Health district offers mental health first aid training

TORRINGTON » Torrington Area Health District will hold a free mental health first aid training course on Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the district’s office, 350 Main St., Torrington. To register, visit www.mhconn.org/education/ mental-health-first-aid

Like CPR, Mental Health First Aid 8-hour certificate training prepares community members with tools to interact with a person in crisis and connect the person with help. First Aiders do not take on the role of professionals and do not diagnose or provide therapy; instead, the program offers concrete tools and answers questions about what to do and where someone may find help.

According to Robert Rubbo, Director of Health, Torrington Area Health District’s goal is to promote and to protect the physical and environmental well-being of the citizens of the TAHD through direct services, wellness and promotion programs and community efforts.” We are happy to sponsor this much-needed education to the public. Mental Health First Aid gives community members the tools they need to help someone who’s struggling and eliminates the misconceptions that act as barriers to seeking help and treatment,” Rubbo said. “Mental health disorders are common: In any given year, 1 in 5 Americans has a mental illness. And at some point in our lifetime, half of us will struggle with a mental health disorder.

“Our goal, and the goal of the Federal Government expressed both through bipartisan funding of trainings nationwide and by the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, is clear,” says Mental Health First Aid instructor Valerie English Cooper, “Let’s make Mental Health First Aid as common as CPR.”

Available in the US for ten years and managed by the National Council for Behavioral Health, one million First Aid providers have been trained to date in the U.S. Mental Health First Aid is included in SAMHSA’s Registry of EvidenceBased Programs and Practices and is overseen by the National Council for Behavioral Health.

For more information, contact Valerie English Cooper at venglishcooper@mhconn. org, call 860-471-6715, or visit www.mhconn.org/education/ mental-health-first-aid.

Fidelco Guide Dog ride is Sunday

BLOOMFIELD » A motorcycle fundraiser to benefit Fidelco Guide Dogs will be held Sunday, July 23. The ride celebrates the boundless freedom and independence Fidelco German Shepherd guide dogs provide to men and women who are blind. Funds raised from the Ride support Fidelco’s guide dog program for military veterans and first responders.

The 2017 Ride Grand Marshals are Fidelco client, Retired TSgt Matt Slaydon and his Fidelco Guide Dog “Legend”, and two-time baseball All-Star, and World Series pitcher, Rob Dibble. Matt Slaydon was a member of an EOD team in Iraq when a buried IED detonated two feet from his face, tearing off his left arm and blinding him in both eyes. Matt describes Legend as “the magnificent tool in [my] tool box that helps me get where I need to go.”

The event begins at Gengras Harley-Davidson in East Hartford with registration opening at 9 a.m. Riders cruise a scenic, police-escorted 50-mile route through the Farmington Valley and conclude at Fidelco with a gourmet barbeque lunch by Black Eyed Sally’s and a live concert by Sage King. Fidelco’s Ride for Independence is a family-friendly event. No bike, no problem. Non-riders welcome the riders and enjoy lunch and music, great shopping, and Fidelco dogs. Fidelco’s Field of Flags – a tribute to American heroes and fallen military, first responders, and veterans – is on display for all to admire and contemplate the heroes in their lives. For more information, please visit www. fidelco.org or “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/fidelcoguidedog.

The Fidelco Guide Dogs Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Bloomfield and Wilton, CT. Fidelco is an internationally accredited organization and an admired expert throughout the world for its exceptional German Shepherd guide dogs.

Each Fidelco guide dog takes two years, 15,000 hours and $45,000 to breed, raise and train. They are given to clients at no cost. Fidelco provides 24/7 client support for the entire working life of its guide dogs – typically 10 years.

Fidelco relies solely on the generosity and financial support of individuals, foundations, corporations and civic organizations to sustain its mission. Fidelco has trained and placed more than 1,450 German Shepherd guide dogs throughout North America – in 41 states and six Canadian provinces. Fidelco pioneered In-Community Placement in the United States — a process that allows all guide dog users to be trained in the communities where they live and work.

Fidelco has also placed hundreds of its German Shepherd Dogs with law enforcement agencies, first responders, and search and rescue and missing child recovery organizations to help protect our fellow citizens and keep our communities safe.