Target4 - Region 6

🌈🏳️‍⚧️Saturday Spotlight 🏳️‍⚧️🌈

KHJN Trans Health Advocacy

A section of the Kentucky Health Justice Network, their Trans Health Advocacy program works to help Trans Kentuckians access the healthcare they need, as well as reaffirm our autonomy and community. Their program aims to put a focus on the intersectional barriers Trans Kentuckians face when accessing healthcare such as structural and interpersonal racism, classism, ableism, and sizeism.

Learn more about KHJN Trans Health Advocacy here: https://www.kentuckyhealthjusticenetwork.org/transhealth.html 🌟🌟

Select members of our Region 6 team are hanging out in Louisville today for the 2024 Kentucky Harm Reduction Summit! They are soaking up all of the resources and information to bring back to you, our community.

Testing services available today with Groups Recover Together - Somerset location! Testing will begin around 12 - noon and run until 2pm.

Please be mindful of upcoming closings within the Harm Reduction Program and make arrangements for needed services!

🌟 Saturday Spotlight 🌟

Q***rKentucky is a diverse LGBTQ+ run non-profit based in Louisville, Kentucky working to bolster and enhance Q***r culture and health through storytelling, education and action. Through their storytelling approach, they give visibility and celebrate the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the great Bluegrass State. Visibility alone is life-saving.

Our McCreary and Whitney team members are set up today at the McCreary County Community Resource Fair! This free event runs until 2 pm today at the McCreary County Park Gymnasium so stop by to learn more about in YOUR community.

🌈🏳️‍🌈 Saturday Spotlight 🏳️‍🌈🌈

The Trevor Project is the leading su***de prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. They provide information & support to LGBTQ+ �young people 24/7, all year round. Trained counselors are available through call, text, or chat for individuals needing support through a difficult time.

Click here to read the 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/

Come see our Pulaski team as they set up for today's Community Health, Wellness, & Resource Fair! 🩺⚕️💉

Event runs until 3. ⏰

🚨ATTN RUSSELL COUNTY 🚨

Your Russell County Harm Reduction (Syringe Exchange) Program will be closed today, June 5. We will reopen today June 6 for regular service hours.

Lake Cumberland District Health Department

We interrupt your midday scrolling with this reminder!

Today marks the beginning of Le***an, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Q***r (LGBTQ) Pride Month. Celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, the Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that le***an, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally as well as works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity. Because our work isn't over. 🏳️‍🌈✊

Happy Pride Month Lake Cumberland! Each Saturday this month, we will be shining our spotlight on resources for the LGBTQIA+ community.

🌈🏳️‍🌈 Saturday Spotlight 🏳️‍🌈🌈

This Saturday, we're spotlighting PFLAG National and our local chapter PFLAG Somerset KY

Founded in 1973 by a mother and her gay son, PFLAG is the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families.

PFLAG’s network of hundreds of chapters and more than 325,000 members and supporters are helping create an equitable and inclusive world where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved.

🟢 🟩 💚 🟩 🟢

Join the Southeast PTTC and Carolinas CARE Partnership for "HIV A to Z: An Interactive Training for Prevention & Treatment Providers." Participants will learn the history of HIV and how factors like mental health, trauma, and homelessness often intersect with it. The six-hour webinar begins at 9 a.m. ET on July 11. Register now: https://bit.ly/4dRzH9r

HIV stigma and discrimination affect the emotional well-being and mental health of people living with HIV. People living with HIV often internalize the stigma they experience and begin to develop a negative self-image. They may fear they will be discriminated against or judged negatively if their HIV status is revealed.

“Internalized stigma” or “self-stigma” happens when a person takes in the negative ideas and stereotypes about people living with HIV and start to apply them to themselves. HIV internalized stigma can lead to feelings of shame, fear of disclosure, isolation, and despair. These feelings can keep people from getting tested and treated for HIV.

Catch us hanging out with VOA Recovery Community Center - Somerset, KY on June 4th as we offer testing services and HIV/Hepatitis education. ✨

With warmer weather already here and the hottest days of the season yet to come, it’s important to pay special attention to your body. To be safe and keep those around you safe on extremely hot and humid days, know the symptoms of heat-related illness and what you can do to prevent an emergency.

SWIPE TO LEARN MORE ➡️➡️➡️

☀️ Heat cramps
🔥 Heat exhaustion
☀️ Heat stroke
🔥 Alcohol poisoning

Want to learn more about the dangers of alcohol consumption and time in the sun? How about some tips to reduce harm?

☀️ SWIPE ➡️➡️➡️ TO LEARN MORE

Happy Memorial Day

In the spirit of some holiday weekend harm reduction, we wanted to provide you with some information about how to keep you and your family safe this summer!
SWIPE ▶️▶️▶️ TO LEARN MORE

👙 Wearing protective clothing such as hats and long sleeves.
🧴 Applying broad spectrum sunscreen.
😎 Never looking directly at the sun.

As we round out we want to shine our spotlight on all of the agencies throughout the Lake Cumberland District that provide mental health services! We encourage our communities to join us in continuing to foster open dialogues, cultivate empathy and understanding, not just in May, but all year long.


All mental health agencies throughout Lake Cumberland:
Abiding Hope Counseling (Green and Adair)
The Adanta Group (Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, Taylor, Wayne)
Aegis Mental Health (Pulaski and McCreary)
Ascending Health and Wellness (Pulaski)
All in counseling (Pulaski)
AugmentMC Mental Health Counseling (McCreary)
Bluegrass Professional Counseling (Taylor and Adair)
Breath of Grace Wellness, LLC (Adair)
Community Based Interventions (Wayne and Clinton)
Gratitude Adjustment (Pulaski)
HOPE - Helping Others Pursue Excellence, LLC (Adair)
Hope Mental Health (Pulaski)
Heart and Soul Counseling, LLC (Green)
Intrust Healthcare Counseling Services (Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, Taylor, Wayne)
Life Springs – Christ Centered Psychological Services
Mandran Health (Pulaski)
Mindful Mama (Green)
Mindsight Behavioral Group (Pulaski and Taylor)
Passages of Kentucky (Pulaski and Wayne)
Pollard Counseling Services, LLC (Adair)
Promise Community Health Center (Pulaski and Wayne)
Quest Counseling LLC. (Pulaski)
Rays of Hope Intervention (Wayne)
Resilience Counseling Services, LLC. (Pulaski)
RISE Mental Health & Wellness (Wayne)
Second Mile Behavioral Health LLC (Russell)
Serenity Counseling Services (Adair, Taylor, and Russell)
Step Out of Darkness (McCreary)
Somerset Mental Health,PSC (Pulaski and Casey)
Victory Counseling (Pulaski)
The Way Counseling (Somerset)
Wellsprings Wellness (Pulaski)

"Of course, abstinence is the best way to prevent harm. However, what about those who can't afford medical care or just don't want to stop using drugs or alcohol?
There's still a way to help. It's an approach called harm reduction, which focuses on delivering compassionate care that does not involve pressure to quit or judgment."

Experts explain how people with an addiction can still seek help even when they're not ready to quit Harm reduction is a series of interventions aimed at helping people with addiction stay safe without forcing them to quit their addiction.

Anyone else obsessing over Bridgerton?
Just us? 🍿

A syndemic refers to two or more interrelated epidemics that are mutually reinforcing and interact in a way that amplifies the overall burden of disease. Although not all people who use opioids inject drugs, people who inject drugs are at significantly higher risk of transmission of blood-borne viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C.

In 62-80% of people who inject drugs co-infection with HIV and Hepatitis C is common. By identifying new infections early, patients can be treated for HIV, or cured of Hepatitis C, and stop additional infections from occurring.

🌟 Saturday Spotlight 🌟

Continuing to observe , today we shine our social spotlight on NAMI. NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

🟨 Education - Offered in thousands of communities across the United States through NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, our education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need.
🟨 Support- Throughout the country, our NAMI State Organizations and Affiliates host support groups, for both those with mental illness and caregivers, so that no one feels alone in their mental health journey.
🟨 Advocacy - NAMI shapes national public policy for people with mental illness and their families and provides volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to save mental health in all states.
🟨 Listening - The toll-free NAMI HelpLine allows them to respond personally to hundreds of thousands of requests each year, providing free information and support—a much-needed lifeline for many.
🟨 Leadership - Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks, successfully fight stigma and encourage understanding. NAMI works with reporters on a daily basis to make sure our country understands how important mental health is.

The Mental Health Coalition was formed with the understanding that the mental health crisis is fueled by a pervasive and devastating stigma, preventing millions of individuals from being able to seek the critical treatment they need.

They envision a world in which mental health is not associated with stigma, shame or judgement and all people feel empowered to openly discuss and address their individual mental health needs.

The Mental Health Coalition is a coalition of the leading mental health organizations, brands, and individuals who have joined forces to end the stigma surrounding mental health and to change the way people talk about, and care for, mental illness.

As two of their founding principles, inclusivity and belonging are core to the mission of The Mental Health Coalition, they are committed to centering and uplifting marginalized voices, challenging the status quo, and addressing systemic inequity that hinders wellbeing and access to resources. They pledge to approach our ever-evolving work with humility and a responsibility to infuse all that we do with evidence-based considerations of equity, diversity, antiracism, and accessibility.

The opioid crisis is one of the greatest public health challenges facing the U.S., causing an unprecedented surge in overdose deaths, and fueling the rapid rise in new Hepatitis C infections from injection drug use in communities across the country.

from Red Project

Without Harm Reduction initiatives, people still use drugs - in unsafe and unsupported ways that lead to higher rates of HIV infection, substance use related injuries/infections, Hepatitis C, and fatal overdose.

What keeps people healthier, with a better quality of life, and simply alive - IS harm reduction. Preventing HIV, avoiding Hepatitis C, reducing small injuries like burns and missed injections, abscesses, infections, and preventing fatal overdoses.

Harm Reduction saves lives and fosters trust in a system that has sewn distrust through decades of persecution and stigma. "Just quit using" is not that simple when every structure in a person's life as turned sour. When engaging in substance use that the healthcare system, criminal justice system, and a person's family/friends all blatantly stigmatize - it can feel like there's nowhere to turn.

That's why we do the work we do. To open our arms to anyone and everyone, as they are. In an environment that has repeatedly turned away and restricted resources to substance users, our aim is to offer the tools and support to maintain health, life and hope for our community members.

We are once again in the thick of “cuffing season” and what better time than now to understand and prepare for what to expect.

🔐 Communication is key - clearly discuss your expectations
🔐 Know when to set healthy boundaries - both physical and emotional
🔐 Be prepared with with l**e, barrier methods, and contraception to protect yourself and lessen your risk of STIs or unwanted pregnancies.

Don't lose sight of the objective this year - to begin and finish this season SAFELY.