Annual Report  2022

Greetings to all Consortium supporters,

2022 began with our staff returning to the office after a short period working from home due to another surge in COVID-19 infections following the holidays. Since then, we have been able to resume some in-person training within our office although they are smaller than usual with everyone wearing masks.
Although, we have continued to host most of our trainings on Zoom, we were able to move forward with two large conferences off-site at larger venues (2022 Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) Harm Reduction Conference and the 2022 Trauma and Recovery Conference.) Both events were hosted in a hybrid model with folks attending both on-site and virtually. The DMHAS Harm Reduction Conference was held in the Spring at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Bristol and our Trauma and Recovery Conference was held in the Fall at the Connecticut Convention Center. For me, the personal recovery stories at both events bring to light the reality of why we do what we do. By enhancing the skills of behavioral staff throughout Connecticut, we strive to ensure that behavioral health is community wealth, a new slogan developed by one of our employees.
The staff expanded our civic commitments this year by participating at events held by the town of Hamden where our offices are located. We brought both a drumming circle and sound healing session to two different community events and also taught town youth how to make vision boards.
The virtual free lunch and learn series has had large appeal to our audience and will continue to be held and our Community Film Series will be re-launched in early 2023 with Daughter of a Lost Bird. 
Both the board of directors and staff participated in a survey and training to increase our knowledge and skills regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Goals for the year were set and tracked and we know there is a lot more to do in this area. One staff member was selected to participate in the Nonprofit Management Cohort for Emerging Leaders of Color program funded and run by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. This includes a multi-year grant to support the staff participation from their unrestricted and preference funds.
We continue to support our state agency partners with learning collaboratives and specialized funding to enhance staff trainings in areas such as trauma, LGBTQIA+, gambling prevention, and adolescent treatment models. We hosted a full day Women’s Services Conference and a Day of Healing on behalf of DMHAS. We also continue to set up private trainings for the provider system of care and this work has grown this year. 
Our staff has seen only minor staff turnover this year and we are pleased to host graduate students from the University of New Haven, Yale, and Fordham. I am proud of the Consortium team and inspired to do this work each day bringing exceptional quality behavioral health events to the public. 

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Sincerely,
Colette Anderson, LCSW
Executive Director