On Dec. 7th NWH Director Anton Preisinger attended the 28th Kitsap County Conference for Human Rights.

I sat in on 3 workshops followed by a delightful lunch and 3 discussion tables and it was a great opportunity to think about a variety of human rights challenges, have some great chats, and do a bit of networking all in one.

The first workshop I attended was titled: Building Community Through Volunteering with Tamra Ingwaldson of United Way of Kitsap County. This workshop started early and was fairly short, consisting mostly of an overview of the United Way’s Get Connected volunteer management platform, volunteerkitsap.org. It’s a great platform and NWH has created a profile and now has some volunteer opportunities that are specific for the Kitsap area available there.

Because the first workshop finished early, I was able to bounce on over to a second in the opening time slot titled: Affordable Housing with Regina Adamson of Kitsap Public Market. I missed a bit of this meeting but it was a very valuable introduction to some active folks in the region and a few tools. Unfortunately I don’t have my notes with me as I’m writing this because it’s Christmas and I left them at home…but it was great!

The third workshop I attended was titled Peer Support 101: Building Community Resiliency with Pattie Marshall of the Health Care Authority Behavioral Health and Recovery Division. I really enjoyed this meeting and learned a lot about the Peer Support program and other resources available to our neighbors who’s coping strategies result in addiction.

Following lunch I got to sit with some very thoughtful and caring people at tables discussing Mental Health, Homelessness, and Access to Medical Care. Great discussions ensued and the secrets to life and happiness are now recorded in a notebook somewhere in my home office. In all honesty, it was a fun experience and I look forward to next year’s event. Unfortunately I didn’t have the appropriate time to commit to this write-up so it’s a little cursory but I needed to get something down for it.