Thank you NAPS

Well thank you NAPS for a wonderful experience. If there was any one thing I experienced from this conference that I would identify as the highlight it would have been the networking I took part in. I met a lot of awesome people.


I didn't have access, or shall I say could afford access to a puter to cover Thursday's breakout sessions. So I'll take the time here to share with you my thoughts on the ones I attended.

The "Peers Specialist's Frontline Workers....." address given by Jeff Mcloud was an inspiring talk to say the least. I observed a lot head nodding, in agreement, with what Mcloud was saying. if anything I left this session that we as a group have wealth of momentum going as far as how we are perceived as a group in the treatment industry. Good Stuff!


"The Rogers and Bluebird Talk Show " on the issue (s) of employment I must admit I missed part of. I was busy taking names and numbers about some of the stuff that was discussed in the earlier plenary session. One of my bosses came out to get me because he heard that a woman from Illinois had developed a peer progress note form and put me up to the task of finding her and trying to get a sample of the document. Gladly I was able to locate the information after doing a little detective work. Thanks Cindy Mayhew of Illinois. :)

I attended the Friends Connection presentation on "Peer support for Co-Occurring Challenges."

The presenters, Jeannnie Whitecraft, Yvette Pate, and Debroah Walker-Bay.

Those presenters, and the level of energy they possessed in doing this presentation could have lit up all of Philly I tell you. Their enthusiasm had people in the audience, including myself, doing More then nodding along. I heard some of those "talk about that" statements people can often find in 12-step recovery meetings. Peco has nothing on those woman as far as electric is concerned.

The presentation was like walking with the a Peer Support person as they worked in the community with their peers. I got to see, so to speak, what the job was like from their vantage point. The presentation was comprehensive in that it covered a full range of services, including social events/outings available, alumni program, and that those in the greater Philadelphia region can take part the events put on by the Friends Connection .


Friends Connection (FC) is a evidenced based program which has been part of several major publications including a book.

The training of newly hired CPS is the most comprehensive I have come across as of yet. The training lasts six-months. Intense stuff, but considering the outcomes the FC programs have achieved its not hard to understand why FC is more then beneficial to the peers they serve. Kudos to FC and ..."Juntos Podemos" :)


The last workshop I attended for the day was, "Pennsylvania's Peer Support Coalition: A Vision for Peer Support." The presentation was done by Nicole Darr and Carol Johnson.

The presentation started with something that I didn't even get till a few people after me. We were asked to "put in stick figures" what describes us as people. When I did it I used symbols. Somehow I missed the stick figure part. Evert one on the group contributed and this provided lots of connection among the group and sharing. Nice idea!

The presentation was on the coalition's history, and its goals. It included a handout on "lessons learned" by the coalition that was helpful and instructive. Both woman were informative in describing the aims and goals of PPSC.

I left the presentation early but have volunteered to become a "point person" in my area.


The Talent Show was hysterical, intense, melodic, and soothing. Thanks to Mark Davis for his "miss perceptions" MCing.


That covers Thursday. I'll write about Friday's events in a little while.


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Jeff