What do you do when someone you love is struggling, and how do you know what to say? In this episode of Let’s Talk Kids, we sit down with Mary-Claire Givelber, Executive Director of Caring Contact, a New Jersey crisis and warm line that answers calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Mary-Claire explains what actually happens when you call, how trained volunteer “listeners” support people through their hardest moments, and why asking someone directly about suicide does not plant the idea. We also talk about the loneliness epidemic, how parents can listen instead of rushing to fix, how Caring Contact grew from 3,000 to over 15,000 lifeline calls a year, and how you can volunteer, with training offered twice a year.

Learn more about Caring Contact below!

Caring Contact - https://caringcontact.org/

LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast for more!

VIDEO OUTLINE

00:00 - What is Caring Contact? How did Mary end up working there?

05:44 - What are Caring Contact’s Volunteers’ methods for handling calls?

14:08 - Who are the volunteers at Caring Contact and how are they trained?

17:29 - How much has the frequency of calls grown and what does that say about our society?

23:08 - Who answers calls that can’t be taken? Can people text?

26:10 - How to become a volunteer at Caring Contact

30:33 - Funding and Donating

32:34 - The challenges of hiring Full Time at Caring Contact and handling busy times?

36:50 - How to help people in crisis & Caring Contact’s community involvement

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Thank you so much for watching. See below for more information on Let’s Talk Kids and ACNJ.

SOCIAL & WEB LINKS

LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) Official Website - acnj.org

• ACNJ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/acnjforkids/
• ACNJ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/advocates-for-children-of-new-jersey/
• ACNJ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ACNJforKids/

PODCAST LINKS

• LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

CONTACTS

• mcoogan@acnj.org - Mary Coogan - Host of Let’s Talk Kids | CEO of ACNJ
• vjabon@acnj.org - Viggo Jabon - Editor of Let’s Talk Kids | Multimedia Specialist at ACNJ

In this episode of Let's Talk Kids, we sit down with Pamela Winkler-Tew, licensed social worker and Senior Sustainability Manager for HealthySteps, a program of Zero to Three. Pamela explains how HealthySteps places a child development specialist right in the pediatric practice to support babies and toddlers (ages 0-3) and their caregivers, from developmental concerns and parental mental health to food and housing needs. We dig into "serve and return" interactions, how New Jersey Family Care is helping fund the model, what the evidence shows (higher well-child visit attendance, better immunization rates, happier pediatricians), and the goal of reaching 65,000 New Jersey children over the next five years.

Learn more about HealthySteps below!

HealthySteps - https://www.healthysteps.org/

Zero to Three - https://www.zerotothree.org/

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Thank you so much for watching. See below for more information on Let’s Talk Kids and ACNJ.

SOCIAL & WEB LINKS

LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) Official Website - acnj.org

• ACNJ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/acnjforkids/
• ACNJ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/advocates-for-children-of-new-jersey/
• ACNJ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ACNJforKids/

PODCAST LINKS

• LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

CONTACTS

• mcoogan@acnj.org - Mary Coogan - Host of Let’s Talk Kids | CEO of ACNJ
• vjabon@acnj.org - Viggo Jabon - Editor of Let’s Talk Kids | Multimedia Specialist at ACNJ

Lindsay Schambach, Executive Director of ImagineNJ, a center for coping and loss, describes how being a principal and experiencing impactful losses throughout her life led to her discovering her purpose as an advocate of family bereavement. She digs deep into grief and death: why processing it is so important, how different people process differently, how our society overlooks the process, and how Imagine is making a positive impact in all of these aspects!

Learn more about ImagineNJ below!

Imagine Official Website - https://imaginenj.org/

Broreavement - https://broreavement.org/

OUTLINE

00:00 - Lindsay’s loss + joining ImagineNJ

03:49 - The fear of discussing death and loss

04:39 - What is Imagine’s main purpose and service?

09:02 - The History of Imagine & Family Bereavement Centers

13:13 - Data on why processing Grief is important

18:39 - How men grieve differently than women

24:12 - How different age groups grieve differently

29:52 - How are people discovering Imagine?

32:16 - How Imagine helps schools and students deal with grief

37:47 - Parents & why grief education should be ingrained in society

39:30 - Imagine’s Volunteers & How to Volunteer

44:50 - Why making light of loss is not always progressive

52:08 - A retrospective on funeral practices

54:57 - Why peer-to-peer grief support is so effective

57:22 - How Imagine is Funded & How it’s evolving

1:00:19 - Generational grief & Dated beliefs

1:03:54 - Episode Wrap Up

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Thank you so much for watching. See below for more information on Let’s Talk Kids and ACNJ.

SOCIAL & WEB LINKS

LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) Official Website - acnj.org

• ACNJ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/acnjforkids/
• ACNJ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/advocates-for-children-of-new-jersey/
• ACNJ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ACNJforKids/

PODCAST LINKS

• LTK Linktree - linktr.ee/ltkacnj

CONTACTS

• mcoogan@acnj.org - Mary Coogan - Host of Let’s Talk Kids | CEO of ACNJ
• vjabon@acnj.org - Viggo Jabon - Editor of Let’s Talk Kids | Multimedia Specialist at ACNJ