of the work we've done together already. Am I on the right track with that?
[00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah. So prevention is the key to opening all of the doors for all of the people. So. And what does that look like? Early intervention obviously is one of the bigger things that we can say that is definitely working, but we also have to investigate what that early intervention stage is. And most of the time it every you, you always find out some, one of the things that is happening into these individuals like, is stemmed from something.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. So you don't just start a substance out of nowhere.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: No, I mean, it could be peer pressured. It could be. There's so many different reasons why those things happen.
And, you know, it's unfortunate when it does happen and it leads into places that, you know, spiral.
But again, you can always circle back to the main point and make sure that there's work being done that could help them out of that space.
So, yes, you're, you're, you're right on track there. Yeah, it's, we don't diagnose, we don't do any of those things because that's not our position to do so.
But it definitely is a conversation to. With the majority of the people that we work with that they saw something before it actually happened.
So.
And again, all of that could look very different for it. Everything is individualized. There's never one person that says the same thing ever to us. Yeah. You know, so that, that is exactly why when we talk about, you know, well being, it's a holistic viewpoint of all of the different dimensions of wellness. And I say that because, I mean, that's my background. So when I came into this field, there was so many, like, conversations that I've had that I was like, wow, like, even in all of my, you know, my professional education, it was like, I never thought that this is where my feet would land and how impactful that wheel of wellness actually is for this population of individuals that actually probably need it the most.
So like, and that's just a personal experience. This is not coming from the work that we do. I mean, it's definitely from the experiences that I hear. But I think that it was definitely eye opening.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: It's how it's impacted you.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, I came from the healthcare field, so I, I always envision myself, you know, in prevention and wellness in the sense of making sure that people's mental health was there so that they lived a better quality of life when they came out of recovery for different surgeries or just making sure that they did a lot of self care to make sure that their life would be very different for them and they were not afraid to take care of themselves and felt guilty or judgmental or anything any of Those things. A variety of different reasons I went into the field that I went into.
And I can tell you right now, none of them was. Stemmed from what I'm doing right now.
And. And it wasn't because I didn't know it. It was just. And it was. Maybe I looked at it a little differently, but it was very rewarding for me to come into here and changing my own thought process and my viewpoint on my own professional field. Yeah, it was. It was. It was wonderful. It makes complete sense.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: And.
And I. I feel like maybe because of my own history and my own personal experiences, I was always in the moment of those rather than thinking about all the extra around them. So it was always like, how can I fix this problem right now? What can we do about this issue right now? And it wasn't really like, well, how did you get to this point? Or what can we do afterwards to make this happen? Like, we have to make sure this is fixed right now. Because right now you're.
And when I talk to people, I know that's what their priority is. It's like, you know, when you have somebody who's sick in your family, who's in a lot of pain, you're instantly. We have to get them out of pain. Yes. Whatever it takes, just make them not feel pain.
And it's the same exact thing. It's like, whatever they're going through right now, we have to make sure that they're not going through it anymore. And it's such a larger picture. And thankfully, I'm. I've grown in my mindset, and I feel like I'm now able to understand from the people that are maybe feeling a little bit of a barrier because they are not sure of the options that they have or if they just are in that, like, fight or flight mode. Like, we have to make sure, like, these things are happening and we don't care how it happens.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's great. And I love what you talked about there, about your personal impact, where you thought you were starting to where you are now, everything that you described of what you were starting.
Those are very important fields, and there are jobs specifically for that. And again, extremely important. But somewhere down the line, it led you to this job here, it led you to this vocation based on the conversations you were having. And it led you to a point.
It led you to a point where you didn't know was necessarily possible or you didn't know this was a thing at first. Just like with a lot of your clients, they didn't know that there is this world.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: There's.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: There is this vocabulary, there's. There is this hope. There is this option.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: So you kind of relate to your clients in that way. You know, I look at this, I started off in music. I'm still heavily involved in music. But could I have told you five, six years ago when I was graduating college with a music degree that I'd be sitting down in a Mental Health America studio talking about substance abuse? No, I probably wouldn't have, but I love it. I am so grateful for the conversations I get to have because these are important things.
Just because it's not the initial plan at first doesn't mean that it can't still be your passion, because it's simply just you're learning what your passion is. You're learning what the passion is. You are finding the thing that makes you your best. You.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: So as we're coming to a close on this episode, I appreciate all the different transparencies that you've offered on this, and I'm sure we'll have you on again. And, you know, and I'm excited to see who you'll bring in as well. There's going to be a lot of stuff to look forward to with this program. But as we are wrapping up now, is there any last little nugget whether maybe to reinforce something we said or bring up something that we haven't mentioned yet? Is there any last little nugget that you want to share for the youe best you audience?
[00:34:54] Speaker B: Gosh, I could go on again for a long time.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: Yeah. It's always a tough question.
[00:34:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. It's hard. So I'd like to say, like, I'm very thankful for this partnership and not for myself, but for our community because it will open up a lot of opportunities for our community members to be able to understand where their community is coming from, you know, so. Or they're able to actually relate to certain topics that, you know, this will bring to them. And I think that will bring significant impact to our community.
So I think that if you're interested in part partnering with the coalitions, I think as a community member and you have a voice that you want to be heard to absolutely come and reach out to us because we are here to help every single person here in Dutchess County. We service the entire Dutchess county and we have a lot of great initiatives coming up. We have like, the youth rally that's coming up that people can participate in.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: That'll be fun.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Yes. We have drug Take back day that, you know, individuals can come and participate in. But I think overall, I think we want to make sure that the community is heard and whatever that looks like to them, I want to bring that to the table and make sure that we are making sure that they feel like they have the confidence to do so and hopefully we are the safe space that they can have.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: So beautifully said, Andrea. Again, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for this partnership and just thank you for the service that you are doing here in the community in general. This is beautiful. Again, if you want any more information on the Northern and Southern Dutchess community coalitions, we're going to have links in the description of this episode so that you can find out more if you need to contact. Whether you might need their help, their resources or you might want to get involved. We'll have all that there for you to take part in. At the end of the day. We want you to have a good day, good month, good year and overall, be your best you. Thanks so much for joining us.
