Strengthening Communities

Strengthening Communities Episode #5: Disability, Inclusion & Belonging

This episode introduces new co-host Mike McKenna and sets the tone for a podcast centered around building inclusive communities. The conversation is deeply personal, reflective, and rooted in the value of belonging—especially for people with disabilities. The episode includes interviews with community members with disabilities, centering their lives, insights, and the supports that help them thrive.

Strengthening Communities Episode #4: The Journey of Trauma

PTSD, which stands for post-traumatic stress disorder, typically occurs in people after they have experienced a particularly traumatic event like war, violent physical/sexual/verbal assault, accidents, medical trauma, and so forth. Many people recover from PTSD after a few days, weeks, or months. Yet, for others, the recovery road might be much longer. Join some of our Crisis Prevention and Intervention team members, individuals with lived experience and one of their partners in the Montgomery County Veterans Response Team (VRT) as they discuss PTSD and how to support those in our community who may be struggling. Trauma is part of human experience. Healing happens in connection to our community. 
 
Resources:
Montgomery County Veterans Response Team: https://www.pafop14.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=916400 
NAMI Montgomery County: https://namimontcopa.org/
Victim Service Center of Montgomery County (888-521-0983): https://www.victimservicescenter.org/
Montgomery County Mobile Crisis (1-855-634-4673): https://www.accessservices.org/services/mobile-crisis/   
Peer Support Talk Line (Call 855-715-8255; Text 267-225-7785): https://www.accessservices.org/services/peer-support-and-teen-talk-line/ 

Strengthening Communities Episode #3: Pride in Belonging

Every June, Pride Month is celebrated globally. This Pride month, we are reminded that our greatest strength is found in our shared humanity and unity with everyone in our community. Communities are their strongest when everyone has a sense of belonging.
 
Join our host, Mark Boorse and some of our Crisis Prevention and Intervention team members, Lindsey, Dottie and Alex, as they share their work to provide authentic and person-centered support for our community. Listen as they discuss what it means to create belonging in the community and how to be a support for our LGBTQIA+ neighbors in meaningful ways.
 
Montgomery County Mobile Crisis1-888-634-HOPE (4673)Mobile Crisis - Access Services
 
Montco Peer Support Talk Line855-715-8255
 
Montco Teen Talk Line866-825-5856
 
Chester Co. Teen Talk Line855-852-8336
Montgomery County, PA Peer Support: Teen Talk Lines | Access Services

Strengthening Communities Episode #2: Building Supports for the Foster Care Community

National Foster Care Month recognizes the important role that people from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families. The 2025 theme, “Engaging Youth. Building Supports. Strengthening Opportunities.” highlights the need to create a support system that authentically engages and prepares young people who are leaving foster care. In 2021, 77 percent of eligible youth in foster care, ages 14–21 years old, exited care without receiving the federally funded services necessary to prepare them for adulthood and independent living. Our hosts, Mark Boorse and Brianna Amantia, are joined by Ursula Yao, our Director of Foster Care, John Crawley, a young adult who has aged out of foster care, and Juli Apple, our Provider Recruiter and long-time advocate for children and families who have adopted through the foster care system. Together, they discuss the foster care system, the challenges that young adults face as they exit the foster care system, the support foster families and children need and how the community can come alongside the child welfare system to help build strong supports.
Resources mentioned in episode: Valley Youth House Mentoring Program https://valleyyouthhouse.org/programs/life-skills-independent-living/mentoring/
The Kindness Project https://mykindnessproject.org/ 
Foster Love https://fosterlove.com/ 
Access Services Foster Care Foster Care & Foster Homes | Access Services
Become a Foster family Providers - Access Services

Strengthening Communities Episode #1: At the Intersection of Incarceration and Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Since its inception in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been a cornerstone of addressing the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions. One of the less talked about topics is the intersection of incarceration and mental illness. According to NAMI National Alliance on Mental Illness, “About two in five people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness (37% in state and federal prisons and 44% held in local jails). This is twice the prevalence of mental illness within the overall adult population. Given these rates, America’s jails and prisons have become de-facto mental health providers, at great cost to the well-being of people with mental health conditions” Our JRS program collaborates to help adults with mental health challenges navigate the forensic system, whether currently incarcerated or navigating re-entry into the local community. There are many barriers to re-entry. A big one is having a criminal record. Shuja Moore joins our podcast to talk about his lived experience with reentry and his campaign to help people understand the pardon system in PA.
 
Follow Shuja's work:
https://www.instagram.com/shujamoore/
https://www.pardonsnow.org/
https://www.domooregood.org/
 
Learn more about Justice Related Services:
https://www.accessservices.org/services/justice-related-services/

Strengthening Communities Audio Trailer

Introducing Strengthening Communities, a podcast where we will discuss a variety of topics in the human services fields and how our communities can be strengthened as we all work together.