Explore how to build one’s relationship with the Creator through prayer especially when facing major life events with Pastor Vicky Lovell.  

Rev. Victoria Lovell, BA, MEd, MDiv
Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor & Angel Whispers Ministry

Providing care for your child is often something you do invisibly. Your friends, family, and community are often unaware of the everyday demands of caregiving. That can cause feelings of isolation and loneliness. These feelings have a direct impact on the relationships you are in. In this session, experienced relationship counselors Karin and Dennis McNicholas will discuss strategies for keeping friendships and relationships active when you need them most.

Karin G. McNicholas, MSW, LCSW
Clinical Psychologist,
Chicago, IL

Dennis J McNicholas, ESQ.
Family Mediator,
Chicago, IL

Siblings are often just as impacted by the illness as the child who is sick. This session focuses on what to expect and how to be sure you are able to support the sibling though the illness. 

Mary Ann Fithian
Conference Chairperson,
North Star Reach

Will Falzon
Sibling

EFT or Tapping is a holistic healing approach that helps reduce stress and anxiety and allows the brain to experience a state of emotional calm and safety. In this session, learn EFT from certified Clinical EFT practitioner, Danielle Groth, and add a new tool to your self-care tool belt.

Danielle Groth
Certified Clinical EFT practitioner, Reiki Master, and Meditation Facilitator
I Am Well, LLC

Shavonn Burgess is a parent of a child with sickle cell and founder of Kennedy’s Village, Inc. By sharing her personal story, she will explore the challenges of helping your child – and you, as the caregiver – be seen as a whole person. Especially in the days and months immediately following a diagnosis, your child and your family may feel known chiefly by a collection of symptoms and treatments. This presentation will help parents and caregivers to see what’s next.  

Shavonn Burgess
Co-Founder/CEO,
Kennedy’s Village, Inc

Katie Farrell, a nurse and founder of Dashing Dish, teaches how to find a balance between spiritual and physical health. In this session, Katie will demonstrate how to make some of her most delicious (and nourishing) recipes.

Katie Farrell, RN
Founder
Dashing Dish

Caring for a child with medical needs can be overwhelming and isolating. It leaves us exhausted, anxious, and even depressed. It leaves us unable to give the kind of care we want to, unable to give the care we need to. In this beginner session we will learn about relaxation through Yoga. This will include 12-pose sequence that is specifically designed to provide caregivers with resilience.

Aubrey Schupbach
Founder,
Zion Well Yoga + Meditation Studio

Led by Pastor Vicky Lovell, this session will touch on several activities that are helpful for recharging our spiritual self and spiritual energy.

Rev. Victoria Lovell, BA, MEd, MDiv
Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor & Angel Whispers Ministry

The author of the recently released collection of poetry, “When Our Fathers Return to Us as Birds,” shares his poems and talks about how he reframed how he told stories when he was caring for his dying father. “I had to tell the truth,” Markus says, “and poetry was the way to do it.”

Peter Markus
Poet, Novelist and Teacher,
InsideOut Literary Arts in Detroit

Join us for a conversation with poet, essayist, and Little Lobbyist advocate Jeneva Stone. We’ll explore ways caregivers can cultivate a writing and creative practice that can, in the words of poet Naomi Shihab Nye, become “an act that helps you, preserves you, energizes you in the very doing of it.”

Jeneva Burroughs Stone, MFA, PhD
Poet, essayist, and advocate
Along with son, Rob, member of Little Lobbyists, a family-led organization advocating for the health care needs of children with complex medical needs and disabilities

Ami Walsh, MFA
Story Studio Director,
North Star Reach

In this session get working models for communication improvement. Effective communication during crisis situations is essential, learning these tatics can improve how you deal with crisis.

Karin G. McNicholas, MSW, LCSW
Clinical Psychologist,
Chicago, IL

Dennis J McNicholas, ESQ.

Family Mediator,
Chicago, IL

This session is dedicated to families caring for a child with an epilepsy diagnosis. Meet other parents. educators, and physicians and participate in our community conversation to ask questions, share resources, and build support for parents and caregivers.

Presented by the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan, including featured speakers:

Louis Dang, MD
Pediatric Epileptologist,
Pediatric Neurology, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital

Nicole Fitzpatrick
Parent of a child with epilepsy

Russ Derry, MPH
Director Education,
Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan