Tuesday, May 20th, Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Session from Noon to 1 p.m., with group networking from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m.
This session will examine different aspects of trauma and how trauma shapes our work as Peer Support Specialists. This session will also dive into setting and holding boundaries with friends and family, as our work as Peer Support Specialists often makes us the “go to” person in our social circles. There will also be a discussion surrounding how, as Peer Support Specialists, we are held to different standards and assumed to be the role model in our social circles. Lastly, there will be a dive into how resilience is created and maintained in rural communities, and a rural perspective on resilience will be explored.
Speaker
Eric M. Gronemeyer – MSW Candidate
Speaker bio coming soon
Natural Building and Consulting, Certified MLP Mindfulness Teacher, Mindfulness Coaching, and Outdoor Educator Dusty lives with wife Jessica and son Kai (born in 2014) in Gunnison, Colorado. His life has spanned multiple disciplines starting with carpentry at an early age and on to outdoor education, guiding, and staff trainings, traveling and sharing his love of nature as NOLS Field Instructor, as well as traveling, and teaching for Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI -now part of NOLS). During this time he also worked as a builder and co-owner doing traditional building, log cabins, and timber frame with Mountaineering Craftsmen. He began to study and specialize in natural building using strawbale, natural plasters, and passive solar design. He then began a general contracting business Straw and Timber Craftsmen. While interested in outer sustainability, he moved to inner sustainability in his study of mindfulness and meditation with Mindful Life Program and Way of Compassion Dharma Center. He now offers classes and coaching sessions in mindfulness. When not teaching or consulting, he is a father playing in the mountains, coaching soccer, exploring his physical fitness journey and traveling in the camper with the family. His deep connection with the natural world influences his writing and mindfulness teaching.
Speaker bio to come
Laurae Rigby has worked as a Family Support Partner for Gunnison County Juvenile Services to support families in crisis and help them navigate their individualized complex needs. Laurae has spent 10+ years using her lived experience to support many individuals struggling through areas such as: crisis, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, loss, and system navigation. She recently transitioned out of her position as the Peer Workforce Outreach Coordinator for the Colorado Family Hub to spend this next season as a Homesteading and Homeschooling Mama of her 4 children. She continues to be passionate about supporting anyone and everyone who uses their lived experience to help others.
Brittany Sweeton has spent over a decade navigating complex systems like juvenile justice, child welfare, schools, and mental health services. With a deep belief in the power of lived experience, she led the Establishment of High Fidelity Wraparound in Colorado’s Yampa Valley—a program that quickly became a trusted and transformative resource for families and community partners. Today, she continues to advocate for change at the system level, using the voices and stories of families to influence the policies and practices that shape their lives. Her work is rooted in the same principles she brings to this Lunch and Learn Series: compassion, authenticity, and the belief that every family deserves to be heard, supported, and empowered.
Speaker bio to come