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End-of-Year Message from WRAP Director

by | Dec 19, 2024 | Blog, Elements of WRAP, Mental Health, Trauma, Wellbeing, WRAP Programs & Groups

by Lynn Miller

Happy Holidays to ALL WRAP Facilitators, Advanced Level Facilitators (ALFs), WRAPpers, your families and friends, and all the agency staff we have worked with over the past year!

The year 2024 has been one of significant growth for WRAP! With the support of our AHP leadership and our CEO, Noah Shifman, we have successfully developed an innovative approach to ensuring that all people have access to WRAP!

With our team of AHP dedicated ALFs and Lead ALFs, we have been able to bring this evidenced-based practice of WRAP to multiple states across the USA and internationally.

I would like to thank our team for their outstanding commitment, passion, and collaboration in ensuring that individuals and communities around the world receive the gift of WRAP. During this season of giving, I cannot think of a more profound gift than experiencing recovery and wellness through WRAP.

A special thank you to our ALFs and Lead ALFs: Toni Lynn Pakus, Sarah Farmer, Kurt Danysh, Akua Rose Feathers, Marcus Wilson-Stevenson, Karen Parsons, Jodi Lemont, Cathedra Winston, Trenda Hedges, Lawrence Rhone, Ramona French, Stephanie Jack, Dormen H. Lisby Sr., Nina Law, Nate Enholm, Lisa St. George, John O’Grady, Brenda Healy, Simon Burton, Heather Cobb, the School Care’s Team, and our licensed partner Step By Step. The trainings that this team of dedicated Lead ALFs have conducted will impact thousands of people around the world.

As we continue to embark on the next 25 years of WRAP, we would like to thank the communities that have invited us to support their WRAP goals.

We are honored to have built so many relationships with people around the country and internationally.

We also would like to send a very special thank you to Mary Ellen Copeland and Ed Anthes for virtually joining the many seminars we facilitated around the world. Participants were very excited to have the opportunity to meet and talk with Mary Ellen and Ed and learn about the history of WRAP.

WRAP 2024 Roundup

WRAP’s whirlwind year brought unprecedented growth and expansion, which will continue in 2025 as we introduce more publications, training locations, and Facilitator resources.

These highlights only capture the work done by the WRAP Team. Countless other people were gifted with WRAP in seminars led by Certified WRAP Facilitators around the world. We thank all of you for your part in sharing the path to wellness with others.

  • Seminars. In 2024, our team facilitated dozens of in-person WRAP seminars and recertifications across the United States, including cities in Northern and Southern California, Washington, Colorado, Montana, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, South Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, and Kansas. We also traveled to Canada, Ireland, and England to facilitate six Seminar III trainings.

 

  • Virtual Seminars. Our virtual team produced and facilitated 28 Virtual WRAP Seminar I groups and 5 WRAP Facilitator Refreshers for the general public and many more for contracted groups.

 

  • New Partner. Step by Step in Pennsylvania was named a WRAP licensed partner, allowing its staff to offer all WRAP seminars, including WRAP Seminar III and ALF Recertifications.

 

  • Centers of Distinction (CoD). We recognized many Centers of Distinction, which are agencies who demonstrate the highest fidelity to WRAP and WRAP Values and Ethics. The following organizations were designated as WRAP CoDs: School Care Team in Indiana, Holy City Well Being in South Carolina, Fresh Start of Miami-Dade in Florida, Communities of Don Guanella in Pennsylvania, Mental Health Association of Nebraska, and Crestwood Behavioral Health in California.

 

  • Tribal Communities. The AHP team worked with Tribal communities to provide WRAP Seminar I and conduct focus groups to help us in the next steps of ensuring WRAP training and material recognizes the unique and diverse needs of these communities.

 

  • State of Distinction. The State of Montana is the first AHP-recognized State CoD. We have worked collaboratively with the state of Montana to expand WRAP across its behavioral health community, correctional facilities, and veteran communities. We also facilitated WRAP seminars I and II with the Montana Army National Guard Warrior Wellness program and Drop-in Center members.

 

  • Farmer Veterans. We collaborated with the Farmer Veteran Coalition to provide WRAP in Plentywood, Montana, as part of the Holistic Impactful Veteran Engagement (H.I.V.E.), the first innovative program for veterans transitioning into farming and ranching. H.I.V.E was made possible through a grant provided by the Farmer Veteran Coalition and the United States Department of Agriculture National Equity Outreach Grant program. This is the first session in a series of three that will take place in Montana through this grant. WRAP was recognized as a holistic wellness approach to support veterans and their families as they transition out of service into a new way of life through farming and ranching. We are very grateful to the Farmer Veteran Coalition for recognizing WRAP as the tool to support our veterans as they transition.

 

  • Virtual WRAP. We significantly expanded the accessibility of WRAP Seminar I through both a standard virtual format and with a Facilitator Refresher to equip facilitators with the skills to facilitate WRAP virtually.

 

  • Expansion. We expanded WRAP’s presence into more colleges, universities, and the developmental distinction community.

 

 

  • On the Horizon. There are many new and exciting projects in the planning for 2025. A few include WRAP for maternal, post-partum and perinatal care, WRAP for Workplace Wellness, WRAP for Caregivers, an updated ALF manual, and more.

 

We look forward to continuing to work with our WRAP community and together bring the gift of WRAP to the world!