February 2020

Hello my musical friends. A cover tune to share, a favorite of mine, a song of acceptance, for me, it asks the question, will you take me for who I am? For those who have encountered rough times in life, acceptance is not always part of the landscape. Take care, Michael. Live Performance of "If I Were A Carpenter" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLJzSKBvb2U

The initial interaction with a person suffering from religous abuse, like me, is to feel shivers up the spine, and look for the nearest fire exit when someone in the crowd cries out, “Jesus loves you!”

Whenever we read about how to improve our performance, studying efforts, how to focus or sleep better, we can notice that listening to music is being mentioned all the times. We have to agree that music has the power to affect our body, mind and soul, but can it help ease the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease ? Music and Dementia – Is there a connection? According to Jillian Levy (2017) there are several health benefits of music from which we will like to point out the following.

By Yukako Tani, Takeo Fujiwara, Katsunori Kondo, JAMA Network Open, February 7, 2020 Key Points Question Are adverse childhood experiences associated with the onset of dementia later in life? Findings In a large-scale cohort study of 17 412 older Japanese adults, the cumulative number of adverse childhood experiences was associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. Meaning Having 3 or more adverse childhood experiences was associated with increased dementia risk among older...

Inspiring others to find hope in crisis. Crisis and trauma were part of Shelly Pinomaki’s life from the beginning. Her gift for teaching and speaking shines through her own inspiring story of finding hope in tragedy. As a survivor of trauma, Shelly knows firsthand how critical crisis training is, and she’s using her voice to make a difference.

Have you ever wondered what is the motivating force it that relates to how you behave in intimate relationships and how you treat your children? Have you asked yourself how you choose the relationships that you attracted to? The leading theory in psychology today is called Attachment Theory, and for the next several weeks in October, we are going to explore it and its consequences in depth.

By Mike Duffy, ABC 10, February 5, 2020 There is a growing problem on the streets of California, and it could be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country. Seniors are increasingly finding themselves homeless, priced out of highly competitive housing and rental markets. After working for years, many are living on fixed incomes that simply cannot compete with the rise in the cost of living. Without adequate familial and community support, some of these individuals are finding...

By Molly Duffy, The Gazette, February 4, 2020 Last Sunday morning, at Gospel Tabernacle Church, Linda Topinka and a few dozen others sat in red pews and listened to young Cedar Rapidians talk about their experiences with gun violence. Topinka, 71, believes city leaders need to listen more to residents who are directly affected by violence in Cedar Rapids — where two young men, 18 and 22, were shot and killed in January. “We need people from the community to be a part of this,” said Topinka,...

By Caroline Preston, The Hechinger Report, February 6, 2020 Charles Golding looked for two things when he was researching colleges: a top economics program and a connection to his native culture. A Google search led him to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a state flagship school with prize-winning economists and a history of indigenous activism. The university’s Department of American Indian Studies, founded in 1969, is the oldest such program in the country, and it’s located in the...

By Urban Institute, February 5, 2020 Housing court in Saint Paul, Minnesota, opens just before 9 a.m. on a frigid Tuesday in early November. Dozens of nervous tenants file in, checking in with the clerk at the front of the room and then finding a seat on the long, padded benches angled toward the podium. There isn’t much privacy in this small space, but there’s no question why people are here: it’s housing court, and every case involves an eviction. Ramsey County and the surrounding region...

By Angeline Spain, Angela Sander, and Amanda Brownd, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, 2020 Pediatric well-child visits represent a critical, often untapped opportunity to ask families about unmet social care needs and connect them with early childhood and other community services. Innovating in this space to address social determinants of health, early childhood organizations are increasingly building healthcare partnerships with the goal of increasing family access to services and...

By Will Carruthers, Pacific Sun, February 5, 2020 North Bay residents don’t appreciate the scale of a crime happening all around them, despite an increased effort at public outreach over the past decade, according to a local nonprofit director. “Human trafficking happens every single day,” says Christine Castillo, the executive director of Verity, a Sonoma County nonprofit that offers services and support to trafficking victims and sometimes coordinates with law-enforcement agencies...