Individuals from across the state will gather together for the 9th Annual Kansas Recovery Conference, Tuesday, June 16, through Thursday, June 18, at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita. Wichita State University is one of the sponsors.
This year’s conference is “Consumers Empowered: Agents of Change.” It will focus on mental health education, advocacy and empowerment.
Walk-up registrations will be accepted at the Century II Convention Hall beginning Tuesday, June 16.
The conference is free for mental health consumers and $35 for nonconsumers. Meals are included.
Kansas native Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, will join Kansas consumers for a portion of the conference. He is scheduled to give the opening remarks for the Kansas Consumer Advisory Council Annual Meeting on the morning of Wednesday, June 17.
The conference program is built around interactive workshop sessions and daily keynote speakers’ presentations. Workshops are designed to educate mental health consumers and service partners through increased understanding of recovery and recognition of hope beyond mental illness.
Workshop topics include Advocacy and Activism, Beyond Illness, Diversity and Cultural Competency, Stigma, Systems Transformation and Talking about Trauma.
Keynote speakers include Gina Calhoun, a certified peer specialist, Carlton Speight, a public health analyst, and Shery Mead, a consultant and peer provider.
The conference is the largest statewide recovery and empowerment conference for mental health consumers in the nation.
The Recovery Conference is sponsored by the Kansas Consumer Advisory Council for Adult Mental Health Inc., in partnership with the WSU Center for Community Support & Research; Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services; Disability and Behavioral Health Services; COMCARE of Sedgwick County; and the Kansas Chapter of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.
For more information, call Gary J. Parker, (316) 978-5842, toll free at (800) 445-0116, or e-mail kansascac@sbcglobal.net or kscacadcord@sbcglobal.net.
Information and registration can also be accessed at www.kansascac.org.