OKMRC Stress Response Team (SRT, Inc) is pleased to announce it has received a $13,000 Community Grant from the Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation.
The grant will be used to develop and deliver an October Virtual Webinar Mental Health-focused Training Series, Building Rural Oklahoma Resilience with four mental health programs offered weekly the first four Tuesdays from October 1 – October 22 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Topics include: ∙ Mental Health and Stress Awareness ∙ Raising Suicide and Overdose Awareness ∙ Responding to Crisis in Children and Teens ∙ Taking a Trauma-Informed Approach Professional continuing education credits are offered at no cost. To Register visit OK-Rural SRTINC.com.https://oksrtinc.com/pages/ Events#OctoberWebinarSeries
Project Description
This is the second year the Carolyn Rural Oklahoma Community Grant Foundation has supported the Rural Oklahoma Resilience Recovery project. Last year in-person programs were provided in seven counties. However, participant feedback suggested a virtual format to increase accessibility. The purpose of the proposed project is to enhance rural community resilience by providing support and education to the community’s social support network that spend many hours working with community members in crisis. The mental health-specific educational programs better prepare communities to respond to the emotional distress caused by recent traumatic events, such as the severe spring storms of 2024 and the COVID-19 Pandemic. One sign of the significant emotional distress and insufficient community resources is reflected in the suicide rates within Oklahoma. Moreover, for every suicide death, there are three hospitalizations related to a suicide attempt, eight emergency room visits, 38 self-reported suicide attempts, and 265 individuals thinking about death by suicide. (https://www.cdc. gov/suicide/facts/index.html) The target audience for this presentation is the community social support network, including public health, mental health systems, the faith community and responder community, as well as Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and leaders. Free continuing education credit will be provided for RNs, CLEET, LPC/LMFT, and Social Workers.
About the OKMRC Stress Response Team The Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps Stress Response Team (OKMRC SRT) is a group of dedicated professionals with backgrounds in disaster health and mental health care. Our focus is providing volunteer disaster health and mental health services to improve community preparedness, response, and recovery. Our members include psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses, among others. The OKMRC SRT is an independent unit of the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps and has been an officially recognized OKMRC Unit since May 2009. This unique unit provides volunteer mental healthrelated response services in the event of state, local and national disasters, or other catastrophic events. The spring storms of 2024 resulted in eight deployments for the Stress Response Team. We responded to interact with impacted families as well as professionals who saw so much devastation.
“We are so appreciative of this funding opportunity to bring these mental-health-focused trainings to rural communities,” says Loren Stein, SRT, Inc. President.
Visit OKMRC.org to learn more about the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps.
About the Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation The Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation was established in 1995 by Carolyn Watson, the late CEO and chairman of Shamrock Bank, N.A. Since then, the foundation has distributed $3 million to support schools, charitable organizations and local government entities in their efforts to enhance the quality of life in rural Oklahoma communities. The foundation’s grant programs are administered by the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.occf. org/ruraloklahoma.
About the Oklahoma City Community Foundation Founded in 1969, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that works with donors throughout the state to create charitable funds that will benefit our community both now and in the future. For more information, visit www.occf.org.
