Ms. Alisa West Cahill, LSW is a licensed social worker with an administrative specialty. Her education and skill set encompass program development, prioritizing data-driven policy and practice, and transdisciplinary collaboration. She leads the Division of Aging Services at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. This Division is home to the Behavioral Health Forum on Aging, which seeks to collaboratively design and implement an age-informed standard and system of care for the older adults of today and tomorrow. In 2016, the Network for Social Work Management selected Alisa as a Senior Policy Fellow for her work in aging.**********************************Ms. West Cahill is a professional working in the field of healthcare and behavioral health, with a focus on integrated care and support for the healthcare workforce. She is associated with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the University of Oklahoma, and she is an advocate for #HealthyAging and #SubstanceUseDisorder prevention.*********************************She has had the opportunity to work primarily with, and/or on the behalf of, older adults & respective caregivers as well as w/ people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. My path began about 25 years ago as a new MSW at the Community Council of Central Oklahoma. This role included leading the collaborative efforts w/incredible stakeholders of the homelessness services sector & resulted in Oklahoma City being one of the early HUD Continuum of Care Communities to implement a Homeless Management Information System. Further, we were able to propel OKC to a pivotal leadership role w/in the then emerging National Human Services Data Consortium. In 2010 my work turned toward specializing in aging, including work at a Veterans Center & providing legislative testimony along with the NASW-OK Exec. Director focused on promoting enhanced living experiences & Family Council development w/in nursing home settings. More recently, & from its inception in 2016, I served as the lead of the Positive Aging Initiative at the Zarrow School of Social Work's Knee Center for Strong Families, now Ruth (and Jr.) Knee Institute for Transformative Scholarship. This Initiative engaged in original research, dissemination, & practice development central to inter-professional workforce competencies that promote the opportunity for older adults to experience positive health & well-being. A highlight was the collaborative development & expansion of an Inter-Professional Positive Aging Continuing Education Track, which was scaled to deliver content recognized by multiple licensure boards & attended by professionals & advocates representing diverse disciplines. I have had the privilege of working w/ stakeholders from multiple jurisdictions, states, & the province of Alberta & have provided an array of presentations at the local, state, national, & international level, many of which highlight the importance of data-driven & inclusive practice. I'm thrilled to share I am now the Aging Services Project Manager w/ the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, where I get to continue the essential work of collaboration, partnership, & capacity development to help ensure all Oklahomans have an opportunity to experience health & well-being as we age. Lastly, as a volunteer over the last 3 decades, I've been granted a range of experiences including being a founding board member of the Central Oklahoma Human Rights Alliance, serving on the NASW-OK nursing home reform ad-hoc committee, & am a member of the Medical Reserve Corps.
✨ In March of this year, to celebrate Social Work Month 2025 – Highlighting this year’s theme – “Social Work – Compassion + Action”, I Wrote an essay in Memory of My Foster Mother, the late Mrs. Ruth Alexandra Cox.
The essay was featured nationally in the "New Social Worker Magazine" (https://www.socialworker.com/extras/2025-social-work-month-project/compassion-my-foster-mother-late-ruth-alexandra-cox/) and the National Association of Social Workers (#NASW) Newsletter, Social Work Smart Brief.🎙️ Now, I’ve brought that story to life in a multi-media montage, blending spoken word, visuals, and music as a further, lasting tribute to her. It speaks of the lasting impact she had on my brother Paul and I, whom she raised along with her husband, Mr. Oden E. Cox, our Foster Dad. You’ll also learn of the greatest gift that she bestowed on my brother Paul and I. It also is recognition of the power of the profession of social work itself.📖 Watch, listen, and join me in celebrating her healing compassion and kindness, in highlighting her legacy of love!!!#SocialWork #FosterCare #SocialWorkAdvocate #LegacyOfLove
Today’s Guest for Episode #2 of our series entitled “Aging in America - The New Realities” Series is Ms. Michele Woodard.Ms. Woodard shares her unique situation that has her serving as the primary caregiver for two immediate family members. In this episode she shares some of the challenges and joys that she experiences personally in this dual role. She also shares some advice about self-care for those in similar situations. Here is a little background on Ms. Woodard:* Michele is a highly accomplished leader in charitable services and corporate philanthropy with exceptional knowledge of donor-advised funds in the finance industry.* She has substantial management experience with local and national nonprofits focused on youth-at-risk, mental health and advocacy.* She served as Vice President of Charitable Services and the Office of Corporate Engagement at Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company for over 20 years, with an emphasis on donor-advised funds and working with donors to facilitate local, national and global giving.* Michele began her college education studying at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York and went on to earn a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling also from the University at Albany, State University of New York.* Ms. Woodard previously launched a highly successful podcast series entitled “Philanthropy Infusion”. She did so during a collaboration with Kelsunn Communications, Inc. The slogan for her podcast series was – “Infusing Equity into Your Philanthropy”.
Kelsunn Communications invites you to look and listen to this trailer advertising the 2nd Episode in our new series entitled "Aging in America - The New Realities". Listen as Ms. Michelle Woodard shares her challenges and joys as a primary care-giver for her mother and another elderly family member.
Dawn E. Shedrick, LCSW is the Current NASW-NYS Suffolk Division Director. She is a clinical social worker, consultant, educator, and writer whose work focuses on the health and wellbeing of family caregivers, trauma survivors, and queer people. She is the founder and principal consultant of JenTex Training & Consulting, a continuing education and professional development firm for health and human services professionals.
Dawn weaves her extensive experiences as her mother’s primary caregiver since 1996. She is a mental health practitioner, trainer, educator, and holistic healer who creates experiences and tools for caregivers to heal from stress and burnout. She also helps health and human services professionals develop the skills to support them in their healing.
On October 31, 2024 NPR (highlighted her experience in a full feature article detailing her personal journey as her mother’s primary caregiver.
(https://bit.ly/3ZSli6T)
She is also the author of Courageous Contemplation: A Guided Journal for Family CareGivers of Chronically Ill, Disabled, and Elderly Loved Ones.
Here reputation as a Subject Matter Expert on the personal joys and challenges of caregiving was skillfully detailed in the online publication “Sisters of AARP”. (https://www.sistersletter.com/author/dawn-e-shedrick-lcsw)
Kelsunn Communications invites you to look and listen to this trailer advertising the 1st Episode in our new series entitled "Aging in America - The New Realities". Listen as Ms. Dawn Shedrick shares parts of her challenging and rewarding journey as a primary care-giver for her mother.
Kelsunn Communications is bringing you this trailer to
introduce an upcoming series entitled "Aging in America - The New Realities" . Stay tuned for more information. Make sure to subscribe to our channel to get all future notifications.
‘The Cold Within" By James Patrick Kinney - An Oral Interpretation This poem contains several important themes. The most important theme of the poem is the harm that selfishness can cause. In this poem the author, James Patrick Kinney depicts the different manifestations of selfishness in people. He also talks about the origin of this “human sin” from the angle of people belonging from the distinct social order. Moreover, the poet presents themes such as rich vs poor, racism, sectarianism, and opportunism in the poem. Apart from that, the last stanza of the poem depicts the theme of spiritual death. However, there are also the themes of indifference and mutual hatred in the poem. It seems that the poet was somehow upset about the lack of compassion and love in modern society. Each person has some wood that would keep the fire going, but they all find a reason not to share it: racism, class prejudice, or straight-up selfishness. All the people freeze to death, but it's the metaphorical "cold within"—their unwillingness to be kind to each other—that really kills them. http://www.allthingsif.org/archives/1405 - For further reference
Kelsunn Communications is proud and honored to bring you this exclusive interview with Social Worker, Ms. @KateTravers, LCSW. She is a “Community Manager”. Ms. Travers provides service to the community through the popular JP Morgan Chase “Community Partners” program. JP Morgan Chase, the well-known global financial institution created the program to bring about “Financial Literacy” education to underserved communities of color.
As a Community Manager, Ms. Travers meets with local leaders and businesses to understand their challenges and then work alongside them to address those challenges. Hired locally, Chase community managers do not promote Chase banking products and services; instead, they focus on local outreach, education and financial independence by:
• Hosting financial health workshops on topics such as budgeting, credit and savings
• Fostering trust, enhancing community engagement, and delivering valuable financial education, among other impactful resources
Chase created the community manager role five years ago when it opened its first Community Center in Harlem. Today there are 150 community managers serving 300 community branches, mostly in low- to moderate-income communities. The additional 75 community managers will enable Chase to have at least one community manager in every one of the 48 states where we have branches as we continue to expand our branch network, covering roughly 50 percent of the Black, Hispanic, Latino population.
According to literature provide by JP Morgan Chase, “A Community Manager is a local ambassador for Chase who is responsible for building and nurturing relationships with key community leaders, nonprofit partners and small businesses – at the neighborhood level”.
Feel free to reach out to Ms. Travers for more information at:
Email: Kate.Travers@Chase.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kate-travers-lcsw-a379878a
Listen in to hear Ms. Travers share a little insight into the basis of the JP Morgan Chase "Community Partners" Program. Also, find out more about when and where you can hear and/or see the entire episode .
November is “National Family Caregiver’s Month”. Let’s honor, recognize, and celebrate those who dedicate their lives to care for their families, especially their elderly family members. Let’s show them that we care for and appreciate them!!
#agingwithdignity #aginggracefully #agingwell #elderly #eldercare #nationalfamilycargiversmonth #urbaninstitute #ncoa #caregiver #caregiveractionnetwork #socialwork #family #sandwichgeneration #aarp #nasw #naswnys #naswnyc #socialworkers
I would like to thank, Madam Melissa Haley, LMSW - President of the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) for this prestigious honor of being featured nationally. I am a proud member of NABSW and an active member of the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter of (NABSW) under the able direction of our dynamic and culture-centered President, Dr. Lisa Newland. I would like to also thank Dr. Newland, Chair of the Malloy University School of Social Work, who advocated for me to be featured. I invite you all to view this video montage summarizing my journey of the last 10 years since I graduated with my Masters in Social Work. These are the video clips included: ** The montage starts at Adelphi the year I graduated, in 2014. I was one of 10 students selected to be featured in Adelphi’s annual “Commencement Day Profiles” on YouTube, I share a clip of that piece! ** Next the montage moves on to my re-uniting, after over 25 Years, with my most impactful Social Worker, the late Mr. Dalton Murchison in 2021 during my Network of Social Work Management Policy Fellowship final presentation (Sadly he passed away one month after I honored him all over the country as part of that presentation). **Then you’ll see Dr. Darla Spence Coffey, who at the time was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), presenting me at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Bi-Annual Awards Ceremony as the “2022 International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award Recipient, and a few short clips of some of my acceptance speech remarks. ** The next clip is a short segment from the 2023 "Faces of Long Island" Newsday Video that shared my journey from “Foster Care to Social Worker”. It includes a snippet of me receiving the “Sarnat award and what it meant to me. award. ** Finally, the montage comes full circle back to my closing statement of my Adelphi Commencement Profile Video. I call on all Social Workers coming into the field at the time to let’s go to work. The last image you see is a graphical montage representing the NABSW!!! And Last, But Certainly Not Least: "Habari Gani" - Swahili for "What Is The News" It is my honor to announce that our Nassau/Suffolk Association of Black Social Workers Chapter Elder, Dear Madam Delores Malloy has blessed me by bestowing the tile of "Griot" on me. That is a tremendous honor that I humbly accept. In African tradition the Griot is known as the storyteller and keeper of the oral tradition. Thank you, “Madam Elder Malloy”!!! ASE!!!
Aging Matters"
According to “The Urban Institute”: https://www.urban.org/. The number of Americans ages 65 and older will more than double over the next 40 years, reaching 80 million in 2040. The number of adults ages 85 and older, the group most often needing help with basic personal care, will nearly quadruple between 2000 and 2040.
According to the “National Council on Aging’s report from October 2023: (https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-healthy-aging) Nearly 56 million Americans are 65 and older, with projections estimating that the population of older adults will grow to 94.7 million in 2060. On average, a 65-year old can expect to live another 17 years. For most older adults, good health ensures independence, security, and productivity as they age.
The "Kelsunn-on-the-Air" Social Work Podcast is honored to bring this vital topic of "Aging Matters" to the forefront of discussions for this segment. You will hear from my two distinguished guests who are:
> Dr. Tara Anglim, EdD, LCSW, ACHP-SW. She has spent her 30-year career working with individuals and families in a variety of systems and clinical settings. She is proud to work within healthcare for the last 12 years, currently serving as Associate Executive Director of Culture and Experience for Peconic Bay Medical Center-Northwell Health. She began there in 2013, where she served as the Associate Director of Palliative Medicine. Her interdisciplinary work and collaborations include piloting a new model for in-home palliative care, implementing community MOLST education across eastern Suffolk County, establishing the hospital’s family caregiver support program, creating a bereavement plan of care for individuals who experience loss, and achieving the hospital’s inaugural Joint Commission Palliative Care Certification in 2017. Dr. Anglim led the creation of PBMC Caregivers Center, which opened in 2018 and was the first of its kind in a hospital on Long Island, dedicated to providing person-centered support, education and resources to family caregivers. Tara received her Doctorate of Education degree from Molloy University, Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University, and her Bachelor of Social Work from Molloy College. Tara is humbled and honored to elevate the stories and lived experiences of family caregivers who ultimately influenced and inspire her interest in research. Tara feels privileged to be able to support individuals and families in her work every day. She is most proud of her own family with husband Kevin and their three children Kevin, Sean & Kate.
> Dawn Shedrick, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker, consultant, educator and trainer. She founded JenTex Training and Consulting as a professional development firm for health and human service professionals. She has been her mother’s primary caregiver since 1996. She weaves her extensive experience in trauma-informed care, social justice, mental health care, and equitable health and mental health care for marginalized communities into her efforts to ensure caregivers have access to effective mental health care and social support. Ms. Shedrick is the author of Courageous Contemplation: A Guided Journal for Family CareGivers of Chronically Ill, Disabled, and Elderly Loved Ones and her writing has been featured in the Sisters from AARP newsletter. Dawn is a lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work where she was an inaugural recipient of the Steven P. Schinke Teaching Innovation Award. She is a doctoral candidate at Teachers College-Columbia University where her action research engages caregivers in the development of tools to support emotional healing and wellness.
#aging #aarp #adelphi #northwellhealth #peconicbaymedicalcenter #nasw #naswnys #naswnys #stonybrookschoolofsocialwelfare #socialwork #socialworkers #nationalcouncilonagaing#cswe #hospice #palliativecare #caregivers #elderly #seniorcitizens #family #agingmatters #grandchallengesofsocialwork
Kelsunn Communications is sharing this trailer that invites you to tune in to an upcoming informative podcast episode on the topic of "Aging" here in America. Here's why this topic is vitally important. ***************************************************************************** According to the “National Council on Aging’s report from October 2023: (https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-healthy-aging) ****Nearly 56 million Americans are 65 and older, with projections estimating that the population of older adults will grow to 94.7 million in 2060. On average, a 65-year old can expect to live another 17 years. For most older adults, good health ensures independence, security, and productivity as they age.
For Immediate Release:
On Thursday, June 13, 2024 this podcast episode was awarded "3rd Place" in the 2024 Press Club of Long Island annual media awards. We invite you to listen to this re-launch of Ms. Cinquemani's powerful and emotional story. Make sure to share, comment, download and subscribe. Thank you!!!
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Ms. Dolores Cinquemani is the author of the widely acclaimed book “A Familiar Stranger”. She describes this as “a book dedicated to those searching for the truth surrounding their birth. Ms. Cinquemani talks about her motivation for writing the book. In the book she describes the heartache of searching for the truth, of searching for her mother. In the interview she talks about growing up in foster care but always knowing that she had a bit mother, out there somewhere.
Ms. Cinquemani previously published 3 books of poetry:
** Unlaced (2013), ** Timepiece (2015), ** The Inner Eye (2019)
She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Stony Brook University, and a Masters of Science from Adelphi University. She is a retired special education teacher from Lindenhurst School District, and currently lives on Long Island.
Kelsunn Communications went on location to the 3rd Annual "BreaKING the Ice" Black Men's Mental Health Conference at Adelphi University on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Here is an Audio Montage of some of the comments shared by some of the attendees, presenters, and producers.
This Kelsunn-on-the-Air Social Work Podcast is a special "Vox Populi" Production! That is Latin for "Voice of The People". Listen to what the people had to say about the conference and the topic!!
Take a listen to this trailer providing a preview of the "Vox Pop" (Latin for "Voice of The People") that will be premiered next week. We will be sharing comments from some attendees of the 3rd Annual Black Men's Mental Health and Wellness Conference!!!
Dr. Tabag discusses the importance of AANHPI Heritage Month, A little about the history of the celebration as well as, looking at the celebration and the cultures from a Social Work viewpoint!
Kari Tabag, PhD, is a Clinical Social Worker currently holding the credentials of LCSW-R. Dr. Tabag has worked in public and higher education settings for the past 21 years. Kari is a school social worker with the New York City Department of Education for the Committee on Special Education, and an adjunct professor in the Master of Social Work program at Adelphi University.
She also maintains a private practice working with adolescents, emerging adults, and families. Kari is co-chair for the Asian American Psychological Association’s (AAPA) Education and Training Committee (ETC) and is a committee member of the National Association of Social Work’s (NASW) New York State Diversity committee. Kari holds a Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University as well as her Doctorate.
Dr. Tabag’s research focuses on the psychological impact of gendered racial microaggressions. She published the chapter, The DSM-5 and the omission of Asperger’s disorder, in The cause of Autism: Concepts and misconceptions (Tabag, 2014). Kari also provides training and workshops with the mission of promoting social justice and advocacy. She is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) on the Chapter & Local Level.
Kelsunn Communications Presents This Special Podcast Relaunch!!
On July 20, 2020 this Podcast was awarded 2nd Place in the Press Club of Long Island, Society of Professional Journalist Annual Media Awards!!!
Listen as Award-Winning Journalist @EmilyNonko discusses her findings on how Public Libraries are turning to Professional Social Workers to assist those in need. Hear how this collaboration to help those in need is becoming a national phenomenon.
Many thanks to the Merrick Library in Nassau County, NY for providing the space for this interview.