Foundations for Healing
Meet the Speakers
Michael Bark
Michael Bark is Youth Program Coordinator at Orange County Youth Bureau whose mission it is to promote positive youth development through county-wide integrated planning, funding, monitoring, coordinating and developing youth and family services programs for Orange County youth aged 0 to 21.
Michael will talk about mental health first aid training and share resources for parents and caregivers of Orange County youth.
Judy Battista
Judy Battista has been a volunteer Survivor Outreach Program Coordinator and Board of Directors member for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention since 2009. With her family, she established "Tista 4 Life," in memory of her son Daniel Rocco Battista and today "Tista 4 life" organizes yearly blood drives, art exhibits, suicide prevention programs, support groups and scholarship funds.
Judy will talk about suicide prevention, awareness and her advocacy on behalf of families.
Kathy Brieger
Kathy Brieger is Executive Director of the Warwick Area Farmworker Organization. She was awarded the 2020 Lifetime Achievement in Migrant Health Award by The National Association of Community Health Centers. Kathy has worked for over 35 years with Hudson River HealthCare (HRHCare) serving farmworkers in the local health center, the Alamo, as well as the other centers of HRHCare in Suffolk and Ulster counties.
Kathy will provide us an update on the mental health concerns of the farmworker community and will share services and resources available to the community.
Francesca Bryson
Francesca (Frankie) Bryson is Coalition Coordinator and was previously Youth Coordinator for the Warwick Valley Prevention Coalition. As Coalition Coordinator she provides support to coalition members and partners, ensures resource availability and works closely with the Youth Coordinator, the Youth Committees, and Coalition Chairs.
Frankie will explain the Warwick Valley Prevention Coalition’s mission and share information on their current initiatives, activities and special events.
Everett Cox
Everett Cox is a Vietnam Veteran who has been helping other Veterans through a peer networking program for veterans and armed forces members called Vet2Vet. He has worked with the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program, which was started by the New York State Senate in 2012, since it first came to Orange County in 2014.
Everett will share with us his experiences and provide information about what the Vet2Vet program offers.
Anne-Marie Freitas
Anne-Marie Freitas is Program Coordinator and Board Member of VoicesUnited4Change, a grassroots organization made up of parents, professionals and youth who are champions of children’s mental health and have lived experience dealing with mental health challenges and overcoming them.
Anne-Marie will talk about the work of VoicesUnited4Change and what they do to support families.
Stephanie Knight
Stephanie Knight is a Licensed Master Social Worker in the state of New York and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of New Jersey. She is also on the Board of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Orange County. Stephanie has a specialty in working with trauma and PTSD and has forensic training working with the ex-offender population.
Stephanie will speak on destigmatizing mental illness.
Jim Knol
Jim Knol is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and retired Director of Pastoral Care at Christian Health in Wyckoff, NJ. He is ordained as a minister and regional mental health consultant for the Reformed Church in America. Jim is also a member of We the People Warwick’s Mental Health Resilience Action Team.
Jim will speak on clergy burnout and what it means to be a pastor wrestling with mental health, some of the stigmas that exist, and how advocates can help pastors take care of themselves.
Dr. Matthew Meigh
Dr. Matthew Meigh, DO FACOEP, is the Emergency Care Department Medical Director for Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, NY.
Dr. Meigh will share the pandemic’s impact on both himself personally and his practice. He will also talk about the more sought after/need for psychiatric services, including a look at adolescents' mental health needs specifically.
Jennifer Ocasio
Jennifer Ocasio is coordinator of the Mid-Hudson Prevention Resource Center at the Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Council (ADAC) of Orange County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the public health issue of alcohol use and substance use disorder.
Jennifer will describe the programs and services that ADAC provides to community members to address substance use disorders as health conditions which affect the individual, family and community.
Joie Ogrodnick
Joie Ogrodnick is a Family Nurse Practitioner and an Emergency Medical Technician for Warwick Volunteer Ambulance. Joie has been in healthcare for over 40 years as an EMT responder and as an employee at St. Anthony Community Hospital through 2020.
Joie will talk about the increase in drug and alcohol overdoses and their effects on families, friends, and direct care providers. She will discuss social media, cyberbullying and the ways young people try to cope. Joie will also touch on the significant first responder and healthcare staffing shortages due to stress and burnout.
Stacey Orzell
Stacey Orzell is NY Ambassador for the Jesse Lewis ChooSELove Movement. A NYS Special Olympic Swim Coach, Stacey was honored in 2019 as an Alumni of Distinction from SUNY Oneonta for her work helping families who have children with special needs. She is a founding member of the Orange County Think Differently Committee whose mission is to fulfill the promise of a community where all people can fully participate, are valued for their unique contributions and can achieve their dreams.
Stacey will speak to us about UNIFIED opportunities for families and the Choose Love for CommunitiesTM program.
Vincent Pinnavaia
Vincent Pinnavaia is a senior student at Warwick Valley High School and member of the National Honor Society. In the spring of 2022, recognizing the need of people to have someone to talk to, especially a group of peers who can show empathy and share similar experiences, Vinnie created the Sit & Chat Club.
Vinnie will talk with us about what he has learned about himself and his peers when creating opportunities for deeper and more meaningful conversations to be had.
John Rader
John Rader, Town of Warwick Chief of Police, has been a member of the Warwick Police Department since 2000. Chief Rader also leads the Warwick Valley Prevention Coalition's Law Enforcement and Safety Committee. He supports all the Coalition's efforts by promoting their programs in the community and within the police department, and by speaking at special events and meetings.
Chief Rader will discuss the police department’s response to a call involving someone in crisis. He will also explain some of the department's training services and how Covid has impacted the work of the police.
Melissa Reali
Melissa Reali is a mom, wife, parent coach, owner of Playing Together, Being Together, and a permanently certified New York State teacher (Music, K-12). Melissa emphasizes the importance of play, loose parts, nature exploration, art, and music as vehicles for connection and as support for social-emotional growth which will lay the foundation for all future development.
Melissa will focus on the importance of parents understanding the idea that what a child needs most is a connected adult that has an understanding of children’s brain development.
Jerry Sander
Jerry Sander is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been living and practicing in Warwick for 30 years. He is a couples therapist who specializes in teaching relational skills and marital counseling. He regularly runs Essential Relational Skills Bootcamp Weekends (https://loveworkrelationships.com/how-we-help/relationship-boot-camp/).
Jerry will explain a three-tier approach to mental health, the first tier of which is about LIVING in a healthy, relational way - being there for each other through deep listening and adult role modeling.
Dr. Tamara Scotto
Dr. Tamara Scotto has worked as a psychologist for WVCSD for 15 years, with experience in therapeutic educational, forensic, and health care settings, as well as private practice. She was born and raised in Orange county, NY.
Dr. Scotto will talk about the function of school support and what is offered to Warwick students and their families. She will also speak to the increase of students identified with mental health diagnosis and the significant increase in crisis intervention, community referrals and collaboration (Merakey/SPOA).
Angela Turk
Angela Turk is Director of Children’s Services for the Orange County Department of Mental Health. She is an LCSW-R, that is, a licensed clinical social worker with "R" psychotherapy privilege. Angela has Local Governmental responsibility to provide oversight of Children’s Mental Health Services that are licensed by the NYS Office of Mental Health and to work with community providers to continuously expand resources and improve access to needed mental health services for children, youth and their families.
The focus of Angel’s talk will be community mental health for children, youth and families in Orange County.
Julika von Stackelberg
Julika von Stackelberg, is Chair of both The Orange County Parenting Coalition and Orange County Resilience Project (OCRP). The goal of the OCRP is to raise awareness about the impact of trauma and adversities on the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Their mission is to promote and foster resilience by creating a supportive and inclusive community that provides opportunities for safety, connection, healing, and growth.
Julika will share with us the Orange County Resilience Project's recommendations to support children’s mental well-being.