A lot of people visiting her vendor site were interested in information that will help them manage negative behaviors and emotions with their young children.
“We have a lot of families with children that have autism or oppositional defiant disorder (or) ADHD,” said Sherry Menser, a parent educator with Kentucky- Special Parent Involvement Network, known more familiarly as KY-SPIN.
“This helps the parents teach the child how to regulate their emotions and their actions,” said Menser of the free resources her agency offers to parents and professionals working with children who have disabilities. “Some of these flyers explain the certain disabilities.
“There’s just so much information.”
Menser was among more than 30 vendors on hand for Thursday’s “Community Conversations: Mental Health and Beyond,” a summit hosted by the Christian County Health Department in conjunction with other partners.
The event took place at the Bruce Convention Center off Fort Campbell Boulevard, offering duplicate morning and afternoon sessions that included vendor tables as well as an opportunity to attend breakout sessions that highlighted mental health, the prevention of child abuse and neglect and other local health issues.
Preparedness coordinator Melissa Miller shows people how to make an emergency kit for disasters and weather events at her vendor table at the Bruce Convention Center.
Tonya S. Grace| KNE
Menser called the event “awesome,” noting that it not only offered information for the general public, but also provided an opportunity for the vendors themselves to network and learn about each other and the services they provide for people.
Sabrina Davis, a partner in the event who is affiliated with the Pennyrile Allied Community Services, said Thursday’s morning session saw a lot of parents and caregivers who came to learn about the resources available in their community.
Colleague Kayla Cursio, who manned a table offering information about health insurance services, said the summit was a great way for professionals to connect one-on-one with people who don’t know where to get the information they need.
“PACS has several different programs we can help people with,” Cursio noted. “So we were able to (connect) people with the different resources that they need.”
Caroline Rodgers and Jamie Knight of the Kentucky Cancer Program offered information about cancer screenings, when people should begin them and how often the screenings should be done.
Knight said many people were curious about smoking cessation, and her program does offer classes; the next tobacco-free classes begin April 6 at the Community Medical Clinic in Hopkinsville.
Individuals may learn more about the classes and sign up to take part by calling 270-821-4298 or by emailing Rodgers at Caroline.rodgers@louisville.edu.
“Smoking is one of the leading causes of many cancers,” Jamie Knight noted.
She and Rodgers through their venue shared information, not only about screenings for lung cancer, but about testing for prostate cancers, colorectal cancer, cervical, breast and skin cancers.
Hopkinsville resident Sophie Knight perused the vendor tables and enjoyed seeing the different items that were available to members of the public.
For no charge, participants like Knight were invited to make their own panic pouches, essentially kits containing items designed to calm any feelings of anxiety.
Knight said she liked the pouches as well as the “Wreck This Journal” books that were available at one of the tables.
The books, also free to summit participants, encourage readers to complete different tasks on each page, with the idea to enjoy being creative.
The health department summit brought in several visitors from the public, many of them participating in the morning session, according to Cloie Rager, the department’s communications director.
Rager noted that the response was pretty good for the program that was a first for the health department.
Several people attended sessions that focused on teen violence, crisis prevention and vaccinations, and Rager said people particularly seemed to enjoy the sessions on teen violence and vaccinations.
“I heard from people that enjoyed both of those and said that it was information that they wished that more people knew and heard about,” Rager said.
Both sessions were offered by the Pennyroyal Center, according to Rager.
She said parents, senior adults and community partners alike attended the summit and participated in its offerings.
“I think it’s successful to get this community partners in one room,” Rager said of participation in the recent summit.
“It’s a great opportunity for partners to get together,” she said. “But then it’s also a good opportunity for the community to see what all is available in the community, to see the organizations show up and show what they have to offer.”
Rager said part of the point of the summit was to give people tools, i.e., real mental health tools, fliers with exercises, crisis hotline information, they could walk away with and use in their everyday lives.
“In my book, it has been a good success,” she said of the inaugural event.
Sherry Menser, a parent educator for KY-SPIN, offers free resources for parents and professionals who work with children with disabilities during Thursday’s summit at the Bruce Convention Center.
Tonya S. Grace| KNE