Building resilience in communities requires a comprehensive approach that integrates stakeholders, community partners, families and individuals.

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Participants in this one hour workshop will 

• expand and increase knowledge of the evidence-based strategies that have been implemented in the Upstate region of South Carolina

• learn the protective factors and public health model that is integrated into the Sharpen framework

• expand knowledge around best practices for engaging individuals into specific mental health content through peer stories of resilience.

• identify strategies for increasing collaborative partnerships using examples of community-based approaches with United Way of the Piedmont, Upstate Warrior Solution veteran service organization, and more than 40 members of the behavioral health task force in the Upstate of South Carolina. 

• evaluate data, outcomes, and strategies regarding 15 years of developing evidence-based community engagement initiatives, including mindfulness (MBSR) programs to children in Title 1 schools, disordered eating prevention programs and community based participatory research utilizing documentary film stories of hope and healing.

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About Heather Witt.  Heather is the Vice President of Community and Collective Impact at the United Way of the Piedmont and is co-Chair of the behavioral health task force.  She holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Management from Southwest University and has over 22 years of expertise in collective impact and harnessing the power of community based organizations in collective engagement.

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About Robyn Hussa Farrell.  Robyn has spent the last 15 years working with public health researchers to connect evidence-based prevention programs to K12 schools to improve resilience in children.  The models she has developed have been published in peer reviewed medical journals and led her to creating the Sharpen platform with her husband Tim.  Together they have created over 450 educational modules and over 3,000 educational films on the topic of mental health literacy and resiliency.  She has been teaching mindfulness based stress reduction since the early 1990's and has presented at more than 30 national conferences.