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Conversation

At Albany Medical College, Greeley Grads in a Student ‘Compassion Coalition’ Connect Patients to Families during Pandemic

May 11, 2020 by Megan Klein

When we “move up” from elementary school to middle school, we are asked what we want to be when we grow up. The responses range from professional sports players, zookeeper, chef, singer, etc.  And when we graduate high school, we normally have a better idea in our head of what life will look like five years down the road. For two Greeley grads, their fourth grade career goals and five year plans definitely did not include being essential workers in a hospital during a time of a national pandemic, but life throws curve balls at us like that sometimes.

Greeley grads Allison Schachter and Peter Inglis at Albany Medical College.

Allison Schachter and Peter Inglis are both Greeley grads (2013 and 2010 respectively) and are current medical students at Albany Medical College in upstate New York. While Schachter  always had the intention of becoming a doctor, Inglis went to undergrad initially for engineering and later switched into a pre-med program.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the hospital began to limit the amount of medical students who could scrub into the OR, due to the fact that the PPE, or Personal Protective Equipment was needed elsewhere. Shortly after, both students were sent an email stating that they would no longer be able to return to the hospital for rounds, to collect their things and to go home. This was not only disheartening but raised concern for it was almost time for the students to apply and declare what they wanted to specialize in – how were they supposed to truly know what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives if they wouldn’t have the final chances to try it out?

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That’s where the Compassion Coalition comes into play. It was started by Dr. Jackcy Jacob, one of the hospitalists in Albany, and further continued by a group of eight student volunteers, such as Schachter and Inglis, with more students now signing on. It satisfies the need to connect patients with their families outside of the hospital and make those outside feel less helpless by connecting them via iPads. And even though the students weren’t technically allowed in the hospital for their rounds, they could still volunteer to do this.

“We are filling a need that isn’t being fulfilled in the hospital. That’s what kind of made it allowed, is that we are of need, like an essential worker if you want to call it that,” Schachter said.

As time has gone on, they have been able to recruit more and more students to join.

“I think what’s unique about this group specifically is that…we don’t get grades for it, we don’t get extra credit for it…everyone sort of took their own initiative to do it,” Inglis added.

So, how does it work?

Albany Medical College Students participating in the Compassion Coalition

Between the day shifts and the night shifts, there is essentially a list that gets passed on, containing information such as patient credentials, family members who want to be contacted, call time preference and frequency of the calls.

The volunteers, like Schachter and Inglis are not allowed to go into the patient’s room to prevent spread of the disease and outside contact. Their job is to essentially set up the call.

Schachter explains: “When that nurse is putting on their PPE to go into the room, that’s when we coordinate the calls. So we’ll grab the iPad, call the family, have them on Facetime, so we’re the ones who start the conversation.”

And don’t worry, the iPads have their own set of PPE gear (more like a tight plastic bag)  that they “wear” before going into the rooms too. Once the nurses and the iPads have their gear on, that is when they can enter the room to conduct the calls.

These calls are available for all patients, regardless of their condition, it’s just up to the family members.

“Often time in the ICU, the patients are intubated, which means they are not really communicative…Usually we encourage families to nonetheless say what they want to say, having the videochat portion of it definitely gives them a chance to see the patient, which is nice,” Schachter said.

For those who do wish to still have the call, they will just spend the time talking to their loved one. One family even performed a concert for their family member that went on for three hours! Now that, that is love.

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Thankfully, they haven’t seen any shortages of the iPads themselves. They were actually part of a big donation. If anything, it’s the stands that they place them on.

In terms of what Schachter and Inglis would want people to know about COVID-19? It is affecting more age groups than you would think, and perfectly healthy people can be fine one day and pass away the next.

Their main takeaway is that social distancing is extremely important, and that some people are looking at this as if they are part of a demographic that is untouchable.

“People are approaching social distancing not very altruistically…The reality of social distancing isn’t to look out for #1, to lookout for #2, right? Because you as an asymptomatic carrier have the potential to make somebody else who is vulnerable to the virus very very sick,” Inglis explained.

While the Compassion Coalition helps serve the patients, it’s arguably more about the family members who not only can’t be with them to help care for them, but sometimes don’t even know where they are due to the fact that so many patients have been transferred all over the state.

“Most of our patients that we are treating in Albany are not from Albany County. They have been transferred to us from NYC, from Queens, that region because that’s the part of New York that’s been hit hardest by the virus…by us having the ability to settle their ease to show them that their family member is in fact really good care…as they’re on the phone with us they see their surroundings and they can experience how much care we are giving to their family members,” Schachter said.

She also said this which encompasses the entire initiative:

“Families really need to be involved in their loved one’s care. It’s so important to how humanity functions.”

Filed Under: Stay Connected Tagged With: Albany Medical College, Calls, compassion, Compassion Coalition, Conversation, COVID-19, families, Family members, Greeley Grads, ICU, Initiative, iPads, Pandemic, PPE, social distancing, volunteer

10 Takeaways from a Conversation with our State Assemblyman David Buchwald on his Candidacy for Congress

December 1, 2019 by Grace Bennett

David and Lara Buchwald
Photo By Sarah Merians Boutique Photography, courtesy of David Buchwald

In keeping with our Top Ten theme, here are ten key takeaways gleaned from my interview with David Buchwald, shortly after our 41 year-old legislator (Assembly District 93) announced his candidacy in October for the 17th Congressional district held by Nita Lowey for the last 31 years. After he was among the first to enter the race*: the interview took place over a 45-minute session seated at his dining room table in White Plains.

1. He is very enthusiastic about his candidacy and enjoys multiple corners of support. “I’m feeling excited because a lot of people approached me and said I’d be the right person to succeed Nita Lowey! Moving forward, it will be a pleasure to be able to fight for Westchester and Rockland Counties. We need a government in Washington that’s much more effective than it has been the last few years. That’s an important task that I’m up for.”

Upon deciding, David made his first call to his wife Lara, an attorney/litigator on the board for the Legal Aid Society. “She was very supportive. I couldn’t be in this line of work without a good support network.”

Outside his family, there’s no shortage of support or perception that Buchwald has earned this candidacy. Prior to his stint in the State Assembly, Buchwald served in local government, as a member of the White Plains Common Council, where he represented the entire city population of 57,000. He has also worked in support of municipalities throughout the State as a member of the Local Governments Committee of the New York State Assembly.

Since announcing, grassroots activists have already begun rallying on his behalf, and numerous and enthusiastic endorsements have been forthcoming including those from White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, North Castle Town Mayor Michael Michael Schiliro, Mount Kisco Mayor Gina Picinich, Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, and New Castle Town Supervisor-Elect Ivy Pool.

Said Schiliro: “Throughout his career, Assemblyman Buchwald has been a responsive and trusted ally, as we’ve worked together to save taxpayers money, improve our libraries, and serve the people of North Castle I know he will be ready to undo the damage done at the federal level. David will be a leader we can count on in Congress.”

Pool expressed her pride in endorsing Buchwald commenting to me that “David is a tireless advocate on local issues, while also championing our shared values. He is smart, creative, and industrious, and I know he will continue to work hard on behalf of his constituents as our Congressman. David is a worthy successor to Congresswoman Nita Lowey who has been a friend to New Castle, and an inspiration to so many.”

David Buchwald with Amelia and Anna
PHOTO BY Grace Bennett/InsidePress

2. His two adorable preschoolers, together with Lara, too, are the lights of his life; plus, they make him cognizant of enhancing quality of life for all of his constituents. At the time of the interview, Anna, 4, and Amelia, 2 were outside playing with the family nanny. Post our conversation, I fell hard for their infectious smiles and unsolicited hugs.

“I love seeing life through their eyes… Also, If you are trying to create a brighter future for them, it means a brighter future for everyone. There may be things Lara and I can do individually for them, but there are things–like climate change–that we need to do together for everyone…

“Hopefully every child who grows up here in the Hudson Valley has access to all the amazing things in this area. One of the big challenges for any representative in this area is maintaining affordability for families. He hopes to see their children “stick around and come back after college.

Robust employers are looking to relocate where young professionals live, he noted, adding that he would promote the county’s transit system to attract those employers. “I used to live two blocks from White Plains train station. There’s not many places outside New York City that you can live without a car!”

He called Lara his “Number 1 advisor. She makes sure I stay level-headed. I like to think I don’t get too full of myself; she’s someone I draw inspiration from–an accomplished professional in her own right, and a passionate advocate for legal representation.”

3. He plans to hit the ground running and keep his door open. As he nears a 10-year anniversary of public service, Buchwald encourages residents to look closely at his record. “No issue is too small. My door is always open–if a constituent wants to connect with me, we always try to make that happen quickly.”

He said that he believes his constituents have viewed him as “always present, always paying attention…. I think that’s crucial to establish for this congressional race. Traffic willing, part of my goal in the campaign is to be everywhere my schedule allows.”

4. He expressed a commitment to building on the work and skills he has already brought to the table. “We will continue to fight for the environment, for a woman’s right to choose, and will make sure we bring resources to help those who are struggling to make ends meet…. I will put forward my vantage point as a tax attorney by trade to try to significantly improve and do right by those undermined by a Republican Congress and Trump’s SALT reduction. He said adjustments need to be made in recognition that the cost of living here is higher.

5. He will continue to wage battle against the gun violence epidemic. “It’s one of my main issues and what I ran on. I will try to bring my record of success in New York State to bear at the Federal level. The first vote I cast as a State Assemblyman was for the New York SAFE Act* which I co-sponsored. I have no doubt it has saved lives in New York.

He said he backed it up by a series of measures including expanding background checks and preventing “ghost guns…”  “Common sense safety measures have been stymied despite that most Americans support them. We’re getting to the point where New York State can only control so much because so much is tied to out of state…”

6. He aims to make it harder for any top government official in New York, including Trump, to hide their tax returns. Buchwald noted that he gained particular notoriety for a successful push, he explained, to adopt a law allowing the sharing of the New York State tax returns of top government officials, a law which Donald Trump is now suing to block.

He elaborated: “The law says New York State has a copy of tax returns of every filer in the state and that Trump as a New York state resident files his income tax returns. We already share those returns with the IRS, with tax departments in dozens of other states, so we said: “Let’s have that same sort of cooperation with our federal counterparts in Congress. So we passed my bill, and it’s now law, and Trump is suing to overturn that law. A New York motion to dismiss the case is pending…. I’ve always believed that open transparent government can make for better decision making.”

7. He will fight to protect a woman’s right to choose. “No matter what happens at the Supreme Court level, women in our region can have confidence that their rights will be protected. But, at the Federal level: there is an ongoing battle over basic principles that we’ve assumed for decades won’t have government interference–that we won’t make access to healthcare dependent on financial wherewithal. It’s very disheartening to think that means equates with health care; it’s antithetical to the right of a woman to consult with a doctor and make up her own mind.”

8. He will speak out against racism, hate and anti-Semitism. “I think Trump has tried to govern by division and the great thing about the United States is that we are a country that at our best brings people together from so many different backgrounds, and that creates a society that is stronger than any one group of individuals can create on their own. We have a lot of work to do to bring the country together.” He said he’d like to see a government “that does not use the Justice Department to undermine freedoms, or the Department of Homeland Security to tear homes apart. We need to ensure we have leaders who lead by example.”

“My role as an elected official now, and hopefully in the future, is to bring people together. We have great towns and cities with shared experiences that can be built on. If you try to pit one part of a community against another, that turns very dangerous very quickly. We’re seeing that with racism, with anti-Semitism… So, that’s part of why I’ve spoken up at any opportunity to denounce hatred and say that a threat to any one individual or community is a threat to all.”

9. As has been Nita Lowey’s long established commitment, he too will support Israel. “I’m a strong supporter of Israel and a progressive. To me, those things go hand in hand. We have to support our friends around the world who stand for those values we support as Americans. That includes democracy and basic notions of tolerance. Israel is a country that welcomes refugees. It used to be that America was also known for that. My wife and I serve on a refugee committee at our synagogue to help sponsor a family where the father/husband served as an interpreter for our troops overseas. A legal immigrant is what a refugee is: admitted under the law. To see Trump cutting back on legal immigration strikes me as going against the core of what our country should be about.

“It’s important for the United States to push for peace and stability in the Middle East and support the ability of Israel and Palestinians and other Arab neighbors to work through long established issues. Those who would seek to have the United States abandon their best ally in the region undermine the best aspects of Progressivism which recognizes the innate worth of people being able to make self-determining decisions.”

10. His Judaism shapes his general outlook and encourages him to fight against corruption. “I am cognizant that my religion teaches me to be humble in light of the fact that there are things in this world we can’t control. And that’s certainly true of campaigns. But if you put your best foot forward and determine you’re in it for the right reasons, there are people who will back you up. I find that very gratifying. I couldn’t have gone to Albany and affected change there without having people who have my back. I had to fight people who wanted to maintain the status quo and was lucky to have constituents who sent me there precisely to shake things up, namely, to strip corrupt officials of their pensions.* They said it couldn’t be done, and now it’s the law of the land. You can only engage when you have a sense that there’s a purpose. I like to think my religion supports that. My grandfather was a rabbi. I like to think he’d be proud of that.”

*Editor’s Note: This article conveys highlights of a conversation with our hometown legislator. Buchwald is a single candidate in the race with a number of new candidates vying for the spot too since the time of this writing. For additional information about any of Buchwald’s legislation mentioned here, or about his new campaign, from his perspective too, please visit DavidBuchwaldforCongress.com.

Filed Under: Election 2020 Tagged With: 17th Congressional District, Access, Anti-Semitism, bigotry, Candidacy, Conversation, corruption, David Buchwald, Endorsements, gun violence, israel, Nita Lowey, quality of life, Right to choose, skills, support, Support network, Tax Returns

Michael Douglas Holds Court at Jacob Burns Film Center Silver Screen Circle Dinner

November 22, 2019 by The Inside Press

Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas was the guest of honor at the Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) annual Silver Screen Circle dinner held on November 13 at the Film Center in Pleasantville. Douglas and JBFC Board President Janet Maslin were on stage to entertain the audience with film clips and conversation before the seated dinner. 

PHOTOS BY Russell Peborde

Actor Michael Douglas and Jacob Burns Film Center Board President, Janet Maslin
Jeff Geller (Chappaqua – L), Susan Habermann (Water Mill), Frank Linde (Chappaqua), and Debbie Geller (Chappaqua – R)
Kate Lombardi (Chappaqua – L) with Bob Battel (Rye) and Amy Linde (Chappaqua)
Richard Rieger (Bedford – R), Michelle Kraushaar (Chappaqua) and Robert Harwood (Dobbs Ferry)
Abby Rosmarin (Chappaqua), David Schunter (Armonk) and Flo Wiener (Pleasantville)
President and CEO of The Westchester Bank John Tolomer (Chappaqua –L), John Holzinger (North Salem) Liz Tolomer (Chappaqua) and Jackie Holzinger (Chappaqua – R)
Academy award winning actor Michael Douglas with Judah Kraushaar (Chappaqua)

Filed Under: Gotta Have Arts Tagged With: Conversation, fundraiser, Jacob Burns Film Center, Michael Douglas, Silver Screen Circle Dinner

The Space Between Light and Darkness BREAK THE HOLD FOUNDATION

August 24, 2019 by Sabra Staudenmaier

PHOTOS BY DONNA MUELLER

Changing the Conversation about Youth Mental Health

Mental health issues can be difficult to understand. Struggles of the mind are laden with kaleidoscopic subtleties that can complicate their management and resolution. How can we help someone who is in a place where the pain and suffering in their mind is so terrible that it outweighs everything else life offers? Between the light of wellness and the darkness of mental illness there is a dim place that is under-discussed. It is here that a social network, community, family, friends and self-care plays a crucial role; this is where life-saving opportunities are being missed.

Through a new and innovative program, the Break The Hold (BTH) Foundation of Pleasantville is making strides by breaking down misconceptions about mental illness and building a safety network that mitigates the real risk factors. They are, in effect, extending branches for those suffering to grab hold of and implementing safety nets to catch those who are spiraling into darkness.

Driven by the love for their middle son, Brian T. Halloran, who lost his battle with depression in January of 2018, Pleasantville residents Brian and Jolina Halloran are determined to help those suffering the way he did. Through the BTH Foundation, named after their son’s initials, the

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24. Each day in the U.S., there is an average of over 3,470 attempts by young people in grades 9-12. Four out of Five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warning signs. They don’t want to die.

Source: bthbreakthehold.org

Hallorans provide school and community-based advocacy programs that promote emotional wellness, resilience and suicide prevention in Pleasantville and nearby communities. Their program focuses on suicide education, raising awareness of the warning signs and empowering young people to have the courage to communicate about this difficult but important issue. The BTH Foundation is giving the community the tools to deal with mental health preventatively and is referring those suffering to the appropriate places to get the help they need. The outstanding progress the BTH Foundation has made merits attention.

The Education Platform – BTH 360

In short, the BTH Foundation’s mission is suicide prevention. The BTH program advocates a safety net system of “Recognizing and Referring”; teaching those in the community how to recognize someone suffering and refer them to receive appropriate help. “We often hear that a friend had seen a flag that could have been addressed but felt that saying something about their friend’s struggles is snitching. The message needs to get out that keeping friends healthy and happy is the right thing to do,” says Brian Halloran.

When BTH is contacted, they have a team of clinicians who, based on a triage system, put together an action plan to help connect those in need with viable options and work to overcome barriers to treatment such as financial cost.

Prevention through education is key. The BTH Foundation has worked alongside the Pleasantville High School (PHS) administration and a team of local psychologists.  Together, they have developed programming for the school district that satisfies the NY State mandates for mental health in the curriculum. Their program is focused on teaching Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which is evidence-based training for emotional regulation. DBT uses mindfulness strategies to manage emotions, increasing student’s tolerance of negative emotions.

The idea is that everyone will be speaking the same language, everyone will learn to respond a little bit more thoughtfully rather than emotionally. We must get to the kids early. They need to be able to understand and communicate what is going on in their heads,” says Halloran.

Last September, ninth graders in PHS had 16 hours of mandated mental health education incorporated into the school curriculum. This coming school year, fifth graders will receive 10 hours of the program. Within 4 years everyone at PHS will have had 26 hours of DBT training. In addition, all staff in the Pleasantville High School, Middle School and Elementary School are receiving 8 hours of DBT training. Parent workshops are offered regularly.

It is especially important to educate teens before they go to college. The BTH Foundation arranges senior transition meetings to help. “Adolescents lose many protective factors once they leave home to go away to college. Many risk factors increase at this time,” Halloran warns.

BTH is sharing their model with neighboring school districts around Westchester. For example, this Fall, the program will be rolled out to ninth graders at Alexander Hamilton High School in Elmsford.  The Foundation is also working to get government resources.

Dismantling the Stigma

Those suffering with mental illness are not the only ones in the dark. Some people think of suicide as “the ultimate selfish act” and wonder “how could they do that to their family and friends?” These judgements are often based on misconceptions. Most who die by suicide do not want to end their life; they want to escape their pain. Suicide is not a rational decision; it is one made under extreme duress.

A person trapped in a burning building might reasonably make the decision to jump out of the window rather than suffer the pain and anguish of being burned by the fire. A person jumping off a bridge to end their life is trying to escape pain that is very real, just like the pain of burning to death. The instinct to escape mental suffering can be as powerful as the instinct to escape physical pain. BTH is trying to break down social barriers to recovery by addressing misconceptions and normalizing the conversation about mental health.

Mental health is a public health issue requiring the help of the entire community. We have lifeguards and life preservers to mitigate the risks of swimming, the Heimlich maneuver to prevent choking and defibrillators in the case of cardiac arrest. Public controls are placed in countless situations to manage health risks. The BTH system of Recognizing and Referring is something everyone can help implement. The community should not underestimate how important they are.

Are you OK? Is something wrong? Can I help you? Those were the words I desperately wanted to hear.” – Kevin Hines, Suicide The Ripple Effect

The Art of Mental Wellness

We can’t stop thoughts from coming into our heads, but we can cultivate an awareness of them. Just because a thought is in your head does not mean it’s true. Skills can be taught so thoughts can be assessed and managed. For someone struggling with a mental illness like depression, thoughts of self-criticism and self-doubt can grow to become powerful and even debilitating. Thoughts like: “everything I do is wrong”, “nobody likes me”, “everyone I love would be better off without me”, “I have nothing to give”, “I am not able to live up to what everyone needs from me” and “I am a failure.”

Living with these ruminating thoughts is frightening and painful.

Unable to control and manage overwhelming negative thoughts, and not understanding what is happening in your head, can lead to a feeling of being trapped. Panic can ensue and bring with it impulses to escape the epic amount of mental and emotional suffering that the negative thoughts create.

The shame of what is secretly happening inside one’s mind prevents resolution and the thoughts continue to spiral. “I felt unable to function. I was being crippled by my struggle as the pain got louder and louder. It might have looked like I was ok on the outside, but the amount of work it took to maintain this false appearance was not sustainable,” recalls one survivor of depression.

The shame that prevents one from reaching out for help is a huge barrier to treatment. The person suffers internally in silence as their condition worsens and signs are missed.

Those who could help don’t know how to read the signs indicating there is an issue, and if they do sense there is something going on they don’t know how to react. If the person continues to suffer in silence, they are unlikely to get better. Depending on the sufferer’s resilience and stress factors, the bubble can ultimately break.

Please remember to be kind. You never know what someone else is going through. Jolina Halloran.

Mental health struggles are managed best when openly discussed. “There is a false belief that talking about suicide will escalate the idea. However, the opposite is, in fact, the case. An adolescent or young adult who is spiraling downward benefits immensely from simply talking about their thoughts”, says Dr. Gayle Augenbaum, a child and adolescent psychiatry specialist who practices in Armonk. BTH gives people a safe and accessible place for these conversations to take place. These simple conversations can deter unhealthy choices such as self-medicating with drugs and alcohol or worse.

Ultimately the BTH Foundation encourages people to be involved in their own self-care. “If you want to beat this mental illness problem, you have to be involved in the process. Everyone can help and we need a network and a community of support, but it is also necessary to take effort in and be proactive in your own self-care,” advises Halloran. Just as an individual with asthma pays extra attention to their breath, and a person with a food allergy has a heightened awareness of what they eat; similarly, a person who suffers from “brain pain” can become aware of the thoughts that enter their minds and learn how to manage them.

You don’t necessarily beat depression once and then it is gone. It is often something you live with throughout your life. When a person who suffers from depression is well, they can learn to practice preventative measures to maintain and manage their mental health. Mental illnesses like depression can break down one’s resilience over time and can turn thoughts into irrational behavior. But the key is “over time”; that’s where the opportunity lies, between the light and the darkness.

How Mindfulness Can Help

The principles behind mindfulness are the basis for much of DBT. Mindfulness concepts like self-compassion, non-judgement and gratitude can redirect thoughts from the darkness into the light. “Meditation helps bring awareness to your thoughts. You are not blocking thoughts but relating to them differently, letting them come and go and observing them. This will help in life because you will be able to recognize when thoughts are not helpful and can dismiss them instead of intensifying them which can lead to sadness or anxiety,” says Jodi Baretz, a holistic based therapist from the Center for Health and Healing in Mt. Kisco.

There are other methods to proactively keep one’s mental health in shape. Exercise can help in many ways including shifting one’s focus from the mind to the body. Getting enough sleep can play a big role as well.

The Next Generation

There is concern that the next generation is especially at risk of depression. Technology fosters social isolation; the omnipresent screens that children and teens are growing up with are barriers to human interaction. Mental illness breeds on social isolation; humans are meant to be in groups and care about one another.

While it is extraordinarily difficult for an adult to manage a mental illness, it is even more difficult for a child or adolescent. “Kids and teenagers don’t have the right words to name their emotions and their frontal lobes are not finished developing. Therefore, they are more impulsive and more reactive and tend to be more rigid with whatever they are feeling, not recognizing that there is hope for change.” Says Augenbaum. Teens don’t have the ability yet to understand that situations aren’t permanent. This is a learned lesson that takes time and life experience they don’t yet have. And so, the risk factors continue to pile up.

Walking into the Light

The Hallorans have suffered the unimaginable in losing their son Brian. But with the work of the BTH Foundation, steps have been taken towards compassion and understanding and away from judgement and misconception. Every time a teen who has gone down the road of darkness is given the tools to recover, Brian is there. With Brian’s light leading the way, steps are being taken in the right direction. This past June, the community showed their support by participating in the BTH Foundation’s second suicide awareness walk. The steps they took communicated a clear message to those suffering from mental illness: you are not alone in this fight; we will walk into the light with you. For more information, please visit:  www.bthbreakthehold.org

 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

800-273-TALK (8255) or Text “TALK” to 741-741

A Bit About Brian

Brian was a beloved son, brother and friend. He was well-liked, smart and athletic. He was friendly and had a lot of empathy for others. His parents knew he was a good person but “didn’t realize how kind he was”.  After he passed away, friends and acquaintances contacted his parents and told them that if Brian saw someone who seemed sad he would not hesitate to reach out to them.

Brian appeared to most to be a typical teenager, but underneath his strong exterior he was suffering from depression. Depression can come and go. It can appear to be managed but then come back. Though Brian had been doing well, still the day came in January 2018 when his parents got a knock on their door. Brian had died by suicide while away at school in South Carolina. Before Brian died he reached out to several people but was not able to connect with anyone.

 

Filed Under: Pleasantville Cover Stories Tagged With: Break the Hold, Conversation, depression, emotions, Light, Mindfulness, struggles, suicide, triage, Youth Mental Health

A Conversation with THEN Senator Hillary Clinton

April 9, 2015 by The Inside Press

FIRST APPEARED AS A COVER STORY IN THE NOVEMBER 2006 INSIDE CHAPPAQUA MAGAZINE

Photo by Marianne Campolongo
Photo by Marianne Campolongo

By Grace Bennett

In the midst of planning this “back to school” issue, I sat down with Senator Clinton immediately before she set off as an honored participant and speaker in New Castle’s Memorial Day Parade–an event that has become an annual tradition for the Senator since the Clintons’ move here over three years ago.. Though I gave it the old college try, I failed to entice her to share her plans for the 2008 election. I think I did, however, manage to extract at least a few interesting nuggets, particularly about her experiences as a Chappaqua and Westchester resident (see if you agree), picked her brain on a couple more pressing issues, and ultimately enjoyed the interview at Lange’s despite my concern about any pre-parade hustle and bustle interference. Senator Clinton arrived on time, with support staff and Secret Service agents in tow, to a pre-designated table. She struck me immediately as relaxed and comfortable. Almost instantly and in full view of Girl Scouts, their leaders and assorted other deli customers munching on eggs and bagels, we got down to business…

How would you describe Chappaqua to someone who has never been here before?

Senator Clinton: It is a welcoming small town in the greater New York City metropolitan area with all the advantages of both.

GB: What are some of the advantages to you in living here?

Photo by Marianne Campolongo
Photo by Marianne Campolongo

By Grace Bennett

Senator Clinton: First of all, it’s physically so beautiful and I love the history of it…the fact that it’s been here so long. The people are the number one attraction. We’ve had such a great time since we’ve moved in, getting to know people, getting to spend time with people. We like the convenience of everything around here. We like the fact that we can take long walks just walking out of our house and basically go for miles in all directions. The parks, the arboretum and other places we love to go—the Rockefeller Preserve—all of that is just very convenient and very beautiful.  We eat in the restaurants, we shop in the stores…we’ve just had a great experience.

GB: What are your favorite haunts? Crabtree Kittle House and Le Jardin come to mind, but have there been any new surprises?

Senator Clinton: We like Grappolo’s in addition to the places you mentioned. We are regulars at Lange’s. It’s the first place we came when we moved here. We go to Starbuck’s a lot, Britches*–I adore Phyllis** –and Village Market.  GB: Do you feel your privacy is respected?  Senator Clinton: Very much so. People are friendly but everyone is busy with their own lives, and they’re always nice to us when we see them. We’ve gotten to know some people by just running into them at a restaurant or some other haunt.

GB: You mentioned at the (Chappaqua) School Foundation gala that this is a district generous with funding for extraordinary programs. But you were also careful to add—and I admired that you did—that we can’t forget ordinary programming for other districts. How do you feel living in a community in which there are obviously so many luxuries and people who are so well to do. How do we narrow the gap between a district like Chappaqua and other districts with fewer resources?

Senator Clinton: That’s a really good question. I’ve spent more than 25 years worrying about just that question. I wish every child had the chance to go to school in a place like Chappaqua. I first visited Bell*** in ’99. Whenever I walk into a school, no matter where I am in the country, I always say to the teachers, “Well, how do you like teaching here?” Well, you can get a real earful. Sometimes, it’s not so much by what they say, but by their body language (you know, by how they roll their eyes or shrug). But these teachers said it’s like Camelot, it’s the greatest teaching place. Everybody is so committed to giving the kids the best possible education and we don’t have that in many places in our state.

So, you can look at what Chappaqua offers and say to yourself, “What can we do to try and improve the quality of teaching and the general involvement and support as well as the facilities and curriculums for kids that are not lucky enough to live here. There’s a lot of hard work associated with that…and it does take money. People who say that education is not a question of money are talking about somebody else’s kids. Because people who live here not only pay very high property taxes but also contribute in other ways… that gives even more advantage to their children.

GB:  A lot of people also feel that in a community like Chappaqua, there can be a sense of entitlement around children, with everyone rolling out the red carpet for them. What about “adversity building character”?  How would you suggest parents teach values in an area like this where maybe it’s too much of an easy street?  Can that be a problem?

Senator Clinton:  I can talk about my own experiences. Obviously, Chelsea grew up in circumstances very different from Bill’s or mine, first in the Governor’s Mansion in Arkansas and then in the White House. We worked really hard to avoid that sense of entitlement that can be very corrosive to a child’s understanding of the larger world. And so we would have chores for her to do. We had her involved in charitable programs from a very young age, starting when she was three or four with Secret Santa**** and so many other exposures so that she never took for granted the blessings that she had. She had other experiences during the summers with different kinds of people so we made sure that she just didn’t live in a bubble. I think that’s part of a parent’s challenge when you live in an affluent area…because the world is very different from the wonderful, safe surroundings that we provide for our children growing up in a place like Chappaqua. And I think you owe to to your children to make sure they are respectful to all people, their teachers, their coaches, other adults, but also to people who work inside their homes and who provide services to you.

GB: I understand that you and Bill Clinton gravitate as much as possible to coming home to Chappaqua. Has Chappaqua really in your heart become your home? Do you have a long term commitment to this town? Is Chappaqua going to be your home if you run and if  you win? Could Chappaqua be the hometown of the next president?

Senator Clinton: (Chuckling) I don’t know about that, but I can tell you that when I get home which is often very late, unfortunately, and I sometimes have to leave very early too, I always feel like I am coming home. We feel so fortunate to have found a place that we love—our house—plus a place we love to live that is everything we could have asked for. You know, we didn’t have a house of our own for 20 years because of Bill’s political career and of the fact that his being a governor and a president, obviously you live in very high quality public housing. I think the real challenge for anybody when you make such a big transition is to feel like you are at home and to have a sense of community. Know your neighbors. I just feel that…completely.

GB: Do you get together with your neighbors?

Senator Clinton: We have wonderful neighbors our our street and we have gotten to know all of them. When we first moved in, our first Christmas, we had a very small open house just for our street. We really enjoy the people who live right near us. I’ve been able to run next door with Chelsea for a cup of brown sugar when we were trying to make something.

GB: Does Chelsea have a chance to visit Chappaqua much?

Senator Clinton:  She does. She too have a very busy life with an apartment in the city but she comes as often as she can. She comes for holidays. I’ll be doing a birthday party for my mother who’s turning 87 next week and she’ll be there along with some of our other friends and relatives. We also have two nephews and we try to get each of them to come and spend a week. One of our nephews, Bill’s brother’s son, just loves to spend time in our yard with our dog, this great Labrador. The other loves to go to the zoon. So we do just have a wonderful time using all of the attractions and opportunities that we have because we live in Chappaqua.

GB: OK, now for a darker question. How do you address Indian Point and our safety and security in this area? That’s on everyone’s minds in this town and in other towns in Westchester, and indeed in New York City.

Senator Clinton: It should be. There has been the biggest series of missteps and misinformation for the last five years when obviously attention turned to Indian Point in an every more focused way after September 11. I have remained very involved with it and I have called for many things over the last several years including forcing them to put in new sirens so that they’d have an emergency system that would actually work. Recently, I’ve been calling for an independent safety assessment. There are just too many problems…there are leaks, exposure to workers, problems with evacuation and all the difficulties that have been covered in the press and so I’ve joined with colleagues in both sides of the House…it’s totally bipartisan… in both the House and the Senate to require an independent safety assessment. I’ve asked the chairman (, TK, TK DIAZ); he has agreed in part but not gone as far as I wanted him to go…I’m pushing as hard as possible to get them to live up to the highest possible standards. When I say “them,” I’m not just talking about the company (Entergy), but also NRC (the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) because the NRC is the public regulatory framework that is supposed to be safeguarding our interests.

GB:  I remember you once mentioned how Chappaqua people are ubiquitous. I wanted to see if I can get more of your sentiments about what you meant by that.

Senator Clinton:  They are just very involved. Before I looked at a house in Chappaqua, I had never heard of Chappaqua. It wasn’t 24 hours in the fall of ’99 when we announced that we were buying a house in Chappaqua that people started coming up to me and announcing that they were from Chappaqua, their parents still lived in Chappaqua, or that they had gone to school at Greeley. Suddenly I learned this new word and everyone around me was saying it. But also in way of involvement in the community—both the immediate community here in Chappaqua, in the larger city and then in the state, but even on national and international issues, there’s a lot of concern here. Our churches and synagogues…At our church, The First Methodist Church in Mount Kisco, they sent children and teenagers to help after Katrina…there’s just a whole lot of social consciousness around.

GB: I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask for the residents here…what are some of the factors you’re considering of whether or not you would run (for President)?

Senator Clinton: I just want to do the job I have to the best of my ability and let the future take care if itself when it gets there!

GB: What do you say to the chorus of even liberal voices that say a woman can’t be elected president?

Senator Clinton: I hope that they’re wrong. Whether it’s me or someone else. Because that would be a huge psychological barrier to put up in the lives of half our population and we’ve come too far and women have proven themselves in every walk of life; it would be a shame if suddenly people were reverting to old stereotypes.  Every election is between real people. It’s not between cardboard cut-outs. It’s not between myths—it’s between real people, so it depends upon who those people are and what kind of case they make about what they want to do for our country. I think it would be real unfortunate if people discouraged women from pursuing their ambitions, whatever they are. I mean we’re fighting wars right now in part because freedom is denied to people–and particularly to women and girls.

Filed Under: Hillary's Run Tagged With: Chappaqua, Conversation, Conversation with Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton, New Castle, Senator Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton

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