Williamstown Sub-acute Community Recovery Residence Forum Tonight: Williamstown Middle-High School at 7:00 PM

Today's (Tuesday, March 28, 2006) edition of the Times Argus includes another article within the local news section concerning how a private developer wants to convert the Autumn Harvest Inn located on Clark Road in the town of Williamstown into a sub-acute community recovery residence (here):

WILLIAMSTOWN – Proponents want to hear what local residents think about a plan to convert the Autumn Harvest Inn into a "community recovery residence" for mentally ill patients who will soon be released from the Vermont State Hospital.

They will get their chance tonight.

Developer Peter Holmburg and Michael Hartman, of Washington County Mental Health Services, will host the 7 p.m. forum that will be held in the cafeteria at Williamstown Middle-High School.

The forum was originally scheduled to be held at the local inn and restaurant on Clark Road, but organizers said there was a concern that space could be a problem depending on the turnout, prompting the change of venue. Signs will be posted at the inn directing participants to the nearby high school and organizers said someone would be there to make sure people got the message.

[...]

Read the article in full, here.

fyi: Google map for Williamstown Middle-High School, here.

Due to the forum being so close by as well as also having been able this morning to connect with those at Washington County Mental Health Services (WCMHS) and Sunrise House who will have a minivan providing some with transportation, I plan on attending so I can listen in as a fly on the wall and potentially blog up some of my observations about the forum.

Former Williamstown Inn Could Be Treatment Facility -- Times Argus

This morning's edition of the Times Argus includes an article within the local news section concerning how a private developer wants to convert the Autumn Harvest Inn located on Clark Road in the town of Williamstown into a sub-acute community recovery facility, here.

fyi: Check out some photos [via Autumn Harvest Inn Website]

Futures follies: Can the Vermont State Hospital ever be closed? -- Vermont Guardian (3/17/2006)

Must-read cover article regarding the future of mental health service delivery within the state as well as urgent concerns being raised about such, published in last Friday's (March 17, 2006) edition of the Vermont Guardian, here.

[with my apologies for not keeping up with blogging up posts on this blog over these last few months]

Original Hallmark Channel Movie - 'Our House'

*Updated*

Showings at Another Way Drop-In Center, 125 Barre Street, Montpelier: Friday, March 17th at 2:00 PM & 6:00 PM, here [via Norsehorse's Home Turf]

*Update*: Hallmark Channel Press Kit Informational Sheet - Our House: Hallmark Channel film to promote awareness of the homeless epidemic in America, here [via Homelessness Live Journal Community].


*Note*: last updated on Monday, March 13, 2006 at 8:04 PM [EST].

Film Nothing Like Dreaming *Free Public Showing*: UVM Campus Theater, Burlington (VT); Monday, April 3rd, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

If you are someone who has a taste for quality independent films, then Nothing Like Dreaming is definitely one to take in.


Production still by Thomas Ames. Jr.
[via Nothing Like Dreaming Press Kit, here]

[...]

The Howard Center for Human Services/UVM
Nothing Like Dreaming
Monday, April 3, 6-9 pm
Screening and speaker event
UVM Campus Theater, Burlington, VT
Panel discussion after the film
Panelists include: Nora Jacobson filmmaker and Sandra Steinguard, MD, Medical Director of The Howard Center for Human Services, and an associate professor of psychiatry at UVM College of Medicine.
For more information call: (802) 863-8755

[...]

[via Nothing Like Dreaming Website; Screenings page]

This particular event being is coordinated by the Mental Health Education Initiative of Chittenden County (MHEI) and is co-sponsored by the UVM Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Howard Center for Human Services, and the Community Health Improvement office of Fletcher Allen Health Care.

For additional information concerning the event, including the location and directions to it as well as whom to contact, visit the MHEI Events page, here.


Production still by Thomas Ames. Jr.
[via Nothing Like Dreaming Press Kit, here]
Information from the Nothing Like Dreaming Website (here):

Nothing Like Dreaming is about a teenage girl who befriends a strange, older man. Sonny Gale is a reclusive sculptor who lives in an abandoned factory where he forges steel and makes fire sing. Emma is a bright 17-year old who works in the cafeteria of the state capitol building where gay marriage laws are being debated along with gun control and drunk driving legislation. Her father Jess, whom she adores, is a liberal state senator.

In the space of one night, Emma's life is torn upside down: Her best friend is killed in a car accident after a keg party in the woods. Repressing feelings of guilt, unable to express her grief, and angry at the world, Emma finds solace in Sonny's workshop. Like a shaman, he guides her through her journey of loss and grief. She becomes his apprentice, and together they build a spectacular fire organ that enchants Emma's teenage friends with its other worldly, mysterious sounds. Emma's father, jealous and fearful of Sonny and Emma's relationship, alerts the authorities about Sonny's obsession with fire.

A confrontation with the police ensues, replete with barricaded kids and hysterical parents, throwing Sonny into intense emotional turmoil. Emma finds a way to connect with him, and brings him back from the edge of madness. Nothing Like Dreaming is about compassion, the freedom to be different, and the mystery of the human mind.

[more information, here]

Previous reviews of the film include one via the Barre - Montpelier Times Argus, here (March 25, 2005).

Listen Up About the Future of Mental Health in Vermont

My apologies for the very short notice, however during the noon hour today (Wednesday, March 1, 2006), Vermont Public Radio (VPR) will feature on its VT Edition show:

Wednesday, March 1

We'll talk with members of the Mental Health Futures Committee about what options still exist for locating smaller mental health facilities in the state. Also, we'll talk to a former State Hospital patient about her experiences in Vermont's mental health system.

[via VPR, here]

Call (800) 639-2211 to join the conversation; the phones will be open at 12:15 PM [ET].

The program begins at 12:15 PM and the segment with the Futures committee members will go until 12:45 PM, whom I have been informed are[that] Diane Snelling, Ken Libertoff and Michael Hartman are the guests. Following that conversation, the host of the show will talk with Xenia Williams about her experiences.

For those who miss the show live, visit the VT Edition page and listen to the archived podcast of it there, once it is posted.


*Note*: Made a couple of minor edits for the purposes of clarification and readability: last updated on Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 7:45 AM [EST].