Past Events

Thank you to all that attended our past Connection Matters events!

Connection Matters: Reimagining Child Care – April 19, 2024

Thank you for joining us for Connection Matters: Reimagining Child Care, a free community educational panel discussion aimed at tackling one of the most pressing issues in our community and nationwide – access to affordable, high-quality childcare.

Parents, advocates and leaders of the Greater Fox Valley Child Care Alliance discussed how they harness and realign assets to advance local, regional and state action to improve the early childhood care and education system. 

Speakers include: 

  • Lynn Coriano and Suzanne Brault from the Greater Fox Valley Child Care Alliance. 
  • Rachel Blankenship, a Starting Point 2.0 graduate and manager at a childcare facility. 
  • Carolyn Desrosiers, a mother with children in child care and the director of community engagement at the Community Foundation. 
  • Candice Olson, a mother and the grants manager at the JJ Keller Foundation. 

 

 

Connection Matters: Mental Health for Teens and Young Girls – October 10, 2023

Thank you for attending our second Connection Matters event at Catalpa Health on the morning of Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – World Mental Health Day.

This event hosted a panel of mental health counselors and therapists from the Boys & Girls Club of the Fox ValleyUs 2 Behavioral Health CareFox Valley Technical College Counseling and Advising Services, and Catalpa Health focusing on the issues of girls and young women’s mental health and what they are battling.

 

You can view photos from the event here.

Thank you to Barb Merry for sponsoring this event!


Connection Matters: Pandemic Recovery for Women – March 14, 2023

Our first event was hosted on Tuesday, March 14 at Bubolz Nature Preserve featuring a live podcast recording of the Real Vibes Only Podcast. With hosts Karen Iverson Riggers and Lynn McLaughlin, guests were guided through a conversation on dealing with grief when it came to the global pandemic that upended all of our lives three years ago and how we are still feeling the reverberations today. Guests shared raw and vulnerable experiences that they never thought they would face—in an authentic safe space.

Photos from the event can be found here.

Thank you to Barbara and Bill Kelly for sponsoring this event.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify here!

 

Stay tuned to know when our Connection Matters events will be hosted in 2024!