In this issue

• Kitsap Community Foundation announces $90,000 for behavioral health & health equity programs
• Peer Pathways Conference educates, empowers, and inspires

Connections

NOTICE
Hepatitis A outbreak affecting people living homeless or using drugs in King, Pend Oreille, Snohomish, and Spokane counties. 
More information
Local health jurisdictions

EVENTS

Web series: Intro to Social Security Disability Benefits, Work Incentives, & Employment Support Programs.
Sept. 2019 - June 2020
Register

Webinar: Medication assisted treatment 
Sept. 19 | 8:30AM to 10AM
Register

Yakima Nation, 3rd annual Trauma Informed Care Conference
Sept.18-20 | Toppenish
Register

DBHR rural job development 
Sept. 26 | 10AM to 4 PM
Yakima
Register

NAMI Washington 2019 Annual State Conference 
Oct. 4-5 | Yakima
Register

COD & Treatment WA State Conference
Oct. 7-8 | Yakima
Register

Prevention Summit 2019
Nov.5-6 | Yakima
Register

Greater Columbia ACH learning collaborative: Trauma informed care
Nov. 5 | 8:30AM to 5PM
Kennewick
Register

RESOURCES

Newly updated: opioid use disorder treatment for Medicaid population dashboard focuses on provider capacity for treating OUD, and how enrollees are faring in treatment. 

The Way Home: A Virtual Summit on Homelessness, Serious Mental Illness, and Substance Use Disorders
Summit materials

August enrollment:
6,184 total 
2,501 supportive housing
2,974 supported employment
709 enrolled in both

Kitsap Community Foundation announces $90,000 for behavioral health & health equity programs

The Kitsap Community Foundation has $90,000 to award in 2019 to small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations working on behavioral health and health equity in Kitsap and North Mason counties. This funding is made possible through Premera Blue Cross's its Social Impact Program. 

The application deadline is September 27, 2019

Read the full story.

Peer Pathways Conference educates, empowers, and inspires

HCA staff members (left to right) Amanda Polley, Kimberly Castle, Teesha Kirschbaum, and Dawn Miller at the Peer Pathways Conference last month.

Over 500 people from across Washington convened in Tacoma last month for the 2019 Peer Pathways Conference.

The purpose of the conference is to provide workforce development opportunities for certified peer counselors (peers) in Washington State.

For two days, August 27 and 28, attendees focused on the power of people helping people to break the cycle of poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, chronic homelessness, and unemployment. 

Popular conference speaker, Pat Tucker (center), is a senior program manager for Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. in Chicago. She is seen here with HCA peers Kimberly Castle (left) and Amanda Polley (right).

The title of this year's conference was "Hope lives." To Kimberly Castle, a program specialist and peer at the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), the title was apt, because peers bring hope into the lives of others.

"Peers are people who have lived experience of hardship and recovery," Kimberly explained. "Because of that experience, we are especially able to help others, linking them to programs like HCA's supportive housing and supported employment initiatives."

This was the fourth Peer Pathways Conference, sponsored by HCA.