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Serena’s Story: Missouri Works Initiative
Serena Green needed a fresh start after spending two years in prison and struggling with addiction. “I never had a working life before,” Green stated. She learned about the Missouri Works Initiative through her employment specialist and made a connection that changed her life. After speaking with Rudy Chavez, Construction Coordinator in Kansas City, and Jordan Baker who works with local contractor JE Dunn, Serena joined the Apprenticeship Ready in Construction Program for “a fresh start.”
Missouri Works Initiative is proud to provide students like Serena with work and safety gear, assistance with transportation, mentoring, and more. Serena brought a strong work ethic, a willingness to learn, and a can-do attitude towards coursework and training that carried her through graduation to employment. From the classroom to on-site visits at training centers and job sites, Serena and her class got hands-on experience with a variety of construction trades and skills. Serena took a special interest in grading, cement finishing, and electrical insulators. These are just a few of the skills her group had an opportunity to work on and learn about.
The Missouri Works Initiative program taught Serena more than hands-on skills; she spent time learning about soft skills like “time management for sure, eye contact, preparation,” as she stated in her interview. The interviews are an important part of the curriculum. Serena stated to “never go into an interview blind, do your research on (the job) you’re interviewing for and the company.” Part of the apprenticeship program is helping graduates find a career after completing the program, but it’s up to the students to research, prepare, and interview with a potential employer on their own and showcase the skills they have learned in their coursework.
After graduation, Serena secured a job as a union laborer with LiUNA Local 264 doing everything from cleaning up job sites to moving furniture with general contractor JE Dunn Construction, “great company by the way,” adds Serena. This job was life-changing for Serena, “I now have a car, looking for my own place, and I now have security knowing I’ve started my career as a (union) laborer.”
Serena wanted to thank Rudy Chavez, Jordan Baker, and the whole Missouri Works Initiative family for their help in getting her on her feet and into a rewarding career, “Thank you Missouri Works Initiative for giving me a fresh start in life…this program gave me a second chance and I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity.”
Start your journey here.
Wellness & Well-being Highlights November 3rd
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of November 3, 2025
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us a look at the proliferation of dangerous products being sold to teen-agers at Gas Stations and Smoke Shops—to a recent study suggesting that modeling vulnerability can help address Mental Health issues in the construction industry—to what sleep doctors want us to know about the impact of time changes on our bodies and minds.
This week I would like to discuss the importance of what we say and how we say it. In the first article, Weil insists, “When someone is grieving, just say something.”[1] Her advice is based on the experience of losing a child. While she acknowledges that most of us do not know what to say in the midst of a tragic loss, there are some lessons she learned thereafter worth sharing and a few not so much.
The second article is mostly focused on reducing tensions during tense conversations but nevertheless offers tips applicable to the difficult situation mentioned above. A few are listed below:[2]
1) I hear you: When grief and trauma are involved, people do not need fixing…they need someone to listen. (Active listening requires one to step outside of their problem-solving mode and into a mode that many of us are not familiar/comfortable with. Hint: Remember the acronym WAIT: Why am I talking?)
2) Let’s find a way through this together: While most parents never get over the death of a child, they do find paths to ‘walk alongside’ their loss. In this time of need, they need support. (Helping with everyday tasks (i.e., grass cutting, grocery shopping, cooking meals, walking the dog, etc.) gives those in distress time and space. Hint: If you offer to do something…show up and do it!)
3) I appreciate you bringing this up: Gratitude builds trusts and, in turn, long term relationships. (When someone in need shares intimate details, it is incumbent upon us to use that info in a helping or healing manner. Hint: The ONLY time one should break that trust is when the person in need is thinking about hurting her/himself and/or others.)
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Sources: [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/01/18/death-mourning-baby-grief-support/
[2] https://geediting.com/gen-10-phrases-that-instantly-lower-tension-in-difficult-conversations-according-to-psychology/
WARNING: Gas Station/Smoke Shop (7-OH) Kratom
Construction / MH / Vulnerability
Mourning & Greif: What to say?
Tension: Language Matters
Trump’s CDC Cuts Compromise Public Health & Safety
White House Demo & Asbestos Concerns
2025: Workers’ MH Decline
Women / Menopause / Silence
Cancer Avoidance?
Corn Belt: Rise of Cancer
Exercise: The Right Amount?
What Sleep Drs Wany You to Know
Full Moon & Sleep
Toilets / Tech / Science
Quiz: Microplastics
Negotiating: Monthly Bills
Boeing Workers Reject Latest Offer
Defense Workers’ Strikes & National Security
SOB: Employers do well when…
2028: Third Term?
Newsom & Prop 50…
DEI: No Scaling Back Now
US Surgeon General: Qualified?
China: Africa’s Mining Disaster
Good Employee Leave = Good Retention
More Applications = Less Quality?
Micro-shifting?
Lunch Guilt?
Undervaluing Employees?
More on Employee Burnout
Lousy Economy for Kids
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
Brain Injury Family Seminar (11/8)
Vets: Talk Saves Lives (11/12 or 11/18)
Cannabis & Health (11/14)
Understanding Depression & Trauma (11/18)
Can Suicide be Prevented?
Antagonist: Sidelined Wonder Drug (Coming Soon)
Cannabis: Risks & Trends
Tackling Tobacco
Brain Injury Scholarships
FREE Meals
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact jgaal@moworks.org with related questions or comments.
Wellness & Well-being Highlights October 27th
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of October 27, 2025
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us a look at advances with Parkinson’s disease—to an examination of football player safety: NFL v High School—to how tariffs have caused shortages and raised the price of firetrucks in communities.
This week I would like to discuss—what I believe to be—our nation’s next Mental Health crisis: Sports Gambling Addiction. In fact, I will go as far as saying that this issue potentially has the makings of doing worse damage than our current decades-long Opioids crisis! So, unless you have not turned on a TV or radio or live streamed news in the past week, you have heard that the FBI made several arrests connecting former and current NBA players and Underworld figures with sports-related betting schemes.[1]
Let’s face it…this is NOT rocket science! We have been here before, and, yet, NOT learned from our mistakes. This is not merely an issue of unintended consequences. It is pure and simple GREED. History reveals that when you open the flood gates crime follows. Just consider how many college sports teams and/or games are supported via alcohol advertising by A-B, Miller, etc. Meanwhile telling its audiences to drink responsibly fully knowing that many of those viewers are underage!
One month ago, I addressed the dangers of this topic in our WW blog and, in fact, our industry recently held a seminar focusing on those threats. Just yesterday, Jason Gay’s (WSJ) brutally honest piece struck right at the heart of the Sports Gambling debacle briefly captured below[2]:
Shocking? Hardly. I couldn’t have been the only person watching that highly dramatic press conference, thinking of the gambling trade’s daily assault on our senses—ads, ads, and more ads—saying: Well, what did anyone expect?
And, just last night, as I was watching a college football game the NCAA ran an ad called “Draw the line.”[3] This campaign is directed towards gamblers who lose bets and then turn their anger towards college athletes. I found it necessary to share a quote from their website below:
Sports betting is everywhere – your friends, family and classmates are placing bets, ads are impossible to miss, and the prevalence of harassment from angry fans who lost a bet continues to increase.
Seriously? The NCAA opened Pandora’s Box by cutting deals with these Sports Betting firms, making a king’s ransom on the deals, and then blames the people they need to help fuel this dystopian machine. As with the alcohol ads of yesteryear, Sports Gambling smacks its viewers with never-ending promos. The incredible amounts of money changing hands throughout the ecosystem seems to blind good, ‘second-order consequences’ type of thinking. When it comes to GREED, Gay said it best, this is “The surest of sure things.”
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Source [1] https://www.npr.org/2025/10/23/nx-s1-5583614/nba-gambling-arrests-terry-rozier-chauncey-billups
[2] https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/the-most-inevitable-scandal-in-sports-history-b9d2c5c7?st=Va72n8&reflink=article_gmail_share
[3] www.ncaa.org/drawtheline
AI & Teen Suicide
FBI / NBA / Arrests
NBA & Gambling: What could go wrong?
Parkinson’s Deep Brain Stim Surgery
More on Parkinson’s
Babies & Peanuts
40% Workers Dealing w/ MH Issues
Workplace Wellness Champs
Route to Happiness
Mental Exercise & Aging
Marijuana & Sleep
Is the NFL Safer (than HS)?
USW: First Women President
Starbucks Strike Vote
Shoe Strike
OSHA’s New Look?
Fed Union Workers Pushing Back
New US Citizenship Test
Another DC / Cross Border Trip-up
Whitehouse Teardown
DC Betrayal
DOJ Whistleblower
Widening Gender Pay Gap
60% of Gen Z Pursuing Blue-Collar Work
US Workers: Not Wired for Instability
Gen Z & (Non)Workplace Emergencies
AWS Glitch Hamstrings Businesses
Amazon: Robots over Workers?
25% Workers Did NOT Take Vacation!
Min Wage & Rents
Jobs / Ghosting / Mistrust
Shortages & Firetrucks
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
Free MHFA Training (10/29)
Free Narcan Training (11/13)
Free CALM Training (11/17)
Sexual Addiction (11/19)
Healing the Workplace
CPWR: MATES & Suicide Prevention Research
Youth Depression & Suicide
Understanding Traumatic Grief (Part 1)
Resilience: BH Workers
Motivational Interviewing (PZR2b+@5)
MHA: Supporting Young Minds
Employers: Understanding TBIs
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact jgaal@moworks.org with related questions or comments.
Alina’s Story: Missouri Works Initiative
Before joining Missouri Works Initiative, Alina’s life felt scattered. She had once worked as an executive chef at a country club, but in 2024 she was let go, and the loss shook her confidence.
“My life was all over the place,” Alina said. “I was in between a lot of jobs trying to find myself because I had lost who I was and I felt like I was worthless. It was a very hard time for me to start all over.”
She picked up work in other kitchens, but it never felt the same starting from the bottom again. She even tried an office job, but quickly realized that sitting at a desk wasn’t for her. “I like to work with my hands and move,” she explained.
Alina first discovered Missouri Works Initiative through Facebook. Wanting a new path that would be both steady and rewarding, she reached out and connected with Russ from the MWI team. That decision turned out to be life-changing.
She enrolled in the Apprenticeship Ready Program, where she especially enjoyed the hands-on experiences and opportunities to learn about the different trades. “It was fun,” she said. “I really liked the field trips and getting to learn about all the different trades.”
During her time in the program, Alina learned practical skills like drywall and framing—skills she now uses on the job every day. Today, she’s proud to be working with TJ Wies, doing framing and drywall at the Mizzou Stadium. Her chosen trade is carpentry with Carpenters Mid-America, and she is excited to be building a future she feels connected to.
For Alina, Missouri Works Initiative provided not only skills but also confidence. “It’s a great program for people that are on the fence about joining a new career,” she said. “It shows you all the ins and outs, the information you need to know about all the trades.”
She credits Russ for helping her take the leap and guiding her through the program. “Definitely Russ,” she said when asked who she wanted to thank.
Alina’s story is proof that even when life feels like it’s starting over, there’s always a path forward, and sometimes, it begins with simply taking that first step.
Start your journey here.
Wellness & Well-being Highlights October 20th
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of October 20, 2025
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us look at the latest warnings regarding alcohol and dementia—to how the human mind functions past midnight—to how cuts in DC are negatively impacting vulnerable populations (i.e., special needs students, Women Vets, etc.).
This week I would like to share with you a highlight from the national LOSS conference I attended in Omaha, NE this past Mon thru Wed. This conference was held for suicide loss survivors. It focused on what I refer to as the 3rd leg of the suicide triangle: Suicide Postvention (the other 2 legs being Prevention and Intervention). The keynote speaker was Dr Frank Campbell. I consider him a friend and mentor. He is one of the foremost researchers in the field of suicide postvention. How/Why? Frank lost a childhood friend to suicide when he was 12 yo. Like many of us who have lost a loved one to suicide, in the aftermath, he felt there was a dearth of resources and support during his grieving process. It was via his service and research that he discovered it took ~4.5 years for loss survivors to reach out for assistance. Meanwhile, during this time many survivors are left behind to suffer in silence. In 1997, he developed an active postvention model and coined the term LOSS: Local Outreach for Suicide Survivors. In Baton Rouge, he launched the first LOSS Team in 1998.[1] Since then, research reveals that a program like LOSS can bring the time a survivor reaches out for help down to <2 months. In my opinion, this is key when it comes to preventing additional suicides due to generational impact on families and friends. Thus, the saying: Postvention is Prevention.
As I have noted in the past, Postvention does not receive the funding and/or attention that Prevention or Intervention have garnered on the international and national stages. Despite that, we cannot and will not impact the rise of suicides in this country unless and until we connect the 3 legs of the Suicide Triangle. To do so would mean making an effort to, at the very least, consider how to establish a LOSS Team in Missouri. Just 2 months ago, our construction industry experienced at least 2 suicide deaths that I know of. In both cases, I received calls asking “What to do next?” We need to step back and plan for these incidents so that when the next one happens we are not scrambling for resources in the midst of a full-blown crisis! In the famous words of Hillel, “If not now, when?”
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Source [1] https://www.lossteam.com/founder-dr-frank-campbell
US Mental Health Map: Best vs Worst
Counselor’s OUD Recovery Story
Risks: AI for MH
Cannabis Addiction?
Why are Youth Unhappy?
Dementia: No Amount of Alcohol
India: Kids & Cough Syrup
Rise of Autism?
Update: More Gun Violence
Human Mind Past Midnight
MH & LBGTQ+
Workplace Wellness & Flexibility
Flexibility & Longevity
Roll Your Shoulders
Update: Microplastics
NFL / Concussion / Fine
IAM / Boeing / ULP
VW / UAW / Final Offer
AFL-CIO vs AI
Paralyzed NLRB: CA Takes action
CDC’s Union Blasts HHS Layoffs
CDC: DC’s Yo-Yo
Greece’s Labor Protest
Trump / Unions / Media Surveillance
Media Rejecting Pentagon’s Rules
Update: No Kings
VA Cuts Damage Women Vets
Shutdown Targets Vulnerable Populations
DC Cuts Impact Special Ed
Construction: Dismantling DEI
UK Construction Worker Health Claims Up
Walmart: Workers’ Pay
Gen Z / Finances / Fear
Canadian Employees Refuse US Travel
Women / Pay Cuts / RTO
PA: Rise of Skilled Trades
End of College; Rise of Skills
Free Knowledge vs College
One College’s Response: Homeless Students
Job Search in Tough Times
Job Hugging
Medical Costs: 80% in US Unprepared
Unretirement
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
Rural MH Solutions (10/21)
SUD & MH Resilience Strategies (10/22)
2025 Gun Policy Survey (11/11)
Suicide Postvention for MH Pros
Truman’s Peacemaker
Caring Contacts for Suicide Prevention
Caring Letters: Kevin Hines
MHA: 2025 State of MH
Apply: BIA-MO Student Scholarships
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact jgaal@moworks.org with related questions or comments.
Wellness & Well-being Highlights October 13th
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of October 13, 2025
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us look at how drug overdose deaths in Missouri have declined over the past 2 years—to the impact of PTSD (then, often, referred to as ‘shell shock’) on our servicepeople who returned from WWII—to how recent actions by US-DOT is rolling back Construction’s DEI efforts.
This week I would like to take a closer look at 2 recently released studies on youth, sports, and brain damage. The first study (Nature) looked at mostly amateur American football players under 50 yo. It noted that while not all subjects had signs of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) most had signs of brain cell damage. The author went on to say:
What’s more, while some of the athletes had a history of a traumatic brain injury, or T.B.I., some did not. Instead, the scientists think the changes in their brains were largely caused by multiple small hits to the head.[1]
In essence, when players run into each other upwards of 100 times per game, the results can be debilitating!
The second study (Neurology), via MRI brain scans, observed >300 amateur soccer players in their twenties. These researchers focused on where gray matter intersects with white matter (an area vulnerable to head impacts). To this end, “the more frequently a player headed the ball, the more damage they had, and the worse they performed on cognitive tests.”[1]
In both studies, the greatest damage occurred in the frontal cortex, a region important for planning, working memory and decision making.[1] These 2 studies lay the groundwork for developing tests that one day may identify possible early warning signs of CTE. Two important notes:
So, why does this matter? 1) Mainly, because some of us have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. playing collision sports. 2) In last week’s blog, I included an article called Safety Helmets Saves Lives.[2] As I have written in the past, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) accounted for 25% of all construction worker deaths in the U.S. between 2003 and 2010. This made TBIs the third most common cause of death in the construction industry during that period. Our industry needs to shift from hard hats to safety helmets if we truly cherish our workers!
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Sources [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/well/mind/brain-damage-sports.html?searchResultPosition=8
[2] https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/09/Research-helmet-lab-construction-safety-helmet-ratings.html
Construction: Addressing Mental Health Stigma
Decline of OD Deaths in MO
HEAT: Workplace Injuries Increase
STL’s Open-air Drug Market
Youth & Cannabis
Employers / Employees / Food Insecurity
Rankings: Worker Well-being
Rape Survivor Care Advocate
The Wounded Generation
Vaccine Court
You & Your Phone
Preventing Dementia
Motivation & Exercise
Happiness: Going It Alone?
PBS: Born Poor
Coping w/ Invisible Illness
Multiple Minor Hits Damaging Youth’s Brains
Minds Matter: Concussion Care
Mizzou / Unions / Protection
Broadway Musicians Strike
KP & 23 Unions
Harvard Undergrads / Union / First Contract
VT: Dairy Workers Strike
Rise of White-Collar Unions
New Head of OSHA?
Shutdown: Who to blame?
Trump / ATC / Shutdown
Fed Workers & Back Pay
RFK Jr / Surgeons General / America’s Health
Are You a Hypocrite?
Cost of Employee Burnout
Technostress
Tracking Employee MH Efficacy
Gen Z: Redesigning the Workplace
Construction: DEI Efforts
Construction: DOT Guts DEI
Construction Recruiting: Leader v Laborer
Bad Bunny / NFL / MAGA
Mistrusting AI
Delaying SS Benefits?
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
CONVERSATIONS: Suicide Postvention (10/17)
TRAINING: Caring Communities – Suicide Postvention (10/17)
Suicide Risks & AI (10/17)
Transforming SUD Treatment (10/30)
Brain Injury Seminar (11/8)
Supervisor’s Guide to Workplace Suicide Postvention
The Healing Power of Pets
Hard Hats & Heavy Burdens
FREE Diapers
FREE Meals
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact jgaal@moworks.org with related questions or comments.
Trent’s Story: Missouri Works Initiative
Before connecting with Missouri Works Initiative, 27-year-old Trent Krantz was working full-time but knew something wasn’t right.
“I had no path forward in that career,” Trent said. “Healthcare was minimal or not offered at all, my wages couldn’t support my growing family, and it felt like I needed to make a change for the sake of my own and my family’s future.”
That change came by chance. One day, while searching online for career opportunities, Trent stumbled across Missouri Works Initiative.
“I found MWI seemingly by accident, just by searching the internet for anything to point me in the right direction towards a more fulfilling career. It seemed like a perfect fit at the perfect time.”
He hadn’t spoken to anyone at MWI before applying. Instead, he read through the website and articles to learn as much as he could. When his interview came around, Trent was eager to ask questions and left impressed by the people behind the program. “All of my questions were answered, and then some, by the awesome crew there at MWI.”
Trent said one of the things he valued most about the program was the sense of community. “It felt like I was in community with everyone there, all the time. I left every conversation with something to think about, and I was encouraged to bring something to the table myself every day. Great things can be done when we’re all working towards the same thing.”
Along with encouragement, Trent gained both technical and life skills. He learned how to apply math and problem-solving to real world challenges, read blueprints, and use the tools of the trade to get the job done. Just as important, he learned to advocate for himself.
“A big thing they stressed at MWI is that you have to advocate for yourself. If you have questions, ask them. If you need help, ask for it. People are willing to help you and the trade doesn’t move forward without that passing of knowledge. As soon as I understood that, it felt like a huge piece of the puzzle slid into place. Most importantly, as cliché as it sounds, don’t underestimate how important it is to listen, and show up.”
Today, Trent is proud to be working at Dema Engineering as a CNC machinist, represented by Machinists District 9. “I feel like I finally have a clear vision of where I want to put my time, energy and passion. To have a career that I genuinely enjoy and have a passion for feels great. Most importantly, I’m confident in my ability to support my family.”
Trent is quick to credit the people at MWI who helped him get here. “Everyone who makes the wheels turn and keeps the operation going are amazing. I had an amazing time with Maggie, Mike and Jim of the manufacturing program. Everything they do is in service to their students and I could always tell they were truly passionate about what they do.”
And when asked for one last piece of advice, his answer was simple. “Join a Union.”
If you’re ready for a change like Trent, Missouri Works Initiative can help you find your path forward.
Start your journey here.
Wellness & Well-being Highlights October 6th
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of October 6, 2025
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us look at how AI is being utilized to detect breast cancer—to the impact of heat on a worker’s internal organs—to a new study that confirms the attributes of safety helmets. This week I would like to take a closer look at voluntary vs forced Mental Health care.
It is no secret that the US lacks the infrastructure to handle each and every MH crisis. Readers of this blog know my sentiments on the positive impact that peer supporters can have on assisting filling this gap as para-professionals (not as counselors or therapists but as resource navigators… Think: Traffic Cops). In fact, studies have shown that <25% of the people with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) receive care.[1]
Sadly, DC has once again plowed ahead with programs (i.e., involuntary interventions like forced medications and hospitalizations) based on emotions vs facts. To this end…
In July, the federal government issued the executive order “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” The order specifically targets people experiencing homelessness and serious mental illness. This policy shift intensifies debates over how to balance public safety, individual rights and effective, evidence-based care.[1]
Meanwhile, results from a Q1-2025 survey indicate the following:
Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) supported expanding access to community-based services, with similar levels across party lines: 78% among Democrats, 72% among Republicans and 71% among Independents. Similarly, most respondents across party lines supported expanding peer-led services.
In contrast, support dropped for policies that would allow treatment to be forced on someone against their will. Just 40% favored forced psychiatric medication, 45% supported short-term involuntary hospitalization and 42% supported long-term hospitalization. Mandated substance-use treatment drew slightly more support, at 53%.[1]
The lead author, Morgan Shields, suggests that, when it comes to population health, community-based services can improve access to care and tend to be more effective when compared to the high cost of institutionalizing people—many against their will!
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Source: [1] https://source.washu.edu/2025/09/americans-favor-voluntary-mental-health-care-amid-federal-push-for-forced-treatment/?utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FY26_October_%40WashU&contactid=003PH000007TZxbYAG&utm_content=https%3a%2f%2fsource.washu.edu%2f2025%2f09%2famericans-favor-voluntary-mental-health-care-amid-federal-push-for-forced-treatment%2f
Run for Mental Health
A Dad’s Love and Suicide
AI & Breast Cancer
Big Pharma / Opioid Settlement / Victims
OUD: Post-pandemic Jump
Rise in Fentanyl: Job Drug Screens
Heat’s Internal Impact
Voluntary vs Forced MH Care
More on Forced MH Care
US Aid Cuts & Young Women
Young Men & Internet Darkness
School Phone Ban’s Impact
Dog for a Day
Vets & Beekeeping
Digital Eye Strain
Safety Helmets Saves Lives
NFL’s Big Helmets
NFL / CTE / Death & Forgiveness
More on CTE
Boeing / IAM / Strike Replacements
RI: Transit Strike
CA: HC Workers Strike
TX: Firefighters’ New Deal
BOP Cancels Union Contracts
Greece Train Strike
Construction’s Worker Shortages
VA Cuts = Harm Vets?
Hegseth’s Insulting Address
Rubio / Aid / Lies & Deaths
Trump: Another Conflict of Interest?
US Colleges: Blind Loyalty vs Merit
Waning Trust in Higher Ed
When Wives Outearn Husbands
RR Church: 1st Black Millionaire
MSU: New Construction Facility
AI’s Impact: White-collar vs Blue-collar Jobs
Update: Student Debt Forgiveness
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
Workplace Wellness (10/9)
QPR for Ag (10/10)
MSPN: Community Conversations Postvention (10/17)
Cannabis Use Guidelines (10/23)
Gun Violence in the USA
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact jgaal@moworks.org with related questions or comments.
Partner Spotlight: Tim Clavin
Building pathways and partnerships for a stronger workforce.
Tim Clavin, Director of Financial Wellness at St. Louis Community Credit Union (SLCCU), shares his not-for-profit employer’s mission of “raising the communities we serve.” For Tim, investing in communities means investing in people. In his role, he works directly with individuals to provide the financial tools, resources, and knowledge they need to achieve stability and long-term success.
With nine years at SLCCU, Tim has seen firsthand the challenges that millions of hardworking Americans face every day. Flat wages, rising costs, limited training opportunities, and what he calls “bureaucracy that keeps the underserved down without the ability to raise their earning power” make it difficult for many to build a solid financial foundation. Through financial coaching and mentoring, Tim uses his expertise to help people overcome these barriers and gain a path forward.
For the past three years, Tim and SLCCU have partnered with Missouri Works Initiative to extend that mission to program participants. As students prepare to begin new careers in the trades, Tim provides financial wellness sessions, presentations, and access to services that many would not otherwise know about. His guidance helps ensure participants are not only job-ready but also financially prepared to succeed outside of the classroom and on the job.
“Missouri Works Initiative is doing a good job,” Tim said. “Just like us, trying to be better every day.”
Missouri Works Initiative is proud to partner with organizations like St. Louis Community Credit Union and people like Tim Clavin, who share our commitment to changing lives. Together, we provide the resources and education needed to support Missouri’s skilled workforce both personally and professionally.
If you want to be part of this mission and invest in Missouri’s future workforce, we’d love to partner with you. Contact Megan Price at mprice@moworks.org.
“Success in the Making” Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis’ Internship Program
These inspiring students are rolling up their sleeves, trying new things, and proving that the future of our workforce is in good hands. We couldn’t be more excited to be part of their journey.
Click here to read their story!