Finn Mott joins Gerry Lopez on this episode of the community stream podcast to talk about his struggle with cancer at a very young age and how that affected his life and gave him a glimpse of his own mortality and a true sense of gratitude for everyday existence.

He has since gone on to try and give back to other young people who might be struggling in the valley, working with organizations like Mountain Youth. During our conversation Finn talks about the challenges of getting through High School while also undergoing chemotherapy, the amount of depression he went through as a young person dealing with the heavy burden of a cancer diagnosis, how he chose to see the positivity in his struggle, and how he found a new outlet in sports like track and mountain biking and in giving back to the youth.

Megan Burch joins Michelle Dibos to talk about how the Department of Human Services has been effected during the Covid 19 crisis, what they have put in place to try and better service the community during a time of great financial and emotional need, and how they can be prepared to deal with any other troubles we might have as we move forward with an uncertain future.

During our conversation Megan describes what the Department of Human Services does for Eagle County, the effects Covid has had on some of it's more disenfranchised members and what is being done to try and help them, why we have seen a drop in child abuse numbers during the quarantine and what that could actually mean, some of the resources that exist out there to help young parents in times of stress, and how we can come together as a community and help each other.

Chris Lindley sits down with Sharron Raggio and Chris Rieder to discuss Mind Springs Health and how they have been affected by Covid 19, the effects they feel like it's had on the mental well being of the community, what the future of telehealth could look like for their organization, how they have been able to adapt to the needs of their clients under new health restrictions, and some of the statistics they have seen concerning behavioral health.

During their conversation Chris asks what type of positive outcomes they might see as a result from the quarantine, what could be done at the state level to assist them, and how we can come together as community to assist others who might be struggling.

Superintendent of Eagle County Schools Phillip Qualman is joined by Dr. Casey Wolfington to discuss what the future of our educational system might look like, how Eagle County Schools have been preparing for next fall, and the possibility of a hybrid based learning system.

Options may combine the more traditional aspect of school with home based learning, and how all of this has effected our kids, the parents, and our community. During our conversation Phil addresses questions about the several different plans that they are putting into place to be ready for whatever next fall might bring, how we can use this time to evolve and improve our current educational system, and how they have gone about trying to address the emotional well being of the students during these trying times.

EVBH youth engagement coordinator Gerry Lopez joins the podcast to tell his story of growing up in the Eagle River Valley, struggles he faced as a high school student that led to suicidal thoughts and luckily a new outlook on life presented by a mentor and coach.

Gerry discusses what led him to want to give back and be a voice and an ear for the youth in this community.  During our conversation Gerry tells me about some of the unique challenges young people are faced with today, the positive message of "climbing your mountains" that he tries to convey to others, what inspires him to want to continue giving back, and the advice he gives to young people and their parents who are facing some of the challenging situations of growing up.

Carrie Benway and Cathy Schneider join the podcast to talk about how Colorado Mountain Medical's new Intensive Outpatient Services, along with the Hope Center's crisis response team, have filled a gap that used to exist in how we respond to and treat behavioral health.

During our conversation Carrie and Cathy discuss the impetus behind implementing these programs, what sets them apart from normal styles of response and treatment, how group therapy can sometimes highlight the overlap in behavioral health issues, what our younger community members are facing and what the unique response to them looks like, and how one can go about taking advantage of these services.

Chris Romer and Dana Erpelding join the podcast to talk about how Covid 19 has effected our local economy and what the path forward looks like for business, as well as the community.  During our conversion Chris outlines what the next several phases of openings will look like.

We also talk about what the projections might be for the next several months for tourism and out of county visitors from across the state, as well as how that will effect the overall economy.  Also how businesses must become creative in these times of hardship and help each other out with ideas on driving customers towards one other, the programs that are out there to help individual employees and small business survive the next several months, what the psychological and behavioral health effects look like during this time, and how we must strive to be compassionate towards our community members and local business owners.

Dr. Casey Wolfington and Mike Richards join the podcast to talk about behavioral health challenges and how EVBH is implementing new technologies to help make it easier and more accessible for people to be able to focus on their mental well being and seek help when it's needed.

During our conversation we discuss some of the unique challenges that small mountain resort towns can sometimes deal with, how a community can come together to face them with the help of technology, and how we can begin to look at managing and maintaining our mental health like we would our physical health.

Erin Ivie, Chris Lindley, and Ric Stovall sit down for episode 2 of the podcast to discuss suicide prevention, depression, addiction, and the mental well being of mountain resort towns after a couple of tragic events that recently happened in Summit County.

During the discussion we talk about some of the signs that parents should look for in their own children, how isolation during the covid quarantine has effected people's mental well being, the way we can prepare ourselves to be in shape both mentally and physically to deal with future viruses, and how we can continue to positively move forward as a community in our support and interaction with each other.

Join Chris Lindley, Heath Harmon, and Ric Stovall on the first episode of Eagle Valley Behavioral Health's new podcast series "Community Stream Pod" as they discuss how we move forward as a community during the trying times of Covid 19.

Dive into what the new measures put in place mean for this Eagle Valley, what we can expect over the coming weeks, and how to remain positive and look for the silver lining in the midst of so much uncertainty.