Monthly Archives: July 2017

Personal Empowerment Through Horses

Back by popular demand, H.O.P.E. Ranch has released the dates for the 2017 SSTAR Camps. 12-16-year-olds June 26-29th, 9 am-12 pm 8-12-year-olds July 17-20th, 1 pm-4 pm 12-16-year-olds July 31-Aug 3rd, 1 pm-4 pm SSTAR Camp is ideal for youth seeking to develop tools and strategies needed to make healthy and smart []

FREE DEMO SESSIONS Session #1: Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 6:30 8:30 pm This Session is a Horse Powered Learning Demo. Session #2: Saturday, August 26, 2017, 9:30 11:30 am. Just like a sports team, your staff must take the time to huddle up, attend training camp, practice, and rehab. Even with great leaders, []

H.O.P.E. Ranch is a is a beautiful 8-acre ranch in the hills southwest of Rochester, Minnesota/ We specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional problems through traditional psychotherapy methods and equine assisted psychotherapy. Our team of EAGALA Certified Psychotherapist Horse specialists and mental health counselors have years of experience and employ methods designed to deliver positive mental health outcomes.

H.O.P.E. Ranch not only helps individuals but also Corporate teams through retreats and exercises designed to improve how your organization functions. Get out of the conference room and onto H.O.P.E. Ranch for your next corporate retreat.

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Hope Ranch Personal Empowerment Through Horses

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, July 16, 2017, 10:54 PM

Margherita was certain that her son was going to die.

It was an October afternoon, and the Staten Island mother had been summoned to the home of her opioid-addicted 29-year-old.

She found him in the basement, ranting and raving, his eyes a scary shade of gray.

I knew this was the last day of his life, Margherita recalled.

Alicia Palermo-Reddy shares stories of opioid addiction

Her familys first call was to 911. The second was to a Staten Island nurse named Alicia Palermo-Reddy.

Margheritas family had first reached out to Palermo-Reddy for advice just a few days earlier.

To Margheritas surprise, Palermo-Reddy showed up at the emergency room and coached her on how to get the struggling young man into treatment.

Three days later, Margheritas son, who had resisted intervention attempts for years, was on a plane to an inpatient drug program in Texas.

A health bill retreat from opioid crisis

That was eight years ago. Margheritas son, who has remained drug-free, now has a steady job, a wife and three children.

She saved our lives, Margherita said of Palermo-Reddy.

Since then, Palermo-Reddy has helped hundreds of Staten Island families like Margheritas.

Working in her spare time and free of charge, shes quietly become the unofficial coach, mentor and therapist to an ever-expanding network of parents and addicts touched by the citys opioid crisis.

NYPD says calling 911 during drug overdose won't lead to arrest

Shes responsible for my son and so many others, Margherita said. I dont know what her reasons are. I dont know what drives her. Thats why I say shes an angel.

Growing up in Staten Islands Huguenot neighborhood, Palermo-Reddy never imagined that she would become a one-woman addiction help line.

Palermo-Reddy was working as a dental assistant before she landed a job as a registered nurse at a Staten Island hospital 12 years ago.

The 47-year-old mother of two, now known as the addiction angel, was shocked by what she saw when she started picking up overtime shifts at the hospitals detox unit.

NYC doctor busted for writing unneeded painkiller meds

When I heard about heroin growing up, I thought about people in trailer parks with no teeth and black feet, Palermo-Reddy said. Seeing these young, beautiful kids with sores on them and heartbreaking stories was very disturbing to me.

The more and more that I saw it, I realized theres a big problem out here that nobodys talking about.

Word of her work with addicts spread quickly in the tight-knit South Shore.

Soon, Palermo-Reddys phone was lighting up with desperate phone calls and texts from friends and friends of friends who had relatives battling opioid addiction.

Anti-overdose drug Naloxone to be offered at N.Y. state courts

Many of the callers were in the same seemingly hopeless situation: an adult-aged son or daughter who was resisting intervention attempts.

These are mothers saying, Were at a loss. We dont know what to do, said Palermo-Reddy, whose three nephews suffered from addiction. How do you not help these people?

In those early days, Palermo-Reddy would guide the callers as best she could and urge them to attend local support groups.

Several parents told her they had tried meetings but were turned off by them. So Palermo-Reddy began organizing her own support groups in the backyard of her mothers home.

Doctors provide enough opioids to drug up all Americans for weeks

Demand was so great she moved them into a local school. Then she started a Scared Straight program for young people that regularly draws more than 100 people.

As her reputation grew, Palermo-Reddy realized she needed to arm herself with more information. She went to a local courthouse to learn about restraining orders. She talked with cops to understand the circumstances under which they will remove someone from a home. She went to detox centers to find out about admission policies and insurance issues.

Along the way, she honed her own tough-love approach.

Palermo-Reddy believes family members often enable the addicts drug use by setting red lines and then failing to act on them.

Family angry at dentist who gave addict painkillers

An addict doesnt want to be an addict. Hes allowed to be an addict, Palermo-Reddy said. I dont want you to bury your kid, so Im going to tell you like it is. With this disease, you dont have time to waste.

Palermo-Reddy has developed a reputation for being available at all hours of the day and dropping everything to help a family in need of counseling.

One Staten Island mother recalled reaching out to Palermo-Reddy on a Friday night last year.

My son had just called me and said he had relapsed, said the mother. (Palermo-Reddy) was out to dinner and still she said, Ill meet you in Staten Island. Ill meet you at the house.

U.S. to crack down on opioid treatment programs: Bloomberg

In that late-night meeting, Palermo-Reddy mapped out a plan to send the 26-year-old son to a 30-day drug-treatment program in Florida. Hes now 14 months sober.

Alicia was with us every step of the way, the mother said.

Among the many recovering addicts Palermo-Reddy has helped is a 46-year-old former Cond Nast business director.

If I failed, I would rather tell my parents, my girlfriend, anybody but Alicia, said the man, who has been sober since last May. I know how much she cares about me and she has no reason to.

Cops bust Staten Island heroin ring that sold deadly dose

Palermo-Reddys all-consuming role hasnt always been easy on her husband, Dennis, and children, Frank, 23, and Jacquelyn, 27.

Shes gotten better, said Jacquelyn. At my bridal shower, she was on the phone texting with parents. I had to tell her to put her phone away. Thats how bad it was.

On a recent Thursday night, about 30 people gathered in the auditorium of the Our Lady Star of the Sea Church for one of Palermo-Reddys monthly meetings.

There was a retired firefighter whose 30-year-old son was in the throes of opioid addiction, the parents of a 23-year-old who had been sober for three months and a burly recovering addict who had been clean since March.

Emotions were raw.

You get to the point where after 15, 20 years of this bulls---, you say, Wont you just die already, one father said.

Another father recalled having to threaten a doctor who kept prescribing his drug-addled son pain pills.

I told the doctor, You give him another pill, Im going to beat you to death, the man said.

Palermo-Reddy conducted the meeting like a hard-edged Dr. Phil, offering uplifting messages of personal empowerment and sharply worded pieces of advice.

As long as you remain weak, the addict is going to remain sick, she told one parent. You need to learn to stay two steps ahead of the addict and never allow him to manipulate you again.

At one point, Palermo-Reddy explained that one of her recovering nephews lives with her.

Hes 35 years old. I cannot prevent him from relapsing again, Palermo-Reddy said.

I support him. I encourage him. We love him. If he relapses, his bags would be packed before he would even have to tell me. He would know to pack his bags. Hes out.

The meeting ended after 9 p.m., and Palermo-Reddy walked out with a family she had never met.

The son had relapsed multiple times before finding out that he had cancerous brain tumors. He beat the cancer, then relapsed again, but was newly sober.

You have a powerful story. Get yourself clean, Palermo-Reddy told him. I want to see six months, and then Ill have you come speak with me.

The man nodded his head and smiled.

Whether he knew it or not, the odds were small that six months would pass before Palermo-Reddy would be seeing him again.

Original post:

Nurse dedicates life to helping hundreds beat drug addiction - NY ... - New York Daily News

17 Jul 2017, 11 a.m.

A local women's empowerment group come together to celebrate their 34th anniversary at the annual handover dinner.

LEADERSHIP: Current President of Port Pirie's Soroptimist International club Debbie Devlin. PHOTO: B'Elanna O'Dea.

The Port Pirie Soroptimist International group celebrated 34 years at their annual handover dinner at the RSL Clubrooms last month.

The groupis one of the largest womens service clubs in the world with more than75,000 members in 132 countries and territories. Port Pirie's group is one of sixcountry clubs in South Australia.

Onlocal, national and international levels, members strive to empower, educate and enablewomen and girls across the world.

At the handover dinner, the honor of Port Pirie SIgroup president was passed on from foundation member Jenny Hughes, to 17-year member Debbie Devlin.

All members have the opportunity to serve as interim president for a term or one or two years as the role provides valuable leadership skills.

During the dinner, club members Elaine Owen and Pam Ayliffe received awards and recognition for 25 years of service.

Kathryn Johnson, Port Pirie Regional Councils infrastructure director,received a Women's Achiever award for her services in building the community. She spoke about the importance of how infrastructure works as a base of unity from which a community can thrive.

Ms Devlin's personal goals for her term is tomaintain the Look Good, Feel Better program, in partnership with breast cancer nurses and professional beauticians. The schemehelps chemotherapy patients to look and feel their best.

The group also hopes, during the redevelopment of the park,to restore and move the Women'sMemorial so that it stands alongside the other similar memorials.

Through fundraising, the group also awards an annual Educational Leadership Bursaryto a female student who has shown merit and determination in her studies and school life.

This year local Soroptimist International plans to raise $600 so that it may be divided equally between the awardees from three high schools in the region,John Pirie Secondary School,Mid North Christian College and St Mark's College.

MsDevlinsays that she loves being a member of Soroptimist International because of the sense of friendship and fellowship it provides. She says she appreciates that she gets to lead adiverse group of interesting, capable and fun-to-be-around women.

All women who want to make a difference and seekreliable friends that care and support are welcome to join.

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Port Pirie's Soroptimist International group continues to empower, educate and enable women and girls - The Recorder

When it comes to leadership, it's good if you have great personal qualities such as authenticity, integrity, humility, etc., but at some point, you have to achieve results.

Results are the benchmark of success and to do that you have to be able to inspire your teams to achieve great things.

So how do great leaders achieve that?

Everything starts with engagement. If your teams are not engaged, then they are just turning up, taking the money and doing the bare minimum.

And when you look at the statistics for employee engagement that covers a very large percentage of the work force, as 68 percent of US employees are disengaged, and 65 percent of managers are disengaged.

Employee engagement is a contact sport. You cannot engage people from behind your desk or via emails. You can't engage them if you are not engaged.

You need to get out there showing your passion and enthusiasm, clarifying the objectives, explaining the purpose and aligning the goals and desires of the teams with the goals of the initiatives.

Companies with engaged employees perform 147 percent better than those with disengaged employees.

As the leader is your job to engage them, it's not their job to be engaged!

Once teams are engaged, the next step is to excite them. Everyone wants to work for a successful team and feel like they have done a great job, so if you can show them how they will be successful, this will get them fired up and ready to work hard towards the goals and objectives.

People are not afraid of hard work; they are afraid of failure. By showing them how success can be achieved will help increase their confidence and belief that they will be successful, which is a great inspiration.

An engaged and excited team is a powerful team that can achieve great things. To help ensure that this results in the success you need to empower them.

Empowered teams take ownership, and when things start to go awry, they will look for solutions to ensure that the desired outcomes are met.

Too often leaders want to retain a tight grip on the controls, but if that grip is too tight, then you need to be involved in everything, giving approval for even the smallest of changes.

You become a limitation on what can be achieved!

To empower your team, you need to give them the flexibility to make the necessary corrections if things start to slip. You need to delegate some of the control that you hold, but with clear boundaries, so that they understand when they can make decisions, and when they need to refer back to you for approval.

The more you can empower your teams the more committed they will become. Empowerment is a delicate balancing act, but it's one that you get better at with practice, and it will be appreciated by many of your staff.

When you can create engaged, excited and empowered teams not only will it help you achieve the goals and objectives, but it will make others want to come and work with you and for you. It will separate you from the other leaders in your organization, putting you in demand and presenting great opportunities to you.

How engaged, excited and empowered is your team and what are you going to do to help improve in these three areas?

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Three Things Great Leaders Do That Achieves Amazing Results - Inc.com