New Blooms Abound at Bellis!
Hello Bellis Community!
It has been a minute since you have heard from us and for that we apologize! What I thought was going to be a slow and sauntering summer has turned into exciting twists and turns that have kept us on our toes.
Since we last chatted, we hired Bridgid Dunlap as Director of Advancement. Bridgid comes to Bellis with 20 years of experience in the nonprofit fundraising world.
Much of her career has focused on healthcare and community-based organizations spanning major gifts, grants, corporate partnerships, sponsorships and donor stewardship. She has eagerly and easily integrated herself into our work and is inspired by Bellis’ innovative and compassionate foundation.
We are beyond thrilled to have Bridgid on our team!
We have also hired four new facilitators to assist us as we continue to grow our online programming. Poiab Vue is a LICSW Bilingual Hmong-English provider with a deep commitment to culturally responsive, anti-oppressive practice. She specializes in working with women navigating trauma, identity, empowerment, and meaningful life change. Digna Nichols is a candidate for her license in Parent and Family Education from UMN and has her Master’s and PhD in Community Development. Digna immigrated to the US from the Philippines and is currently a teaching assistant at the Anishinabe Academy in Minneapolis and has taught students kindergarten through adult. Kate Reilly is a Licensed Social Worker whose background includes working as a group facilitator for Anoka County Corrections, women domestic abuse survivors, and an intensive outpatient substance use recovery clinic. Cailee Furer is a Licensed Parent and Family Educator in Bemidji. She developed a parent education program for parents who have CPS involvement and helps them navigate reunification. These incredible women were trained at the end of August and are using September to observe groups before we assign them to their own groups to lead in October. We are hopeful of adding at least four more groups to our weekly offerings as the number of our participants continues to grow. Welcome to our new facilitators!
In the midst of the internal hiring and training we are also preparing to train three more organizations:
Recovering Hope in Mora, MN, ANEW Treatment Center in St. Paul, MN, and Empowered Beginnings in Hamden, CT. Recovering Hope and ANEW are the recipients of the Bellis Facilitator Training Scholarship made possible by the MN IDEAS grant we were awarded in June. Empowered Beginnings is being trained as part of our research development grant in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Medical School. They will be providing Bellis programming in York Correctional Facility in Connecticut, the only women’s facility in the state. This will be the first time Bellis programming will be conducted in a correctional facility outside of MCF-Shakopee. Groundbreaking!
We are thrilled to see the expansion of our services both internally and externally – in state and nationwide! It is hard to believe how much we continue to grow as one day just keeps flowing into the next and there is always something to do. We are learning how to pause, reflect, and appreciate the impact this work is creating.
All to say, none of this could be accomplished without the incredible support we receive from you, our devoted community. Being able to share this news with you all is what makes it even more special. Thank you for continuing to believe in us as we take root, grow, and bloom in ways that we only dreamed possible. Stay tuned! There is more coming soon!
Kelly Tronstad
Executive Director
M.Ed. and Licensed Parent Educator
