Youth Mental Health First Aid

Daily Inspiration: Meet Madeline Hissong

I make sweet and savory hand pies. I think right now I am mostly known for my dill cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning pie. I don’t really know yet what sets me apart from others. There are so many people doing such amazing things with food. I just really love to be a part of that community. I am so proud every day of just getting my little pie stand going! I got a second job to pay for all of the things I needed and made so so many pies. I am just proud that it has all come together like it has. And my pie crust. It is still a work in progress, but I feel like it gets better with each little adjustment I make to it. 

 Dr. Marty K. Casey performance artist and activist has procreated and given meaning to a new word “Actrivist!” Leveraging the ARTS for HEALING, Dr. Casey, founded UnGUN Institute, focused on healing trauma through applied arts. Dr. Casey has found a way to connect and communicate through the Arts; in 2020 she performed on stage in the Big Apple for the AARP association, to a sold-out crowd, just days before the global pandemic forced a lock down. While the pandemic slowed us all down, Dr. Casey, still found ways to push her agenda for activism and community healing and as such her efforts gained recognition, by the St. Louis Business Journal, featuring her on the cover as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Businesswomen in St. Louis. 

Neil Kruel is an American Artist and Educator. His art includes mixed-media works and acrylic paintings both on paper and canvas. He is also a skilled ceramist working in stoneware and recycled glass. His imagery draws heavily upon the influence of wabi-sabi, an ancient traditional Japanese philosophy.  This view is centered on appreciating beauty that is transient and incomplete - a concept where the accidental and the serendipitous are embraced. He currently lives in Union, Missouri where he maintains an active studio.  Kruel holds a Masters of Arts Degree from University of Missouri-Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Northern Colorado. 

Nate graduated Magna Cum Laude in May 2021. A kind and compassionate young man with a talent for guitar and vocals.

Nate was starting his career as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist at a Missouri hospital. Nate took his life 60 days after graduation.

His death is a loss to us all. May he rest peacefully.