Hello Connection Members & Friends,

Sarah Bassing-Sutton, Executive Director
The Connection

Want to learn more about The Connection's member meetings?

Visit our Member Meetings page to view upcoming meeting dates, access Zoom links and calendar invitations, and browse slides, recordings, and materials from past meetings. Whether you're a longtime member or new to The Connection, it's a great way to stay informed and connected to regional mental health initiatives and collaborative efforts.

A new initiative is taking shape to make it easier for people to ask for and receive help while building stronger connections across the Fox Valley. Fox Valley Shares is a new community time bank and mutual aid network being developed by a volunteer work group with support from Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative and The Connection.

Fox Valley Shares is being built to help neighbors connect with one another to exchange skills, services and support. Whether it's offering a ride, helping with yard work or simply spending time with someone who needs companionship, every exchange helps strengthen community.

Now in its pilot phase, Fox Valley Shares is looking for community members to help shape its future. Fox Valley Shares is being built by the community, for the community, and is recruiting volunteers to help guide its leadership, outreach, member support and launch activities.

Here's how you can get involved:

• Take the Fox Valley Shares Community Survey and help inform the project's development.
• Interested in joining a planning group? Reach out to the Time Bank team at foxvalleyshares@gmail.com 
  
  

Visit FoxValleyShares.org to learn more, take the survey and explore the time bank.

LEAVEN is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a free Community Resource Fair, bringing together local nonprofits, community agencies and service providers to connect residents with valuable programs and resources available throughout the Fox Valley.

Event Details
Date: Thursday, July 30
Time: Noon to 3 p.m.
Location: LEAVEN, 1475 Opportunity Way, Menasha

Visitors can connect with organizations, learn about local services and take home information, resources and giveaways. The first 250 attendees will receive a complimentary scoop of gelato, and LEAVEN will provide swag bags for collecting brochures and promotional items from participating organizations.

Learn more about the event or register to participate on LEAVEN's website.

Registration is now open for Preventing Deaths of Despair, a new four-part education series hosted by The Connection and the Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review Team. The series explores the complex factors that contribute to suicide, overdose and alcohol-related deaths while highlighting practical prevention strategies for healthcare providers, behavioral health professionals, public health staff and other frontline workers.

Featured speakers bring expertise in traumatic brain injury, behavioral health, pain management and suicide prevention:

• Dr. Jerry Hoepner, a nationally recognized expert in traumatic brain injury and neuroscience, will discuss the connection between brain injury and deaths of despair.
• Dr. Yvette Goebel, a clinical psychologist with ThedaCare Behavioral Health, will explore ADHD, executive function and suicide risk across the lifespan.
• Tricia Snow Nault, APNP, a board-certified nurse practitioner with Aurora Pain Management, will examine chronic pain, opioid use and opportunities for prevention.
• Abbey Bernier, LCSW, Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the John H. Bradley VA Outpatient Clinic, will share evidence-based strategies for improving sleep, mental health and resilience.

Sessions will be held Sept. 3, Sept. 15, Sept. 30 and Oct. 15 from 5–6:30 p.m., with dinner and networking included. Participants can attend individual sessions or complete the full series. The training has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, with participants eligible to earn up to 6 CMEs.

View the full schedule, speaker bios and register on our website.

CALM Suicide Prevention Trainings Coming to the Fox Valley

Community members and professionals are invited to attend upcoming Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) trainings in the Fox Valley. CALM is an evidence-informed suicide prevention approach that helps people recognize suicide risk and reduce access to firearms, medications and other potentially lethal means during times of crisis.

Participants will learn practical, nonjudgmental strategies for talking with individuals and families about safety planning and reducing suicide risk. Organizations that complete the training may also be eligible to receive safe storage devices for community distribution.

CALM Conversations (Community Training)

This 90-minute training is designed for community members, injury prevention professionals and other non-clinical staff who want to learn how to recognize and respond to suicide risk.

Date: July 29, 2026
Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Location: Catalpa Health, 4635 West College Avenue, Appleton, WI 54914
Click here to register

CALM Clinical Workshop

This 3.5-hour workshop is intended for mental health, medical and human service professionals. Participants will learn how to counsel individuals and families on reducing access to firearms and dangerous medications during periods of elevated suicide risk.

Date: Sept. 16, 2026
Time: 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Grand Chute Fire Department, Grand Chute
Click here to register

Space is limited. Register early to reserve your spot. The training is offered by the Children’s Wisconsin Safety Center and Safe Kids Wisconsin.

Mental Health America of Wisconsin is offering a free Be Sensitive, Be Brave (BSBB) Train-the-Trainer Academy this fall to expand culturally responsive suicide prevention education across Wisconsin.

The virtual academy prepares participants to facilitate the two-hour Be Sensitive, Be Brave workshop in their own communities and organizations. Participants will receive 20 hours of live instruction, training materials, certification, lifetime access to trainer resources and workshop materials in multiple languages.

Training Details

• Dates: Oct. 26-30, 2026
• Location: Virtual via Zoom
• Cost: Free

Participants are asked to commit to offering at least four BSBB workshops each year to help expand access to culturally responsive suicide prevention education throughout Wisconsin.

Space is limited and applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to learn more about BSBB.

The Mental Health Action Partnership (MHAP) has released a new report examining Wisconsin's emergency detention process under Chapter 51 and offering recommendations to improve crisis response across the state.

The report, Emergency Detention: Issues and Effective Practices, outlines strategies to reduce the need for emergency detention, minimize trauma for people experiencing a mental health crisis, improve access to timely care and strengthen coordination among crisis services, law enforcement, hospitals, inpatient facilities and the courts. It also recommends standardizing data collection to better evaluate the emergency detention process and support future improvements.

The report is intended to help state and local partners strengthen Wisconsin's crisis response system while balancing individual rights, safety and access to appropriate care.

Click here for the press release
Click here for the full report. 

June 17, 2026 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced more than $700 million in funding opportunities to support behavioral health programs addressing mental illness, substance use disorders and homelessness.

The funding includes:

• $238 million to strengthen the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• $223 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs)
• $96 million for the Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program
• $80 million for substance use prevention, treatment and recovery services
• $70 million for mental health services and supports

According to HHS, the funding is intended to expand access to behavioral health care, strengthen crisis response services and support community-based treatment programs. Click here for more information.

Wisconsin

Green Bay mental health roundtable highlights 988 funding, LGBTQ+ crisis line changes
June 26, 2026 | WBAY

Sen. Tammy Baldwin holds 988 roundtable discussion in Green Bay
June 26, 2026 | Fox 11 News

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules on pair of mental competency cases
June 26, 2026 | WBAY

Keep your child’s mental health balanced this summer break
June 22, 2026 | WFRV

Wisconsin students are glued to phones. Is bell-to-bell ban the answer?
June 23, 2026 | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sextortion cases are on the rise in Wisconsin, families fight back
June 16, 2026 | Wisconsin Watch

National

988’s LGBTQ+ hotline to relaunch this year. But the group that helped start it might be excluded
June 26, 2026 | The Associated Press

New Justice Department memo questions decades of protections for people with disabilities
June 22, 2026 | PBS News Hour

Arrests of immigrant parents create mental health crisis for children
June 18, 2026 | KFF Health News

Constant digital input an lead to real brain rot
June 17, 2026 | Sanford Health

Your brain was never designed for this much bad news
June 16, 2026 | Science Daily

Why middle age is becoming a breaking point in the U.S.
June 13, 2026 | Science Daily

People love working from home. But does it love them back? A new study says no
June 8, 2026 | NPR

Another pandemic repercussion: Remote work tied to isolation, mental distress
June 8, 2026 | University of Minnesota, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

More young people are looking to AI chatbots for mental health help
June 1, 2026 | Science News