A new Mental Wellness Workshop slated for Sept. 30 aims to help nonprofit workers deal with stress and burnout from the ever-increasing demands of their jobs.
The workshop is being organized by the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley, the Sisters of St. Joseph Health & Wellness Foundation, River Valley Health Foundation and with additional funding from the Elizabeth Stifel Kline Foundation.
The workshop is slated from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 30 at The Highlands Event Center. The cost is $60 per person.
"This workshop is tailored to support nonprofit workers and other community helpers tackle techniques to prevent burnout and enhance stress management skills," said Jess Puglisi-Sanders, program officer for the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley.
"The (COVID-19) pandemic and current reality continues to shine a very bright light on the heavy lifting being done by nonprofit professionals and community helpers."
She noted burnout in the nonprofit sector is a growing concern compounded by the "Great Resignation."
"We saw indicators of that during our Emergency Impact Fund grants throughout COVID. A few organizations applied for funds to support self-care/mental wellness opportunities for staff as some ... were noticing signs of burnout," she said.
The workshop's main presenter will be Anna Lindberg Cedar, founder of Therapy for Real Life.
"We wanted to host an immersive opportunity to support this huge segment of our community and feel we've hit a home run in partnering with Anna, our subject-matter expert," Puglisi-Sanders said. "She has created an entire practice around strengthening these very necessary, but often pushed aside skills."
The morning workshop is titled "Burnout Prevention Hack-A-Thon." A brief break for lunch on one's own will be followed by the second half, titled "Team-Based Approaches to Stress Reduction."
For those in need of financial help covering the cost of the workshop, the foundation is offering limited scholarship help; call 304-242-3144 or email jess@cfov.org. To register, visit www.cfov.org/wellness.
"This opportunity is an evolution of our existing nonprofit strengthening series, which typically explores topics associated with the work itself, rather than focusing on those performing the work," Puglisi-Sanders said. "We were inspired by the 'you can't pour from an empty cup' concept. None of those other things matter when your most important resource - your team - is struggling."