Five County May 2017 Newsletter

Five County May 2017 Newsletter

Submitted by Nicky Chavez on Mon, 05/01/2017 - 12:07pm

Newsletter April 2017

New Accomplishments:

We would like to congratulate Gina Jensen on her accomplishments. Gina has been working at 5-County Y0uth Treatment Center since 2006. In 2009 she was promoted to Case Manager. Gina attended Idaho State University and graduated with a minor in Criminal Justice. She then attended Brigham Young University Idaho and earned her Bachelors in Social Work. She recently took the State boards and earned her LSW for the State of Idaho. Gina loves working with kids and making a difference in their lives. Her hobbies are camping, fishing, hunting, spoiling other people’s children, working in her yard and enjoys all activities that are outdoors. Congratulations Gina!

Holidays:

The Five County traditions for the holidays have come and gone and fun was had by all. There was a Halloween party complete with pumpkin painting contests. Thanksgiving dinner was prepared by our wonderful kitchen cooks. They served roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, relish trays, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie and whip cream and everyone enjoyed all the hard work they put into it! Christmas was another feast and residents enjoyed all the activities that come along with it, such as waking up Christmas morning to find stockings full of surprises.

Welcome, Welcome!

We are so proud to announce an addition to our management team Alice Manwaring has joined us as our clinician. Ironically she had worked for us in 2010 and then decided to pursue her education. Alice earned her Bachelor in Sociology degree at Brigham Young University Idaho. She then attended Walla Walla University and earned her Master’s in Social Work. She came to us because she needed something more challenging and that is definitely something we have here! She has always has enjoyed the Criminal Justice Field. She enjoys working with the teenage population and loves to assist them in empowering themselves and building their confidence. Away from work, Alice enjoys camping, spending time with family, weightlifting, archery and range shooting and laughing and loving life! We are so excited to have her on our team!

Guest Speakers:

5-C has been blessed to have our "Friends" come and Speak to the Youth at our Center. Three of the most sought aftever motivational speakers visisted the Center recently-Rulan Garnder, L.T .Smoothe, and Monte Stiles. On behalf of the kids and staff we say "Thank You" for all the tremendous work you do and forever touching our lives!!! Thank you Jennifer Peterson for sharing your amazing story and ecouraging us to love ourselves inside and out. You are all are always welcome at 5-C.

L.T. Smoothe

Another year and another visit from the great LT Smoothe. L.T. visited with the residents and shared his amazing story. L.T. started out with a life of violence, crime , gangs and drugs. One day he decided that was not was he was meant to be on the earth and changed his life. He taught himself to play instruments and is an incredible solo guitar player, singer and song writer who has played with some of the greatest musicians and for many famous people and has been nominated for the Grammy Awards. He now has a mission to facilitate change with others. He is now the Voice for Change. His goal is to reach as many people as possible who are on the edge of dying from depression, suicide, drugs, alcohol, and violence and have no more hope in them. He brings hope and love and joy and surrenders his own life to save theirs. He states, it only takes a moment to listen to a cry sometimes that is all it takes. His hands are open wide and his heart is bigger than the ocean. L.T. and his team are working hard to fulfill this dream. He is an inspiration to all of us here at 5-County and we appreciate his visits so much. Thank you L.T.! Thanks Donna  Benfield (CEO Rexburg Chamber of Commerce), Ken Benfield & Mountain America Credit Union for making it possible for L.T. to visit our Center and the East Idaho Community.

Rulan Gardner

Another visitor that came by to say hi again was two time Olympic wrestler Rulan Gardner. Rulan started as a small town Wyoming “boy” who has overcome huge challenges in his life and came out on top. During the peak of his wrestling career he was in a snow machine accident and stranded in freezing weather. He went through a harrowing recovery after frostbite and almost losing his life. Despite these trials he went on to win an undefeated Russian wrestler and won his second Olympic medal. He also made it through a plane accident in a lake!!!! He speaks to all about perseverance and never giving up on your dreams. We appreciate his willingness to continue visiting us at 5-County and sharing his incredible journey. Thank you Rulan!

Monte Stiles

We had the honor of having Monte Stiles come speak to us at the center. You can’t help but feel his passion! One of his proudest personal and career achievements was the organization and implementation of the statewide “Enough is Enough” anti-drug campaign which produced community coalitions in every area of Idaho. In addition to the prosecution of drug traffickers, Monte has been a passionate drug educator and motivational speaker for schools, businesses, churches, law enforcement agencies, and other youth and parent organizations. He loves the youth and the youth definitely felt it! A Special thanks to Fremont County Chief Probation Officer Darin Burrell for assisting to cordinate scheduling our forever friend Monte Stiles to come and be part of the Center. I would encourage everyone to visit Monte's webpage atwww.montestiles.com. Monte is an inspiration to all those he comes in contact with.

Jennifer Peterson:

Another great visitor we had to the center was Jennifer Peterson. She grew up in Okayama Japan and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She spent her youth modeling, playing the saxophone and running track, as well as playing volleyball and basketball. She played two years of college basketball after high school and continued her studies in Special Education. She left to serve a church mission in Sapporo, Japan for eighteen months and then returned to BYUI to finish her degree. After returning from her mission, she took up photography as she preferred to be on the other side of the camera. Jennifer was VERY TALL through her school years and had to withstand a lot of bullying and it greatly affected her self-esteem growing up. Despite these struggles, she became a very successful model and photographer and learned to love herself inside and out. She now spreads her story to young women everywhere to encourage them to love their selves and follow their dreams. The girls at the center loved her visit and hope she comes to visit them again to see how much they have grown since coming into treatment at Five County.

New Grant news:

One of the highlights of Five County’s curriculum is our parenting class. In 2002 we received our first grant for Baby Think It Over simulator dolls from the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund. The dolls came with all the equipment needed (carriers, bottles, diapers and diaper bags) for a realistic experience of what it is like to care for an infant 24 hours a day. Then center continued to get grants the next two years. One grant purchased a “fetal alcohol” and a “drug affected” doll. The next grant purchased 4 actual “pregnancy simulator” suits. This equipment has been used year after year for many, many youth to learn about what it takes to be a parent along with two weeks of classroom curriculum and then five days of caring for the infants. The center has been very proud of this program which was implemented by Taryn Ivie.

After many years, the babies and equipment were wearing out. Last year Marilee Wigginton, our head education teacher wrote a grant for the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund for new equipment. We were awarded $3, 102 dollars and along with more funds from the center we were able to purchase six new updated

Last year we were awarded $3,102.00 in grant money from the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund to purchase six new Baby Think It Over dolls and all the equipment for our parenting class as well as updated curriculum. The grant money paid for over half the costs! Marilee applied again this year and was awarded grant money again, this time to expand our curriculums for the parenting class and other classes to include the “Five Protective Factor” which is education for the residents to help overcome adverse childhood experiences. The management team has been trained on the new curriculum and training will soon be implemented to the treatment team. Thank you Idaho Children’s Trust Fund and thank you Marilee for this great addition to the center.

Fun Outings:

Everyone loves a good field trip and that is exactly what some of the residents were able to do this month. They were able to visit the Idaho Falls museum. The theme was the Roman empires and their machines and architecture. They then went down to the lower level of the museum and were able to see the display of an early pioneer town. It was a great experience. They were then able to go to lunch at Pizza Pie Café to top off the day. A fun time was had by all.