Women2Women Magazine Summer 2020 by Hoffmann Publishing Group

School of Graduate & Adult Education

gradandadult@alvernia.edu

CONNECT GROW LEAD

Rachael Romig, Editor

606 Court Street • Reading, PA 19601 berkswomen2women.com • 610.376.6766

Women2Women Council:

Toni Eckert, Maria Mitchell, Mary Ann Moffitt, Julia Nickey, Mary Jean Noon, Tracy Parmer, Regina Rinehimer, Rachael Romig, Brenda Rosado

Trish Shermot, Alison Snyder, Vanessa Wanshop

Women2Women is Greater Reading Chamber Alliance’s catalyst for developing women leaders and connecting women from diverse backgrounds to learn, share ideas, and mentor each other. W2W offers a forum for women to create connections, gain knowledge, and build strategic alliances to foster their personal potential and career advancement. Joining the network is open to all who support women and Women2Women Magazine is a publication of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance.

To join: W2W@greaterreading.org

Stay connected: BerksWomen2Women.com Facebook.com/BerksWomen2Women

Instagram www.instagram.com/berks_w2w

LinkedIn: Berks Women2Women Twitter: @berksW2W

Reflections

What a crazy time to be inducted into editorship of the Women2Women magazine! As the Director of Women2Women, and Executive Director of events for the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, the task of working remotely, transitioning events to a fully virtual platform, and still keep women connected has been a whirlwind. But as we make it through the fog, I now have a plethora of new skills and experience to share with others. But it wasn’t easy, and I got real about it for our feature story “Innovative Business Practices for Working Women.”

If you were able to attend Day One of our Women2Women Digital Leadership Summit you experienced a big piece of this transition on the events side of connection. You can read more about the event on page 14. Even if you didn’t attend the event, you have been experiencing remote working and all of your own transitions. We reached out to women in our networks to learn more about their experiences, bloopers, and how they have coped over the past few months. While we didn’t want to focus solely on our “new normals,” we felt this time deserved recognition. More and more responsibility was put on an already overfull plate… yet we endured!

To look to the future, we dreamt of conferences we would love to attend, books we want to read, and how some aspects of our lives got a little simpler. Like virtual counseling and telehealth appointments, you no longer need to go to the doctor to talk through issues. Do it virtually, save the gas, make it even more private.

No matter what we decide to do moving forward, these past few months have been hard. The world seems to be spinning faster, and at times more aggressively, so remember to be kind to each other and be kind to yourself. We’re all in this together and your strength is needed!

Rachael Romig

Executive Director of Events & Special Programs

Women2Women | Family Business Alliance

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Jessica Bezler Reading Hospital – Tower Health

Heather Christie Real Estate Associate Broker & Author

Sara Frassinelli Spherion Staffing Services

Kelly Hancock Community Volunteer

Tracy Hoffmann Hoffmann Publishing Group

Amy Impellizzeri Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing

Amy B. Klatt Herbein + Company, Inc.

Karen Klein Fulcrum Information Resources

Rosa Parra Palo Magazine

Rachael Romig Greater Reading Chamber Alliance

Monica Rush Penn State Health – St. Joseph

Innovative Business Practices Due to COVID-19 Leading During a Crisis:

The week of March 8 started with a tongue-incheek meme on social media warning teachers about a potential “week from hell” due to the change to daylight savings time on March 8, a full moon on March 9, and for the superstitious, Friday the 13th. The meme turned out to be spot-on, but for an unforecasted and far more serious reason. On March 13, all Pennsylvania schools were shuttered in accordance with Governor Tom Wolf’s order, designed to protect students and communities from the impact of the coronavirus.

Since that week, not only schools, but businesses, non-profit organizations, health-care facilities, and families have been grappling with the avalanche of news, closures, restrictions, and guidelines that have been put in place to safeguard the health and wellbeing of everyone.

This unplanned and unprecedented event has upended everyone’s “normal.” Businesses and individuals have been forced to work and think in new ways, while dealing with unimaginable levels of uncertainty.

Women2Women spoke with two women to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their lives and their business. Rachael Romig, Executive Director of Events & Special Programs at the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, gives us a look at how she adapted to working from home and sharing her new workspace with her husband, also working from home, and their infant son.

Like Rachael, Julie Carman, Assistant General Manager of Seidel Hyundai, is a wife and mother to an infant son. Julie gives us insight on how the pandemic has changed the nature of sales and service at the car dealership, and what changes may be here to stay.

RACHAEL ROMIG, Executive Director of Events & Special Programs, GRCA

Tell me about your family and what a typical workday was like in February.

Oh, how I miss February. My husband and I live in Wyomissing with our son Henrik (who I often call Henry). In February, he was four or five months old. Let me back up a little bit because I feel like I’ve been put on a roller coaster. In early December I started taking my son to daycare at the Goddard school and of course that was hard. But when I went back to work, I was very happy because I love working. I love structure. I love going into the office, but I was in a funk, either postpartum or something, until the end of February. By the end of February, I was finally just getting out of this funk. Mid-March is when we were told to stay home and I plummeted back into just not feeling myself again and I was having a hard time dealing with it.

When things were normal, I would wake up, get ready, and take my son to daycare. My husband Zach and I would both go into the office and he would pick Henry up after work. We’d come home and would spend some time together and then Henry would go to bed by seven. It was very productive because we were both working in an office. I did think that we didn’t have as much time with Henry as we liked, but I never ever considered being a stay-at-home mom, ever. I respect women that choose to do that because it’s so hard. We had a normal structured schedule.

When you found out that you would be working from home in mid-March, did your husband also start working from home?

He actually was sick and had a bad cold and that’s when all this stuff about Corona started coming out. He said, “Rachael, just to be safe, I think we should quarantine.” We actually quarantined a week before we were forced to because my husband is very conscientious and thought we should stay home just in case. I explained the situation (to GRCA) and they said okay. Within the week, everyone had to stay home anyway.

What kind of accommodations did you have to make to work from home?

I had to go into the office and just get all my files. I wish that I was more electronic, but I definitely have paper and To Do lists and physical items that I got and brought home. My husband can work electronically as a financial advisor, so he was good. We don’t have an office so I had to set up a home office in the dining room because we moved all of our rooms around when Henry was born. I’ve been working in the dining room and it’s definitely been tough.

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Do you and your husband have separate workspaces at home?

Right now we’re both sharing the dining room. I realized that he likes to work in extreme quiet and that’s the only time he can be productive, while I can block everything out. I am hesitant to play with Henry downstairs in the living room right now so I don’t bother him. I do chores around the house. I’m going to see if he’ll help me bring down our desk from the attic so I can set it up in our guest bedroom, even though there’s not a lot of space, but at least then he can work in there, and not be bothered.

How do you care for Henry while you’re both working?

We looked at our schedules and the recurring meetings that we had with our associated staffs. I have more Zoom meetings than he does with the full staff. We decided that we would work halfdays each day to give each other a block of four to five hours of unbroken work time. In the beginning we were just sort of doing it all willy-nilly and neither of us was productive. We came up with a really good system where I work some days in the morning and he works some days in the morning. We care for Henry while the other is working. We also have a schedule now based on when we work on who puts him to bed and who wakes up with him.

How has the nature of your work changed?

We have both been working on weekends to get more done, and we just to the point where we’re comfortable seeing my mom. She’s been quarantining so that she can watch Henry a little bit. She watched Henry for six hours yesterday and we both worked. I work at night a lot, so I’m at the point where there is really no off time. When he’s napping, I’m checking emails. I don’t feel as productive at all. It’s been very hard with a child around all the time.

It sounds like there is no beginning or end to your workday.

There’s definitely no beginning and end anymore. It’s whenever I can get work done because I just don’t have the time during the day. I’ve explained that to a lot of people when they see my emails coming through at 10 at night or on a Sunday. I’ve said to them, “If you see it come through, please don’t feel like you need to answer me. That is just my work time now.”

Have you learned anything new about yourself as a result of this new working situation?

None of them are positive. It just reinforced the kind of person I am. I’m definitely struggling being so secluded. I’ve never had a normal workday. Sometimes there would be an event in the morning or at night, lots of meetings, meeting people over lunch, and just being very collaborative. I’m the person that walks around the halls and just says hi to everybody at lunch. I use the word struggle because it just reinforced the kind of person that I am. And it does make me think, if this is how it is for a lot longer, am I going to be able to make it because I don’t know. I don’t know how to live like this.

And even when we go into the yellow phase and daycare opens, I don’t even know if I’m comfortable sending Henry to daycare yet. So now I’m just forcing myself to be at home longer because

I’m nervous for my son’s health. The only positive is that I really chose a life partner well. We aren’t annoyed with each other. We still have date nights when we can. We still laugh a lot and I’m happy that I’m here with someone that’s so supportive of me emotionally, honestly, when I’m like having a breakdown.

These are extraordinary times. We’re all just trying to just get through each day. I think everyone has had a breakdown at some point. There’s so much uncertainty.

As a human race, our century, and what we’ve lived through, we are so very lucky and so very spoiled in that. That’s why this is so hard for us because we’ve never been told you can’t do anything or you can’t have this. It’s just a real big shock for everyone because the generations before us that went through the depression or serious famine or anything that could be comparable to this are no longer here with us. So we are in a world that has no idea what it’s like to do something like that.

When we are able to go back to the traditional office environment, do you envision taking any lessons you’ve learned or adopted with you? I definitely will remember to turn off work when I get home. But I’m going to run into the office, don’t get me wrong. That’s because I really enjoy my job and I love working, and the social

aspect of it all, and feeling productive. But I was working all the time and I was bringing it home and I was constantly thinking about it. And now, look at all you’re getting done in half the time. There’s no reason why you need to constantly be thinking about work.

What have you been doing to build uncertainty into your future projects or plans?

A big piece is the idea that anything is possible. I was in a training webinar that asked us to imagine one word that pops into your head. The word that kept coming up for me was adapt. I think a lot of people would feel that way.

I’m very much a make a plan, execute the plan, evaluate the plan person. And at this point I had to adapt everything I was doing to reach the same amount of people to continue moving forward with my events. You literally have to be ready to change your plan. It doesn’t matter if you did it this way all the time. So many people, when you’re in meetings, they say, “Well, we always did it that way. It works that way.” Until it doesn’t and then you have no other ideas. So always brainstorm and stay creative. It’s because of our team brainstorming and thinking creatively that we were able to transition so many things for Women2Women and the Chamber so quickly. So maybe I’ll be just be a little looser on my firm set plans.

What have you been doing to fill the social void that we’re all experiencing?

I definitely do Zooms with friends and family. I go on walks a lot with Henry, but then again, I’m still not really seeing anybody, but at least I can be out in the world. We’re at a point where we are comfortable being with a select number of family members and not fully social distancing. I know some people don’t agree with that, but I’m very conscious of who my family is seeing and we’re very communicative and open about it because when it comes down to it for all of our mental well-being, we’re going to need to make some choices sooner or later like that. I was just ready to make those decisions now. But it’s still only my mom, so that’s about it really.

Is there anything else that you would want to share?

This whole thing just really humanizes everyone and transitioned my whole thought process. I have openly said when I’m in the office and when I’m working, I don’t even want you to know that I have a kid because I’m very focused on work and I pride myself on being professional. And that’s just so silly because I can’t separate the two like that. People have gotten a look into my life now and I’m okay with that. I wasn’t okay with it at first, looking into everyone’s homes and their lives and what they’re dealing with. If they’re honest with you, everyone is struggling in some way or another, whether there was parenting or not. And it just made me really look at people differently. I think that’ll be something really great that I take with me out of this.

JULIE CARMAN, Assistant General Manager

Seidel Hyundai

What is your role at Seidel Hyundai?

I am the assistant general manager and have been working there for four years. My overall responsibilities are payroll, warranty administrator, rebate administrator and 401(k).

When did you start working from home?

I’ve been home (on maternity leave) with the baby since January, so I actually never got to go back in to work. I started working at home a month and a half ago since the stay-at-home order was put in place.

Have you had to make any accommodations for your job to work from home?

I did with the warranty side since that is typically done in the dealership, with all the paperwork. But we ended up purchasing an online system in order to do that from home, along with the rebates. We had to start scanning all our paperwork and figure out how to do electronic signatures with customers. I’m working with them over the phone now instead of in person.

How long did it take to decide to get an online system and move everything over electronically?

Within the last year we had been hoping to switch everything into an electronic system, where we had a cloud that we could store information. We hadn’t gone ahead and bought it because it’s a big transition and we had to think about which company we wanted to use and the best way to get rid of the papers. We ended up hiring a shredding company because it’s all personal information on the paperwork. We’ve been thinking about it for a year and luckily, we had done research on companies so we just had to go ahead and jump on with one pretty quick.

I had been going in to the dealership file room just to start scanning everything. It took about a month to get last year’s information scanned. We haven’t gone back past that yet because we haven’t needed to, but our goal is to get rid of all of the paper copies because we have a room just filled with filing cabinets of every repair order since about 1990. We have to keep it on file up until a certain point in case things happen with people’s cars, and some people still have their cars dating back to then. We keep everything.

What about for the dealership itself? What has changed for the sales department?

Our sales actually got completely shut down from March 17 until the end of April. We couldn’t sell cars at all, in person or online. It was just completely shut down by the governor. We unfortunately couldn’t do anything. And it was tough because we were still open for service. Customers were coming in wanting to

look at cars and needing new cars. Maybe they had a big repair bill and would have found it financially better to purchase a new car. And we weren’t allowed to show them a new car. We couldn’t even walk the lot with them to explain features of the vehicles. It was tough and it was really tough for our salespeople who rely on commission because with unemployment, it doesn’t base off your commissions at all, so it was really tough for them.

Now that we’re open, we’re still only allowed to sell online. We’re not allowed to do any contact with people. We drop the car off at their house for them to test drive for an hour or two, however long they need, and we pick it up. We go through a big sanitizing before and after the vehicle is test driven. We do all the paperwork over the phone with them and through electronic signatures now.

How have customers adapted to this new way of buying a car?

We have a lot of customers that like it, but we have a lot of older customers who aren’t very happy about it. But we still have people wanting to buy cars. Our first day open, we sold eight cars online. So that was great.

But it’s tough. People like to sit face-to-face with a salesperson. I think that’s one thing people still would prefer to do in person. It’s tough for some customers to trust the process, but we’re trying to make it as easy for them as possible. I’d say the younger population likes it a lot better. But for the most part, our overall customer is not the younger person.

What kind of changes, if any, have you had to make on the service side?

Our service department has been open the whole time. We weren’t allowed to have any customers in the waiting room. Everybody had to drop off their cars and we had to take a much more limited number of customers because we had to keep what they call a ghost staff, which was under 10 people.

We could not keep all of our mechanics every day. They had to do a rotation. We cut our service hours almost in half in order to keep the social distancing with our staff. But overall, we still had a good flow of customers. I don’t think we struggled too much in the service side, but customers who like to sit and wait for their cars had to find other ways of transportation back home. We weren’t allowed to have anybody in the waiting room or outside the building in the parking lot.

Berks County is still in the red zone. What changes will you be making as the county moves from red to yellow to green?

For the service department, I believe we have to wait until we’re in the green to have people in our waiting room because of its size. But we plan to maintain social distancing, even when in the green, by having less chairs in the waiting room. We’re going to get more benches so people can sit outside when it’s nice out. We plan on providing a shuttle service to our customers. It’s not happening right now, but we’ll shuttle people home if they want during their service appointments. Our shuttle vehicles are going to be heavily sanitized. We’re going to continue that as well.

What about on the sales side? How do you see the evolution from red to yellow to green?

Right now, we aren’t allowed to walk out with customers on the lot. We have a tent outside and one salesperson can be out front with them and talk to them, but the salesperson isn’t allowed to go out and show them a car and they’re not allowed to take them on the test drive. They can hand over the keys and let them take it. But it’s not like we can walk out with you and go over the car with you. We can go over it over the phone.

When it opens up, we plan on only having a certain number of customers in the showroom at one time, and we plan on having every other sales desk available until we’re in the green. When we go to green, we’ll be able to use our sales desks because they do have walls between them. But just for social distancing purposes, we don’t want to have 10 customers in the showroom at one time filling up every single desk. We were going to try and space it out so that there are customers out in the parking lot test driving while the other customers are inside doing their paperwork.

You had to rethink how you conduct your business. Has there been any upside to this disruption?

The overall cleanliness of everything has stepped up greatly. I don’t mean that it was dirty or anything, but sanitizing vehicles every time someone test drives them or the shuttle, is great just because people get colds and other illnesses anyway. Overall, it’s important to keep up the cleanliness more than you usually would. That’s affected lots of businesses, just cleaning desks off more often. I think that we’ll definitely keep up with that. And I think that that’s a positive. It might help people not get sick throughout the whole year with colds as well.

Also, before the pandemic hit, we were trying to think of ways to attract more millennials into purchasing vehicles because our typical customer is a little bit older than them. How do we attract 16- to 25-year olds? Through this, we found that they’re the ones who were at home for us to drop cars off to do all the paperwork online.

We’re going to continue to offer that (remote) service to people if that’s what’s easier for them. We had done that for some of our elderly customers who don’t want to come in or couldn’t find a way over, but still needed to purchase a vehicle. We’re going to continue to offer that every time and I think that’s going to help us get that new customer that we’re looking for a way to attract. We also purchased iPads for the salespeople so all their paperwork can be on an iPad with electronic signatures instead of signatures on paper copies. We’re going to incorporate it in our service department too. We won’t have to print out every repair order and every sales contract. This way the customer can sign everything and it’ll go automatically to our cloud. The customer can have access to all of their paperwork as well through the cloud.

How have these changes impacted the employees?

Now that our salespeople and everyone is back, I think that it made everybody much more grateful for being able to be at work and much more appreciative of the way things regularly were run. I think everybody’s just very grateful to be back and to try out these new things and find out that they’re working.

Have there been any positive side effects to dealing with the pandemic and shutdown?

The Berks County car dealers overall, they talk to each other and work together to come up with new ideas they can do to help each other and that’s great. They started working together to try and get the governor to open up sales because they all had so many people who still needed cars. They worked together to write letters and now they’re still working together, which is really nice.

By Karen Klein Fulcrum Information Resources

Editor’s Note: As July rolled in, Berks moved to the green phase allowing many to return to the office but others still remained at home. We hope you all have found some balance in these changes and can take tips from this article to help you manage your day-to-day. Stay safe!

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME: EXCEPT WHEN HOME IS THE OFFICE

Take a trip back in time all the way back to…January 2020. A time before the COVID-19 health pandemic when many of us made commutes to work and home again that were measured in miles, not feet.

According to Forbes Women, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival in the United States, approximately 4.7 million Americans worked remotely at least half the time. That number comprises over 3% of the entire workforce and represents a 140% increase in remote workers since 2005.1

Now, add to that number hundreds of thousands more workers joining the remote work sector, at least temporarily. Many of these employees, including myself, left the office one evening and have not been back in the office since. Thrust overnight into the world of remote work and under quarantine-like social conditions to boot, according to Cindy Gerber Tomlinson, Executive Coach at Groove Consulting, people generally had one of three reactions:

• Vacation! All Netflix, all the time!

• Workaholism! Dinner? We don’t need no stinking dinner!

• Balance. Give yourself enough of everything, every day.

SO HOW DOES ONE MAKE THE MOST OF WORKING REMOTELY?

• Define a work space. A work space can be an actual room dedicated as an office or it may be a part of your home where you can claim some work-related real estate. Either way, be sure it is a place you can dedicate to WORK. Your work space should have good lighting, access to your tech tools (i.e. WI-FI, printer, charging station, etc.) and allow for minimal distractions. Also, keep your work space precisely that: WORK space. If you have an office room, close the door when done for the day. If you don’t have an office room, pack up your tech and papers and stow them out of sight until the next day. Doing so will help maintain the boundary between work and home.

• Focus on the most important work. Remote workers can fall prey to the fallacy that doing more equals maximum productivity. Since managers/supervisors cannot “see” what you are doing, there is pressure to create output even if it is irrelevant. Talk with your manager/supervisor on a regular basis (or conversely, talk to your team members) about what tasks are mission critical and what deadlines need to be met. Resist the temptation to multi-task and instead prioritize the work. Need help keeping track? Try some of these tools to help:

• Microsoft To Do • Google Tasks

• Evernote

• Calendar

• Pen & Paper (Old fashioned but highly effective!)

• Establish & maintain a routine. “Routine is essential – plan time every day for each life segment and do it!” says Gerber Tomlinson. Routine, particularly in an environment that is anything BUT routine, can give one a sense of peace, comfort and security.2 It can be tempting to sleep in since you don’t have a morning commute. DON’T DO IT! If you normally get up at 6:00 AM, do it. Go for a run or do a workout, do it. Grab a mid-afternoon cup of coffee, do it. Routine is a way of controlling our environment and it is one of the few things we CAN control. Take advantage of that fact!

• Stay connected. It can be difficult to create or maintain a work culture across a remote workforce, however, technology allows us to try. Collaborative workspaces like SLACK and Microsoft Teams let remote workers communicate and share information in real time. Video tools such as Microsoft Teams, ZOOM and WebEx (free versions are available and easy to set up) are a great tool for conducting virtual one-on-one’s, sales calls, team meetings and webinars. Don’t forget the social aspects of connecting as well! Virtual Happy Hours, Lunch & Learns and networking are giving us the opportunity to see our colleagues and customers in new ways (literally).

• Minimize distractions. It is easy to turn off the television or resist the urge to unload the dishwasher (maybe). It is much more difficult to shut out the barrage of e-mails, texts and social media that functions on a 24/7 schedule. The constant glances at every “ding” that emanates forth from our devices can consume hours of the work day, stealing time from tasks that actually require your attention. Consider shutting off notifications for texts and apps. Schedule time to check and respond to e-mails. Remember, technology does not control you!

• Take care of yourself & check in on others. Adjusting to remote work takes time, especially if it is new to you. If something isn’t working for you, acknowledge it and adjust. Recognize that what works for you may not work for others so respect differences in work styles. Don’t forget to check on your colleagues. Finally, give yourself time during the work day to refresh and recharge!

In the post-COVID-19 world, remote work will increase as companies recognize the benefits such as lower employee turnover and savings in overhead spending.3 Creating a good remote work environment and good habits can ensure that even if your home is your office, there is still no place like it! 2

By Kirsten P. Haas Executive Director, Girls on the Run of Berks County

Sources: 1, 3 “The Ultimate List of Remote Work Statistics-2020 Edition” by Dragomir Simovic

2 “Remote Working Strategies”, presented May 1 by Cindy Gerber Tomlinson, Groove Consulting

CONNECT GROW LEAD

DIGITAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

THE CONFERENCE + EXPO GOES VIRTUAL!

As you saw in our last issue, we were so excited to bring the annual Women2Women Conference + Expo to you but then boom! No more gatherings! So many organizations decided to cancel their events during this time, but not Women2Women. We know how important and awaited our Conference is because it gives the women in Berks a chance to connect over likeness, and support and celebrate each other. Not to mention the speakers and keynotes are always excellent!

The transition to a virtual online platform wasn’t easy…but it was so worth it! Instead of having our Conference + Expo on one day, it is now a Digital Leadership Summit spaced out across four days. We will be hosting one event per month, and registration will include a full day pass to the Virtual Expo.

Connections + Women-Owned Business

To ensure that we still offered opportunity for connection, networking, a look at our 2020 sponsors and our Virtual Expo Exhibitors, we decided to invest in an app called Attendify. It is here in this app (and desktop platform) that we have our “social media feed” in real time, networking channels based on your interest, an opportunity to support and celebrate each other through chat and an overview of our 4-month schedule.

DAY ONE

CELEBRATED ON JUNE 25, 2020

Kick Off Keynote + 2020 ATHENA

June 25th marked the Kick Off of our Digital Leadership Summit! With over 140 women in attendance, we were inspired by our 2020 ATHENA, Crystal Gilmore Harris, and laughed out loud to the keynote speaker Jessica Holmes.

Breakout Session 1

Unapologetically Authentic: Brave Not Perfect

Hear Verna’s personal journey of becoming unapologetically authentic and learn to identify inauthentic living & behaviors. You will be able to make peace with your past, love your present and get excited about your future through visualization meant to leave you feeling self-empowered and joyful. This workshop is designed to show you how dimming your light for the sake of acceptance wreaks havoc on your soul. Verna wants you to live with purpose and not just exist in conformity.

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AUGUST 12, 2020

Presenter: Gladine Frasso, Regional Environmental Health & Safety Engineer + Owner/Coach of I Am Mentally Tough

Breakout Session 2

Game On: Using Mental Toughness as a Compass

Do you know how to mentally prepare yourself for the goals that you have set forth for yourself? Do you know how to mentally bounce back from failure when things do not go as planned? During the different stages in our lives we are faced with challenges that talent and skill alone can’t get us through. Many of us are too quick to accept defeat, or too quick to give up instead using our most powerful tool – Mental Toughness. Join Gladine as she discusses how she used Mental Toughness to:

• Overcome challenges in sports that led her to become one of the greatest athletes in history on her high school and college basketball team

• Advocate for herself in her professional career as a Regional Environmental Health and Safety Engineer

• Launch her side hustle I Am Mentally Tough where she provides strategies and tips to athletes to help them gain Mental Toughness and play at an elite level

• Take on the most important and rewarding role she’s ever had – Motherhood

DAY FOUR SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

Send Off Keynote + De Mujer a Mujer Awards Ceremony

In 2019 we hosted the first annual De Mujer a Mujer Awards Ceremony at the Crowne Plaza celebrating the successes and drive of three amazing women across the categories Young Latina, Small Business, and Community Impact. We are excited to host this again, but in front of a larger audience!

Presenter:

Jen Jamula, Founder, Creative Director, and Lead Coach –GoldJam Creative

Pictured with GoldJam Partner Allison Goldberg (right).

Engaging Male Allies / Tools to Unbias

Your Life or Office

Overview: Discussions about gender bias often place blame on men or leave them out of the conversation altogether. However, achieving gender equality requires everyone’s concerted commitment. During this interactive keynote, Jen will provide tools for rewiring individual biases, speaking up productively against microaggressions, and engaging male allies. Attendees will strengthen their understanding of how gender bias manifests in the workplace, learn how to address or adjust unintentional behaviors to be more inclusive, and enhance their ability to uplift female-identifying colleagues and make positive change. They will have a chance to ask questions in a guilt-free zone.

Jen Jamula is an entrepreneur, coach, and performer whose work looks at communication in the Digital Age. She and collaborator Allison Goldberg have helmed several artistic projects that have been featured on Good Morning America, in Forbes, WIRED Magazine, VICE, Newsweek, theSkimm, and more. The pair was featured on the cover of Time Out New York, which ranked them two of “the top 10 funniest women in NYC.”

Nominate the Mujer in your life!

Categories for nomination include:

1. Young Latina

2. Small Business

3. Community Impact

VISIT

berkswomen2women.com/ de-mujer-a-mujer to find an application and learn more about the event.

DAY ONE RECAP WOMEN2WOMEN DIGITAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Patience, Hard Work + Appreciation

Day One of the Women2Women Digital Leadership Summit was filled with inspiration, comedy, laughter and celebration. Normally, our ATHENA ceremony takes place in person and the sound of the clapping from the audience can be heard around our chosen venue. This year, we had to scale back to keep everyone safe. But we celebrated, oh we celebrated.

Transitioning to a fully virtual platform was no small task but with patience and hard work, we made it happen. We used the app and desktop platform called Attendify and this is where our attendees connected with one another. Our Keynote speaker Jessica Holmes also used the app to poll the attendees. We took every opportunity to connect our audience, and it worked!

The 2020 ATHENA recipient, Crystal Gilmore Harris, was filmed receiving her award with a small crowd of friends and family, and this recording was later debuted to the full Day One attendance. This, coupled with an “unmute” for all to clap for Crystal, brought tears to her eyes.

Jessica Holmes, comedian, author and mental health advocate, shared her journey of being diagnosed with post partum and “old run of the mill” depression. She said, “Both sucked”! Depression The Comedy, her first book and keynote speech, connected us all and hit home with many. But as a comedian by trade, she was able to create laughter around the topic by being real with us.

Following the event, 30+ women remained to network in breakout groups on Zoom and got the chance to personally meet the 2020 ATHENA and connect with other like-minded women. We can’t wait for Day Two! 2

WOMAN2KNOW

Meet ADELLE SCHADE:

Dean of Pre-College and Summer Programs at Albright College and Founder & CEO of ConvergEd, LLC

Q: What has led you to your current career path?

A: A constant drive to learn something new and bring that knowledge to students to try to address the lack of equity in education. I believe that talent is equally distributed but educational opportunity is not; specifically, in the “spaces-inbetween” of PA (between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), like Berks County.

Q: How have you led other women in their career paths?

A: The Science Research Institute (SRI) has a 65% female participation rate in the past five years. I hope that in the SRI program, young women can relate to the numerous women scientists, discipline experts and role models we have collaborate with the program. It is important for young women to feel support as they create a “successful self-identity.”

I am also proud of recent Albright College hire Kayla Aulenbach as “Coordinator of Pre-College and Summer Programs.” Kayla was the FIRST SRI student 5 years ago at Conrad Weiser High School. She has since graduated from Cornell Univ. in Biology with distinction in Genetic Research experience at the Wolfner Lab, Cornell University & the Billeter Lab, University of Groningen, Netherlands. It is very special to have the first student of the SRI program now in a leadership position as the program expands.

Q: Would you wish to acknowledge a mentor or friend who helped you aspire to this point in your life’s journey, and why?

A: There have been so many people that have helped me through my journey it is hard to identify one. Recently, forming my mission and philosophy behind SRI, two women who I highly respect and mentored me along the way are Jacqui Fetrow (President, Albright College) and Julia Klein (CEO, CH Briggs). Their work ethic, strength, drive and forwardthinking is inspirational. I hope one day to mentor the next person as they have helped me.

Q: What words of wisdom would you offer to other women?

A: Seek to connect with successful women who have experience in areas you are looking to improve or engage. As challenges present themselves, they may seem singular to your situation. More often, the reality is that others have experienced the same or very similar challenges. Find the “good” people who will help you work through the challenges presented to you.

Q: What is the most valuable way women can support each other?

A: Support and encourage women to take leadership roles and those moving outside of their comfort zones to create change. Women need to be “at the table,” or, we need to make our own table; boards, committees, executive roles, key operational positions. We need women supported in positions of power and influence to truly make an impact.

Q: What’s your mission?

A: Equity in education. Educational systems should provide exceptional experiences and resources for students to find their purpose without regard to their zip code or financial situation.

Q: What three things do you recommend that contribute to your success?

A: 1. Build a strong support network. Connecting with like-minded individuals who celebrate success in others and themselves, and, help others get through when difficulties arise.

2. Find your purpose; the thing in life that you are absolutely driven to accomplish or fight to see through.

3. Competitive spirit; I believe my background in athletics is vital to my innovative mind-set in relation to SRI. A competitive spirit can get you through when individuals doubt your vision or your ability to succeed. Roadblocks arise as you progress. In athletics, you learn to expect challenges and adversity. As an athlete, you are taught to work to find a way to succeed during times of adversity and to seek help or a “coach” when you need it.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: To enjoy the mystery of life. My uncle, Bud Reitnouer (Owner, Reitnouer Trailers, Inc.), reminds me of this. He emphasizes, Work hard every day for your purpose, and what comes next is a mystery. Do not be afraid to take a risk then enjoy the experiences that unfold.

COMPANY PROFILE QUESTIONS:

Q: What initiatives within Albright College and the SRI are helping empower women to realize their full potential?

A: SRI creates an environment where it is safe to take risks, safe to achieve and SRI provides mentoring and role models that emulate those traits. One example of this is a paper that was published (citation below) this year. On the paper are three different young women that participated in SRI, in three different stages of their careers. One recently graduated from college and will be attending Med School, one is an undergraduate in the Honors College at Temple University, and one was a senior in 2020 at Conrad Weiser High School. Three young women putting volunteer time into a research project to help others. To publish in a professional journal was a great accomplishment for these students.

Schade, A., Kesselring, R., Kaneria, R., Racis, K., & Chin, T. (2019). Cardiac Screening in Adolescents: Significance of Individual Components of Screens in Identifying Necessary Follow-Up Cardiac Evaluation. Circulation, 140(Suppl_1), A13498-A13498.

Q: During the COVID-19 pandemic you led a group of volunteers and 3D printers to produce PPE for those in need. Did you ever think it would grow so large, and you’d help so many? Tell us about why it’s important to you.

A: No, I never thought it would become such a large initiative or help so many people. At this point, we created over 48,000 pieces of PPE and distributed to over 230 organizations. The success of this initiative lies in Berks County’s ability to work together in times of need. Additionally, working with community-focused and like-minded individuals, Ellen Albright, Chris Spohn and Kris Jackson (the Daily Operations Team of the Berks PPE Resource Network), was such an amazing experience. To be able to organize and accomplish what this group of volunteers did in such a short time is unlike anything I have seen in the past. I am honored to have the opportunity to work with these individuals and volunteers from across the county.

Q: Why are you proud to work at Albright and do the work you do?

A: I am honored to work at Albright College, which has a tradition of success and innovation. I am proud to serve Berks County through the SRI programs at Albright College. I believe SRI programming at Albright College will help to address educational equity issues for K-12 students. 2

LOCAL AUTHORS for Summer Reading

What The Valley Knows

by Heather Christie

Berks County native Heather Christie’s award-winning debut novel, What The Valley Knows, is laced with local flavor, landmarks, and characters you’ll think you recognize. Millington Valley is a quintessential small Pennsylvania town: families go back generations. Football rules. Kids drink while adults look the other way. High school is a whirlwind of aspiration and rivalry, friendship and jealousy. When smart and pretty Molly Hanover moves to town and attracts the attention of the football team’s hero, Wade Thornton—a nice guy with a bad drinking habit— longtime friendships are threatened and a popular cheerleader tries to turn the school against Molly. The young couple’s dream of a future together is shattered when Wade, drunk, wrecks his truck and Molly is thrown through the windshield. She wakes from a coma to find her beauty marred and her memory full of holes. As she struggles to heal, she becomes sure that something terrible happened before the accident. And there is somebody in the valley who doesn’t want her to remember.

I Know How This Ends

by Amy Impellizzeri

The latest (fifth) novel by attorneyturned-author and Berks County resident Amy Impellizzeri, I Know How This Ends is actually a followup to her award-winning debut, Lemongrass Hope, but can be read as a standalone novel. I Know How This Ends is a time-bending tale about a young reporter swept into a story about family secrets and twisted fate when time travelers collide. When the reporter stumbles upon the commencement ceremony of the first 9/11 survivors, a mysterious stranger tells her a story of epic love and loss, and makes clear that she’s no longer just an outsider covering a story, but rather part of the story itself.

The Fire By Night by

Teresa Messineo

With comparisons to mega-bestseller The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah), this debut by Berks County native Teresa Messineo follows the story of two American nurses, friends separated by war and distance—one in wartorn France, and one stationed at a Japanese POW camp in Manila during World War II—whose battles are far from over when they return home. The Fire By Night is a poignant, well-researched and well-crafted historical fiction novel.

Of the Farm by John

Updike

Born in 1932 in Reading, PulitzerPrize winning author John Updike may well be one of the most prolific and well-known authors to emerge from Berks County. With more than 20 novels to his credit, it might be hard to choose just one to read this summer. But Of The Farm is, in my humble opinion, a wonderful choice. It’s a compact, taut story of a 30-something man, Joey, who comes home to Pennsylvania to visit his aging mother, bringing along a new wife and her precocious son from an earlier relationship. With characteristic Updike dialogue and colorful characters, this novel makes a great read for both loyal fans of Updike and new-to-Updike readers, as well.

Traveler by L.E. Delano

Raised mostly in New Mexico, L.E. Delano now calls Pennsylvania home. Her debut Young Adult novel, Traveler, was selected as a Keystone To Reading Secondary Book Award finalist for school year 2018-19 by the Keystone State Reading Association (KSRA) and also voted one of The 20 Most Beautiful Books in the World for 2017 by MTV UK. In Traveler, Jessa is a dreamer and a writer, focused on worlds other than her own, until her favorite character, Finn, shows up and asks her to have coffee. What follows is a timetraveling adventure that is not at all what Jessa could have imagined.

Learning To Bend

by Michelle Davis

Learning To Bend, by Pennsylvania native Michelle Davis, is a well-timed and well-crafted read for the current time about finding your way through challenges when life doesn’t always follow even the best laid plans. Set largely in Bend, Oregon, where the author lives part-time when not in Wyomissing, this hopeful novel about second chances, family, and authenticity is a beautiful debut. When Jenna Moore’s engagement ends, and with it, her so-called perfect life, she finds herself in Bend learning to love and live anew, and re-defining just what “perfect” really means.

The Collected Poems

by Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens, known as one of the finest modernist American poets, was born in Reading in 1879. He graduated from Harvard University and later New York Law School and ended up making a living as an insurance executive in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a high stylist, with a deft mastery of vocabulary and a precise command of rhythm in crafting his poems. But he was also a philosopher of aesthetics, aggressively exploring the notion of poetry as the supreme fusion of the creative imagination and objective reality. Try something new (and very intellectual) and read his Pulitzer prize winning The Collected Poems

Phoebe And Ito Are Dogs

by John Yamrus

Sinking Spring resident John Yamrus is widely published in magazines around the world. His poems have been taught at both the high school and the college level and selections of his work have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Swedish, Italian, French, Japanese and Romanian. His work has been described by the great Milner Place as “... a blade made from smooth honest steel, with the sharpest of edges.” Phoeba And Ito Are Dogs is his first children’s book, but is the perfect read for everyone, regardless of gender or age. It’s a timeless story about embracing your true nature and living to your highest potential. His writing is clear and accessible—perfect for a quick, fun read.

The Temporary Vase of Hands by Sandra Fees

Looking for more poetry? Try The Temporary Vase of Hands. Sandra Fees is a Unitarian Universalist minister who resides in Reading, Pennsylvania. She fell in love with language growing up in rural Central Pennsylvania. Her connection to poetry became deeply rooted when she studied with experimental poet John Taggart at Shippensburg University where she earned her bachelor’s degree. She also holds a master’s degree from Syracuse University, where she studied creative writing, and a Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary, where she is enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program. Formerly a poetry editor of the Harrisburg Review, she has had poems published in numerous journals, including New Madrid, Touch: A Journal of Healing, Yellow Chair Review, and FootHills Press’s Birdsong Anthology. She was Berks County Poet Laureate from 2016-18.

Dig by A.S. King

A.S. King, born in Reading, has been called “One of the best Y.A. writers working today” by the New York Times Book Review. King is the author of highly-acclaimed novels including 2020 Michael L. Printz Award winner and LA Times Book Prize finalist DIG, 2016’s Still Life with Tornado, 2015’s surrealist I Crawl Through It, Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future, Reality Boy, the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner Ask the Passengers, Everybody Sees the Ants, 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book Please Ignore Vera Dietz among others. DIG is about five teenagers lost in the Hemmings family’s maze of tangled secrets. Only a generation removed from being simple Pennsylvania potato farmers, Gottfried and Marla Hemmings managed to trade digging spuds for developing subdivisions and now sit atop a seven-figure bank account, wealth they’ve declined to pass on to their adult children or their teenage grandchildren. As the rot just beneath the surface of the Hemmings’ precious white suburban respectability begins to spread, the far flung grandchildren gradually find their ways back to each other, just in time to uncover the terrible cost of maintaining the family name.

Local Children’s Book Authors continued on page 22

LOCAL CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHORS

Mudpies and Fireflies

by Lindsey Koppenheffer

Mudpies and Fireflies was published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018, illustrated by Megan Shoemaker.

Description from amazon.com: "A whimsical children’s book about growing up surrounded by nature. This book teaches children the joys of getting outside and exploring not only what is right in front of them but also what fun things hide beyond their sights. It shows youngsters that there is a wonderful and magical world beyond the couch and television and it is waiting right outside their doors."

Porcupette and Moppet by

Nadine Poper

Porcupette and Moppet was published by Blue Whale Press, 2019, illustrated by Alicia Young (Science-Based Picture Book).

Description from nadinepoper.weebly. com: “Porcupette loves to spend days alone in the quiet forest reading. But when Moppet, a bumbling predator, comes along with his silly antics and non-stop rambling, Porcupette’s sanctuary is turned topsy-turvy.”

Randall and

Randall by Nadine Poper

Randall and Randall was published by Blue Whale Press, 2019, illustrated by Polina Gortman (Science-Based Picture Book).

Description from nadinepoper. weebly.com: “Randall the shrimp is a master at excavation. Randall the fish is his skittish yet happy-go-lucky watchman. This very funny story about one of the sea’s oddest couples illustrates how certain species, in this case a pistol shrimp and a goby, depend on their symbiotic relationship for survival, overcome each other’s quirks, and become the best of friends.”

Mariposa’s Wish by Nancy Littlefield

Mariposa’s Wish was self-published, 2019, illustrated by Carol Meckling (Science-Based Picture Book).

Description from amazon.com: “The transformation of a tiny caterpillar into a vibrant butterfly is one of nature’s most amazing events. Mariposa’s story is an engaging tale of yearning and destiny. The text and illustrations accurately present the phases of a monarch butterfly’s development. The seasonal cycle of milkweed, crucial monarch caterpillar food, is subtly woven into the artwork. By story’s end, readers and listeners will celebrate Mariposa’s success as well as understand her life cycle.”

As Fast as Words Could Fly by Pamela Tuck

As Fast as Words Could Fly, Leed & Low Books, 2013, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Historical Fiction Picture Book).

Description from pamelamtuck.com: “Fourteen-year-old Mason Steele takes pride in turning his Pa’s excited ramblings about the latest civil rights incidents into handwritten business letters. One day Pa brings Mason a gift from his civil rights group: an old manual typewriter that Mason cherishes. When the civil rights group wins a school desegregation case, Mason discovers that he will attend a formerly all-white high school. Facing his fears and adversity from students and faculty, Mason excels in school—particularly typing. Mason decides to bravely take a stand at the county typing tournament using his typing talent to break racial barriers. (This story is based on the life of Pamela’s father, Moses Teel, Jr.).” 2

Submitted by Kelly Hancock

“We’re building better communications and consumer connections every day. See how we could help you!”

Linda Hoffmann President

610-685-0914 *206

Unconscious BIAS

Ignorance is not bliss: How you can recognize and mitigate unconscious bias

You read a resume where the candidate graduated from an elite institution. You’re impressed by her alma mater – perhaps too much so. Call it the “halo effect” – which can stop you from considering the experiences, skills and personalities of other great women who may not have had the same privileges or opportunities.

The halo effect is just one example of unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias is often defined as prejudice or unsupported judgments in favor of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair. These preferences are shaped by several factors, including our environment, community, friends and family, and the media. Research reveals that hidden preferences – in everything from race, gender, ethnicity, age or physical characteristics, to background, and personality type – are extremely common.

Unconscious bias creates barriers, limits creativity and affects the quality of our relationships.

Identifying and overcoming unconscious bias is vitally important, because left unaddressed, it affects the decisions we make in and on behalf of our organizations. Our global economy means opportunity – and talent – can come from anywhere, so unconscious bias has a very real impact on business success. Unconscious bias can play a detrimental role in recruitment and hiring, promotion and sponsorship of talent and succession planning, performance evaluations and compensation, team assignments, client service, budget decisions, activation of new business opportunities, and openness to new ideas.

The good news: It’s possible to recognize and mitigate unconscious bias, through awareness, acknowledgment and conscious effort.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING TIPS:

• Increase purposeful mentoring and coaching and sponsor people who are not like you.

• Be proactive about recognizing people’s different capabilities and help prepare them to take on challenging assignments.

• Think about who might consistently feel like an outsider and take steps to actively address the situation.

• When preparing for interviews, establish clearly defined, measurable criteria against which all candidates will be evaluated. Invite a colleague from HR or another business line to sit in on the interview and validate that you are applying the criteria fairly.

• Attend professional affinity groups and inclusiveness events to enrich your understanding of the diversity of perspectives in your organization, industry or community.

• Evaluate your actions daily and be alert to the types of situations in which you are particularly vulnerable to unconscious bias.

• Seek out regular feedback on your own behaviors and actions from trusted, yet objective, colleagues.

Going forward, how can you help mitigate unconscious bias? Continue to be willing to listen, and speak up about imbalances you see. Learning to lead without bias is by no means easy or quick, but vital to ensure the continued success of your organization. 2

By Jennifer Goldsmith Cerra, Communications Manager, Herbein + Company, Inc.

Mitigating Unconscious BIAS

JUNE EVENT RECAP

There are not many events you attend where you have to complete homework before you attend. The Women2Women Unconscious Bias event required all attendees complete a quiz on gender in the workplace to assess what their hidden unconscious biases may be. All results were private to each user and something to help them learn more about themselves and others.

A quiz of this nature was used to see what the brain automatically assumes for women and men in the workplace with questions like “How strongly do you associate the following with males and females? Family – with options that include strongly male, moderate, etc. to strongly female.” The goal of the quiz was to offer you a look at what you associate with a male (perhaps career) and a female (perhaps family). Very interesting.

Take your own

Implicit Bias quiz at IMPLICIT.HARVARD. EDU on topics about gender, race, sexuality, weight, age, and more. Educate yourself, educate others, and let’s be + do better!

During the event, Sarah Colantonio, founding partner of Work Wisdom LLC, shared many ways that we collectively and individually could help to shape our workplaces in a fair way for all. From Fairness Awareness (the Implicit Bias quiz) to Fair Hiring Practices (think blind hiring software), Career Development and Living Into the Value of Equity, Sarah helped us to understand how we can do better, and be better, at all levels. 2

Keynoted by Sarah Colantonio, Work Wisdom LLC

“Looking

Sherry

OPENS NEW LOCATION

Caroline Hill knows that jewelry stores can be intimidating.

“It’s not like going into a clothing boutique and being able to touch and look at price tags with virtually little to no interaction with a salesperson,” she says, “and all of our merchandise is behind locks.”

As the owner of Van Scoy Jewelers, Hill has always been inspired to share her passion and knowledge of jewelry to connect with customers and help de-mystify some of the “fear factor.” After 38 years, it’s still the customer that’s most important to her.

“I love developing relationships with my customers. I love helping customers create beautiful pieces of jewelry, and the special occasions and moments in their lives,” says Hill.

It’s that same passion that has inspired Hill’s new Van Scoy location. She made the decision to relocate the business after spending 20 years in Broadcasting Square.

“We are an independent, we’re not a chain or a franchise. Being in a shopping center, many people didn’t think I was a small business. I think the old location didn’t help set us apart,” says Hill.

She is working to make shopping at Van Scoy the best customer experience possible. From what the customer experiences when they walk in the door to what they see in the cases, she considers it all, especially when she is buying new items for the store.

Hill purchased a building for the new location at 1121 Penn Avenue, Wyomissing, two doors up from the Wyomissing Post Office.

The building’s interior has been totally remodeled to an open floorplan and create a design to welcome customers into an inviting and relaxing atmosphere with a fireplace, seating area and TV. The location has lots of windows and is full of light. She wants customers to know they’re not walking into a chain jewelry store, something that was often difficult to overcome at the previous location. The A-Frame style building has a stone and stucco front with awnings, new lighting and off street and curb parking.

“I’m buying with my customers in mind,” says Hill. “I’m not trying to buy the cheapest jewelry to bring to everybody, I’m filling my cases with quality, unique and affordable pieces. We are not part of a big corporate entity. I own the store. I live in this community. I give back to this community. I think that’s what I’ve been working the hardest to relay to people in the community for the last 15-20 years. It’s just us. We are here in the community and it’s important to me,” she explains. She plans to host events like “Girl’s Nights,” and mixers that allow people to just experience Van Scoy without any pressure to purchase. She wants people to come in and have fun with no expectations.

Hill is a member of the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce. She’s been involved with “Friends of the Reading Hospital,” St. Joseph’s Charity Ball and the Reading Museum and was a member of the Reading Symphony Orchestra board. 2

New Leaders Guide Safe Berks into New Era

The first half of 2020 presented historic challenges to the Safe Berks staff. Despite a global pandemic, Safe Berks continued to provide 24-hour free services to local survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Safe Berks has emerged from the quarantine with two new leaders at the helm. Beth Garrigan was chosen to serve as the new CEO; and Mereliss Colon Ortiz was selected to serve as the new Chief

Operating Officer (COO), both effective June 1.

“I am so proud of Safe Berks, and I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead and represent such an amazing organization of dedicated individuals who are saving lives, every day,” said Garrigan, who has been serving Safe Berks for the past two years as COO.

Prior to joining Safe Berks, Garrigan served the Children’s Home of Reading for 11 years; and prior to that, spent over 10 years working for the Department of Human Services.

Colon Ortiz said she is grateful to be chosen to serve as COO. She has served the organization since 2006, working all 14 years in the Safe House, providing

shelter and services to survivors. Since 2017, she has served as Director of Residential Services.

“I believe that people will always remember the way you made them feel,” said Colon Ortiz. “I am passionate about providing the best service to every client, so they will remember they were listened to, and treated with kindness and respect.”

Both Garrigan and Colon Ortiz stressed that the services Safe Berks provides are more crucial now than ever.

“The social distancing and family isolation required to stop the spread of COVID-19 has increased danger to people trapped at home with abusers,” said Garrigan. “Home is not a safe place for everyone. We are very grateful for all the support we have received from the community during this difficult time.”

Since the shelter-in-place orders in mid-March, Safe Berks staff have adapted to continue to provide shelter, counseling, legal assistance, and medical advocacy to thousands of survivors.

Safe Berks services are free, confidential, available in English and Spanish, and will be translated into any other language needed.

The Safe Berks 24-Hour Hotline is 844-789-SAFE (7233), or text

Safe Berks to 20121. For Legal Services, call 610-373-1206, ext. 107. For Counseling, call 610-373-1206, ext. 606. 2

By Francine M. Scoboria Safe Berks Communications

Coordinator

Safe Berks Walk For NO MORE

The Safe Berks Walk For NO MORE has been rescheduled for Sat., Oct. 17, 2020!

Safe Berks is proud to partner with the Reading Royals as we say together as a community, NO MORE domestic violence! NO MORE sexual assault! More info will be available at www.SafeBerks.org about this fun, familyfriendly event which raises much needed funds for Safe Berks. For info on sponsorships, contact Mindy McIntosh, Director of Development, at MindyM@SafeBerks.org.

Safe Berks also looks forward to participating in Art on the Avenue in West Reading on August 22, 2020!

Since 2012, the Power of the Purse in Berks County has awarded $225,903 to local organizations to improve the lives of women and children. Contact us about joining 610.685.2223

info@bccf.org | bccf.org/pop

Beth Garrigan Mereliss Colon Ortiz

Level Up Your Self-Care withSelf-Compassion

We know what self-care practices are: eating healthy, getting proper rest, going for a walk over our lunchbreak, making a list of things for which we are grateful. All these things are wonderful ways to take care of our physical and mental well-being. Especially now when the world feels upside down, focusing on being present and the small ways you can care for yourself is extremely important.

But do you want to take the concept of self-care to the next level? Say hello to selfcompassion. The definition of compassion is “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” Now, take that definition and imagine a scenario in which you direct that kindness to yourself. Many of us tend to be much kinder to others than we are to ourselves. Think about how often you show grace and compassion to others in your daily life and how little you probably do so for yourself. That is what makes this practice so revolutionary. When you experience a tough feeling, rather than ignoring it or judging it somehow, examine the feeling and think about how you may kindly get yourself through it. It can help to imagine someone else experiencing the same feeling and what you might do to care for and support them, then simply do that for yourself. Self-compassion can build your relationship with yourself, while decreasing anxiety, stress, and depression.

THERE ARE THREE KEYS TO SELF-COMPASSION:

1. SELF-KINDNESS: The ability to understand we will make mistakes and fail, but that we can be kind to ourselves when that happens rather than harshly criticizing ourselves.

2. COMMON HUMANITY: Suffering happens to everyone, everywhere. We are not alone in experiencing hardships and many others have most likely gone through something similar.

3. MINDFULNESS: The practice of not ignoring our feelings, but also not over-exaggerating them and spiraling in to negativity when we do acknowledge we are experiencing something difficult. This new way of thinking and approaching life and all its inherent messiness takes practice, but can be crucial to bettering your mental health and overall contentedness. We all know self-care is important, but self-compassion gives us the tools and path to prioritize taking care of both our mind and body.

To learn more, visit https://self-compassion.org. 2

By Sara Frassinelli sarafrassinelli@spherion.com

A“boundary” can be defined as a line that marks the limits of an area or the limit of a subject or sphere of activity. For many individuals, boundaries are personal guidelines created as a means to identify acceptable and safe behaviors towards them as well as how they will react when those lines are crossed. We often have no issue declaring our personal boundaries (example, “I’m not a hugger.”).

So why is it difficult for many of us to set boundaries at work? Employee policy manuals generally cover boundaries in areas of harassment, political involvement and increasingly social media usage, to name a few. What about work boundaries that involve everyday interactions, personal productivity and work-life harmony? Why is it so hard for many of us to set workplace boundaries?

There is a fear that setting workplace boundaries will be perceived as inflexible or not a team player. In fact, workplace boundaries can help you maintain control over your productivity and stay focused. It can also help you understand how your colleagues work and promote team understanding.

Here are some common areas in which you can set workplace boundaries:

• Physical boundaries (the private office versus the cubicle farm). Occupants of private offices have a door to denote

Working Remotely

Line In The Sand: Setting Workplace Boundaries In Person +

availability. Door closed generally signals, busy – Do Not Enter. Even open, most people will knock and ask permission to enter. What happens when you sit in a cube farm? Not having a door should not be construed to mean instant access.

– Door or no door, knock and ask if the individual has time for you. Better yet, pick up the phone and call to check availability.

– Be clear and truthful about the time needed. This allows the other person to be truthful in turn about how much time they can give you.

– Minimize disruption to others. Even in a private office, sound carries. Close the door or go into a conference room. Consider taking the interaction out of the office for a quick walk or a cup of coffee.

• Technology boundaries.

The proliferation of technology means we have 24/7 access to each other. However, you don’t have to be at the mercy of it, particularly if your role does not actually require it.

– Schedule specific times during the work day to read and respond to e-mails. Consider using an automatic response during the off-times.

– Set “Do Not Disturb” times on your mobile device.

– As a manager/supervisor, communicate your expectation

around responses to “off the clock” messages and honor it.

• Time boundaries. Maintaining temporal boundaries is critical for well-being and work engagement.1

– Schedule time during the work day to refresh and recharge.

– Set and establish a routine.

– Focus and prioritize your most important work.

Don’t be shy about setting your workplace boundaries but don’t assume your colleagues are mind-readers. Let them know what are your boundaries and why they are important to you. Likewise, ask your colleagues about their preferences. Communication among colleagues prevents misconceptions and misunderstandings.

Setting workplace boundaries can be even more challenging in the realm of remote work when they seem invisible. But they become even more essential in the challenge of achieving work-life harmony. Set them, communicate them and honor them! That line in the sand can make the difference between being a burnout and being an all-star! 2

By Kirsten P. Haas Executive Director, Girls on the Run of Berks County

Source:

1 “3 Tips to Avoid WFH Burnout” by Laura M. Guirge and Vanessa K. Bohns

Zoom Bloopers from At-Home Working Women

For millions of American workers, home became the new workplace this year as we joined together to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And as many companies go completely digital – and switch to innovative communications platforms – video conferencing is now a large part of our “new normal.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized how many “blooper” moments happen during these calls. When you’re brand new to Zooming, it was well, embarrassing. But as the days went on (and on and on), these interruptions took on a hilarious life of their own. Sure, they weren’t aligned with a typical workday – but were any days typical anymore? Seeing kids, animals, family members jump into the calls and video screens – it connected us all at a time when connection was vitally important.

We asked you to share some of your blooper stories:

Kristi Gage Linderman

“Making the transition to work from home has had its ups and downs – from being able to be there when my youngest son rolled over for the first time, to when my two-year-old son decided he absolutely needed a “pee pop” for going potty in the dog’s water bowl during an important Zoom meeting! Potty training, momming, and running a business during this pandemic has been interesting to say the least, but I wouldn’t have traded this extra time with my kids for anything.”

Amy Klatt

“We created SO many blooper memories together over the last few months. The fact that I eventually learned to embrace and expect them is my favorite part of this experience. The first time I hung up mid-sentence on management because I had to chase my child through the woods (after a neighbor’s chicken) was surprising, but when my four-year-old belted out his best version of ’Into the Unknown’ from Disney’s Frozen 2 on a Microsoft Teams call with our firm’s Managing Partner is when I realized that we are all just doing the best we can. Together, we are figuring this out, as parents, employees, teachers, and children – and right now I am just trying to focus on making memories. And really, shouldn’t we all be singing ’Into the Unknown’ this year?”

Nicole Kantor

This time spent working at home has certainly been a learning experience for so many of us. I am learning a little more everyday about the best way to be a full time single mom and full time employee. It certainly comes with challenges – for example, I thought while we were all at home that it would be a great idea to potty train my daughter. While on an important zoom meeting, she yelled for me that she needed to pee, now (of course now everyone else knew too). I threw my headphones out of my ears and sprinted from the kitchen to the family room – in the process I ran into the kitchen chair and tripped over her Minnie Mouse car – and then I STILL got there too late. She got herself to the potty without me. But I am happy to report that while on a zoom call, with a mom injury and all, I officially potty trained my girl. I am soaking up as much extra snuggles as I can, and I know that these are the moments I will remember when looking back.

Jodie Lyn

“My dog started barking at the trash man while I was on a Zoom with my class. Then my student’s dog heard him and he started barking at their front door thinking there was a dog out there. Then my other dog started barking at the dog barks from the computer. My coworkers are distracting.”

Mekena Lee

“I’ve had a blow-up cactus in my background for a while. Still waiting for someone to notice!”

Rosemarie Sullivan Sandman

“I was on a Zoom call when my husband walked behind me with just his boxers on and everyone saw him. After that episode, I decided to use a virtual background.”

Thanks for your submissions! Remember to laugh, we are all doing the best way can – and most of all, we are all in this together. 2

By Amy Klatt, Herbein & Company

Reading Cares Team: Successful in Humanitarian Efforts

This past January 2020 the Centro Hispano “Reading Cares Team,” along with the Reading’s DoubleTree Cares team, called on our community to help Earthquake victims in Puerto Rico.

Prior to travel, a team of volunteers that physically headed out to Puerto Rico held an Emergency Care Package Drive for the victims right here in Reading, Pa. On January 27th the Centro Hispano along with the Reading School District, Palo Magazine, RUMBA 92.3FM Reading, and the DoubleTree Reading team held a Reading Cares Day, and collected items for care packages to be physically taken and handed out by the traveling team. This team even included volunteers from Bethlehem, Pa.

Many packages were handed out on the island. The packages included emergency needs such as toiletries, shoes, chairs, and blankets. But the emotional needs were most important to me. My memories are of the team members I saw hugging, playing basketball with the kids, a birthday celebration for a blind man, and milk that was brought to an 80-year-old who hadn’t had coffee in days. One of our members even took off his shoes to give to a child that was wearing shoes too small for his feet. This trip was more than just handing out toiletries, this was about human authenticity. On our very first day at the camps, we even experienced a mild shake as we stood beneath a basketball court… almost as if the universe needed us to understand the pain of the people that now called this court their temporary home. It was a humbling experience.

As you can see (from all our photos taken), I too was part of the great Reading Cares traveling volunteer team. I truly appreciate the kindness and generosity in support of these efforts from all who made it possible. Since there are way too many to mention, I want to thank the sponsors, donators, the collectors, the ones who helped package, the police officers in Puerto Rico who guided us on the island, my family who lent us the cars and box truck used to deliver these items, the hotel in San Juan for receiving our boxes and our team, the folks at the post office, and also the people that could only pray for us. You know who you are and we appreciate you. I was honored to be a small part of this great humanitarian experience to help families in need on the island. The Reading Cares team is not done yet. We will continue our efforts in many other ways to help other human beings because Reading cares.

CONTINUING TO CARE: HELP ONE ANOTHER

Today as we live through this COVID-19 pandemic we must not forget others. I know some are working from home safely and receiving a paycheck but not all are. To put things into perspective, Puerto Rico (a commonwealth island of the United States) has suffered major crises back-to-back. First Hurricane Maria hit in September 2017 and while Puerto Rico was not yet recovered, the earthquakes started in 2019. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there have been more than 950 earthquakes and aftershocks recorded on Puerto Rico since December 31, 2019, though many were weak and could not be felt. More than 500, however, have been of magnitude 2 or higher reaching up to even 6.4. And now the global COVID-19 pandemic has hit. If you want to talk about being resilient this island has proved just that.

So, I ask that you to do anything you can to help someone else, not just in Puerto Rico but anywhere. We must admit how blessed we are when we look around – home safe with your family and something to eat various times a day. Times are tough but there is always a way to help someone else. Think about with food, a meal on someone’s doorstep, reaching out to someone via phone, social media, Zoom, Skype (especially elderly that live on their own), or even a monetary donation. Let’s use this crisis to show that we truly do care about others. Be safe. 2

By Rosa Julia Parra, CEO, Palo Magazine

Will We Hug Again?

As a Latina woman in my late 40s, I was raised and taught to hug. It is in my culture to hug someone I know, and depending on the circumstance, even someone I just met. I remember taking a class a few years back and our non-Latino teacher asked if I was famous. I said “No. Why?” He said he noticed that every person that came into the class had hugged me. I said that it is part of my culture. However, now with COVID-19 will this have to change? What do you think? Will you still be a hugger?

Let’s think about this a bit more. We tend to say that Latinos are big on hugs as our form of communication, but think of the people from Italy, Portugal & Spain. They take it a step further and not only give you a hug but they also give a kiss on each cheek. It’s very much a form of respect and greeting mixed into one form of expression. How will COVID-19 change the way people communicate? I’m not sure what will happen because as we all know…old habits and traditions die hard. What is even harder is that we live in a world with so many issues. Humans are so in need of another human’s touch, and we may fall right back to hugging, mainly because your spirit may depend on it.

As a child when you fell or had a problem at school you were hugged by your teacher. At home, if you fell off your bike your parents would hug you and kiss your boo-boo. While the problem didn’t go away you felt so much better with that hug. It created a bond. Just recently my mom’s neighbor passed away and one of her social media posts while dying at the hospital was how scared and lonely she felt. The reality is that she most likely died without a hug and that brings tears to my eyes. Not to mention what her funeral will be like. Normally at a funeral, you will witness lots of crying and hugging but now funerals are like a fast food drive up with no real closure.

The truth is that almost all humans work and feel through body language, and this is the way we communicate. I think it won’t be a question of will we ever hug again, it will be a matter of when will we be able to hug again? Hopefully soon.

By Rosa Julia Parra, CEO, Palo Magazine

ASKED&ANSWERED

Dreams Can Come True, You Know

As we all continue to be stuck in our homes in a “new normal”…we asked our Editorial Committee to share their #dreamconference or summit they would like to attend. It didn’t matter where in the world because in this dream, they could go anywhere. Check out what they said!

If you were able to travel anywhere in the world, and attend any Conference of your choosing, what would it be and why?

Amy Impellizzeri

WFWA Writing Conference

Set in the beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico, this annual conference is a true writing retreat with curated craft and business sessions

Amy Klatt

World-Changing Women’s Summit

To connect with and learn from strong female leaders, while simultaneously finding inspiration for your own journey.

Heather Christie

Deepak Chopra Silent Awakenings

To uncover the direction of the next steps in my career and personal life.

Kelly Hancock Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Summer Conference (or Summer Spectacular)

I chose this conference because there will be many children’s book authors presenting information about their unique writing processes. I’ve always wondered how various books go from just an idea to a finished product and this conference would provide a lot of answers.

HEALTH2WELLNESS

Telemedicine Services: A USER GUIDE

Is there a difference between telehealth, telemedicine, and virtual healthcare?

The terms telehealth and telemedicine are sometimes used interchangeably. In general, telehealth is the delivery of health services through telecommunication technologies. (i.e., Technology like Zoom or Facetime.) Telemedicine is a term used more narrowly to connote the transmission of health information for diagnosis and monitoring through telecommunication technology.

Can you describe the different ways telehealth/ telemedicine services can be provided?

I mentioned above the telecommunication technology. Many products use encrypted (secure and private) video chat services to allow you to talk to a doctor from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. The app PennState OnDemand is a similar product. Patients in intensive care units in many hospitals can be monitored through virtual ICU in addition to hospital nurses and doctors. The virtual ICU providers (nurses and doctors) are not in the hospital, but help the local providers who are onsite by providing an additional review of the vitals (heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, etc.) and lab work. The virtual ICU combines remote monitoring with artificial intelligence to monitor changes in a patient’s condition before they lead to serious health issues.

There are telemonitoring devices patients can use at home that can send the information, like vitals, weight, and heart rate, etc.,

to providers elsewhere in the community. A provider can review the data from the device without you ever having to leave your home.

Will my care be any different if I chose a telehealth visit instead of going to see my provider in their office?

Telemedicine is a very different way to practice medicine. Until the pandemic, only about 10% of health care visits occurred using telehealth. There are some aspects of the physical exam that can be accomplished through a video visit. Some devices can transmit additional exam items like heart sound, temperature, blood pressure, etc. Also, there are special cameras that magnify areas like skin and the eardrum (tympanic membrane.).

In your opinion, what are some of the pros and cons of telehealth?

Pro: Quick access from home or office compresses the time of diagnosis and treatment.

Do not have to take your children with you to a waiting room full of other sick children.

Con: There are some symptoms and conditions that need a hands-on exam by a provider. 2

Answered by: Jeffrey

Held, MD, FACP Vice President, Medical Affairs –Penn State Health St. Joseph

HEALTH2WELLNESS

What to Expect from a Virtual Healthcare Visit

With the social distancing required for our community’s response to COVID-19, Tower Health has accelerated and expanded options for safe, secure virtual healthcare visits so patients can access their healthcare provider via phone, tablet, or computer from home or any other convenient location. This includes urgent care, wellness visits, follow-up care, and even some select new patient appointments. Virtual visits have proven popular in protecting healthcare workers and community members by keeping healthy patients and those with low acuity symptoms such as cough or cold symptoms at home. Even after the risk of COVID-19 recedes, many experts agree virtual care is here to stay.

medications, and discuss any changes to their personal or family medical history.

Tower Health offers virtual visits thru MyTowerHealth where patients connect with their Tower Health Medical Group physician or advanced practice provider by phone or video. These visits are ideal for non-life-threatening conditions which do not require in-person evaluations of your symptoms. Tower Health has also implemented the Virtual Care by TDH platform to provide 24/7 on-demand care, enabling patients to seek care when their physician isn’t available or it is after practice hours.

“These visits will help to reduce in-person visits at our physician offices and urgent care centers and help prevent the spread of infection. Patients will also benefit because they can receive care anywhere, at any time, in a secure way,” said Michelle Trupp, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Tower Health.

According to Anna Grassi, DO, OB/GYN, and Medical Director of Ambulatory Informatics, patients can expect their virtual care visit to be very similar to the in-person visit they are accustomed to. Prior to meeting with their physician, they will first speak with a medical assistant to review the reason for the visit, review their

Patients concerned about whether their visit should be virtual or in-person can rest assured. “Providers are strict about who qualifies for a virtual visit,” Dr. Grassi said. “If your issue requires an in-person visit, your provider will let you know and schedule a time for you to safely come to the office.”

Dr. Grassi recommends these tips to help prepare for a virtual visit:

• Contact your physician’s office to verify your level of coverage of the visit. Many insurance companies have expanded coverage for virtual visits due to COVID-19 but copays may vary.

• Test your technology prior to your scheduled appointment time. This will ensure you can maximize your time with the physician. Tower Health will help you navigate all the virtual care options and prepare for your appointment.

• Make sure you are in a private location so you can safely discuss all your healthcare concerns.

• Be prepared to become an active member of your healthcare team. Your physician may need your assistance with certain aspects of your physical exam. For example, you could be asked

to shine a light into your eyes so the doctor can check the dilation of your pupils.

• Don’t be nervous! Your physician will walk you through every step of the process.

“I think the reason this initiative has been so successful is because of the engagement of our physicians, advanced practice providers, and patients,” said Mary Bilotta, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, CEN, Telehealth Clinical Manager at Tower Health. “We know that patients appreciate the virtual care option because it helps with the logistics of scheduling an appointment and enhances the patient experience. There is no travel time to the office, no parking, and no wait time in the office setting.”

“Physicians are benefitting from virtual care options as well,” said Dr. Grassi. “As healthcare providers we want to do what is right for our communities and patients. This is another tool that we can offer to increase and optimize access to the high-quality healthcare we offer.”

For example, a Virtual Intensive Care Unit (ICU) now stationed at Reading Hospital allows Critical Care physicians to evaluate patients at all Tower Health facilities, including Reading Hospital, from a Command Center which is located remotely. Staff use a video monitoring system that allows them to virtually manage patients in all ICUs. They can see the patient, the patient’s critical clinical information, and provide direction to caregivers onsite. The Virtual ICU will be a permanent fixture at Tower Health after the pandemic is over.

JULIA KLEIN

Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer – C.H. Briggs

The Art of Possibility:Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander

ALEXIS WILLIAMS, Kutztown University The Power by Naomi Alderman

SARA FRASSINELLI

Marketing Director – Spherion Staffing Services

Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen

KIRSTEN POLENTZ HAAS

Executive Director – Girls on the Run Berks

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan

Trupp added, “We are continuing to evaluate additional opportunities for virtual care that will help improve, and increase, access to healthcare for some of our more vulnerable populations. It’s not about the number of patients being served, but the quality of care being offered. Virtual care will help break down barriers such as transportation or physical limitations for patients. In turn, we can help our patients and communities become more involved in the decisions regarding their healthcare.”

Individuals with specific questions should contact their physician or advanced practice provider to determine the best options, including telehealth services or Tower Health Urgent Care for non-emergency care. Individuals experiencing chest pain, stroke symptoms, or having a medical emergency should call 911 immediately. 2

Mary Bilotta, RN

Dr. Anna Grassi

Michelle Trupp

HEALTH2WELLNESS

The goal of counseling or talk therapy is for people to express their feelings, concerns, and emotions to an experienced and caring professional, who can then help them move forward in more productive ways.

According to Dr. Leslie Chaundy, Owner, CEO and Clinical Director of Thriveworks Counseling of Reading (www. thriveworks.com/Reading-counseling), due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many people are seeking counseling to help with issues such as loneliness, depression, anxiety, loss and grief, along with specific issues such as health concerns, economic challenges, lack of freedom, environmental stressors, relationship issues and worries about the future.

may likely be able to continue remotely from his or her home, with that same counselor (if the counselor is in one state, and the client in another, however, please check with state regulations). Telehealth counseling is also more convenient, according to Dr. Chaundy. For example, if a client lives in a rural area, travel time to a traditional office could be a strain. Clients who have disabilities, those who are anxious about traveling, or those with busy families might also find it difficult to attend face to face sessions. When clients can meet with their counselors from the privacy of their own homes, however, they are more likely to keep their appointments.

What is Telehealth Counseling?

Telehealth Counseling: A Welcome Format in an Age of Uncertainty

Getting Started

With so many concerns at the forefront, and professional counseling offices being closed temporarily, telehealth counseling has quickly become an effective way for individuals and families to get the help they need, without having to go to a traditional office. It is very similar to traditional or in-office counseling; in fact, the main difference is that instead of meeting face to face in the same room, counselor and client meet electronically, through a secure, virtual platform, typically using a computer, smart phone or tablet (software used by the professional must be HIPPA approved to ensure privacy).

Benefits

For clients or patients who already have a counselor, telehealth counseling allows them to continue their sessions without a break in service, notes Dr. Chaundy. For example, a college student who had been receiving services from a counselor at his or her school

For those who already have a counselor, reach out and ask if they are able to conduct a secure counseling session virtually. If so, the counselor will provide the client with the information they will need in order to have a session. Those who are new to counseling and looking for a counselor or therapist can speak with their insurance company, look up counselors’ profiles on the internet, or ask family and friends for recommendations. It is important to keep in mind that this is a very personal decision - what works for one person may not be the best fit for another, and sometimes a client will work with different counselors as their circumstances change over time.

How it Works

While there are variations, generally the counselor will give the client a link with a code that the client will access electronically at the time of the session. Once the client accesses the link, he

or she will wait for the counselor to start the secure session. At that point, they will be able to see and hear each other in real time, and the session will generally resemble a typical counseling session.

What to Keep in Mind

Following are several factors to take into account in order to maximize a counseling session:

• Insurance - It is recommended that you contact your insurance company to find out exactly what is covered. Some insurance companies have temporarily waived copays for telehealth counseling visits during the COVID-19 epidemic. Because it is a fluid situation, check in with your carrier as needed.

• Scheduling the Session - Think about factors that could influence the effectiveness of your session. If you have little ones, is it possible to schedule it during their nap time? Perhaps early morning would be better if you have teenagers in the house who sleep late. Might your significant other or another family member be able to take the kids for a walk or help with their schooling during your session?

• Location of Session - Choose a space that offers privacy, or use a fan to create a bit of white noise for you. Alternatively, would there be another location outside of your home where you could still access your computer or smart device, such as your back porch? Be sure the space has an area where you can sit comfortably and that there is a place to put the computer or device that you will be using.

• Being Prepared - If you are using a shared computer for the session, check with other family members to make sure that they won’t need it during your counseling time slot. Also, be sure that you have eaten and are well-hydrated before the session. Bringing a bottle of water and a box of tissues to your virtual counseling area may also be helpful. Before the session begins, think about what you’d most like to discuss with your counselor and give yourself a few minutes to relax into the physical space, as well. And be prepared to schedule the next session if you plan to meet again.

Even though so much has changed in people’s lives recently, it is reassuring to know that with some planning and research, many individuals will still be able to connect with a caring therapist or counselor who can help address their concerns; the format may be different, but the results can be just as impactful. 2

By Kelly Hancock