Beyond NAS Conference 2023 a great success!

Beyond NAS Conference 2023 a great success!

Our Beyond NAS Conference took center stage at the Hotel 1620, Plymouth, MA  on Friday, March 10, 2023. Featuring enlightening speakers, educational breakout sessions, CEU options and panel discussions, the conference had benefits for professionals as well as families dealing with raising children born with in-utero substance exposure.

Theresa Harmon, Executive Director & Founder of To the Moon & Back, commented: “Over the past year we completed our own research on the long-term consequences of in-utero opiate exposure which we presented at the conference! Special thanks to our sponsors, Plymouth Community Charitable Foundation & the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office!”

BEYOND NAS CONFERENCE 2023 Schedule

7:30-8:30 am – Registration

8:30-9:00 am – Intro from Director and Legislators

9:00-9:30 am – Kelly Hall, MA Health Policy Commission

9:30-10:00 am – Andra Wilkinson PhD, MSPH, Child Trends

10:00-11:30 am – Stephen Bradley, LMHC, LICSW, Neurosequential Model

11:30 am-12:00 pm – Break

12:00-12:30 pm – Dr. Davida Schiff, MGH HOPE Clinic

12:30-1:30 pm – Lunch

1:00-1:30 pm – Working Lunch: Panel Discussion- Families Caring for Children w/ NAS

1:30-2:00 pm – Plymouth County Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative

BREAKOUTS

Session 1, 2:00-3:00 pm

Healing Trauma with Occupational Therapy, Katie Everson OTD, OTR/L, Cape Cod Health

Effective Advocacy in the School Setting, Catherine Mayes and Leslie Lockhart, Independent Educational Advocates (formerly of MA Advocates for Children)

Recovery For All: Infinite Pathways to Wellness for the Whole Family, Meghann Perry, CARC, RCPF, Revolution Recovery

Session 2, 3:00-4:00 pm

Healing Trauma with Occupational Therapy, Katie Everson OTD, OTR/L, Cape Cod Health

Evidence Based Mindfulness Practice, Sarah Manion, Chief Program Officer, Calmer Choice

Talking with Adolescents about Substance Use, Kelly Macomber, M.ED, Family & Community Engagement Specialist, Plymouth Public Schools

 

Tickets available on Eventbrite

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Help Us Create Standards of Care for Children Exposed to Opiates In-Utero!

Help Us Create Standards of Care for Children Exposed to Opiates In-Utero!

Click Here To Take The Survey

To The Moon And Back wants to know more about what it’s like to raise children born
with opioid exposure, the joys and the challenges, the services you received and the
services you wish existed. We have contracted with Child Trends, a research
organization, to help us do this.

One of the ways to gather this information is via a survey, which should take about 20 minutes to complete. We will also hold focus groups in the future. The survey and groups are completely voluntary.

If you complete the survey, you will be entered into a raffle for a $50 gift card for your participation. If you are parenting or caring for more than one child who was born with opioid exposure or dependence, please complete one survey for each child.

This survey and the focus groups will help us to better understand best practices in care for children born with in-utero opiate exposure. This is what To The Moon And Back initially set out to do and we’re excited to be doing it!

Thank you in advance for your consideration and participation. We look forward to speaking with you! If you have questions, feel free to email Andra Wilkinson from Child Trends at awilkinson@childtrends.org.

Click Here To Take The Survey
Our First Annual Golf Tournament Was Very Successful!

Our First Annual Golf Tournament Was Very Successful!

For the first time ever To The Moon And Back hosted a golf tournament at Plymouth Country Club which is a private, highly rated golf destination in Plymouth, MA. This event raised nearly $14,000 for our children. Based on the success of the event we are already planning this as a repeat event next year to be help on October, 3, 2022. Please reach out to Andy Harmon at andy@2themoonandback.org as the event signup will be live after the first of the year and we will be looking for both golfers and sponsors! Thank you to this year’s Title Sponsor Marty’s GMC & Buick and to our dinner sponsors Brian & Grace Concannon! We’d also like to extend our thanks to Bob Hollis and the Plymouth Recovery Center who donated the date for the tournament.

We also want to highlight our 2021 Sam’s Award winner which was presented at the tournament. In the past the award has been presented at our Prom Gala but with COVID we were unable to host the past few years. However, we didn’t want that to stop us from singing the praises of our recipient and Sam’s dear friend Christine Alicandro Karnolt, CEO of Marty’s GMC & Buick. Christine has been our staunch supporter since our inception in 2017. She has been instrumental in getting the word out about our cause, engaging the local community, and financially supporting many of our programs that support our kids and families. She has shown time and again that her heart is with our children. A heartfelt thank you from our children and families.

Where Will the Money Go?

Long term outcomes for our children are still being studied and this has been a challenge in developing best practices in their care. Currently, the studies that are underway are not expected to be complete for the next decade. In the meantime our children continue to struggle developmentally, with minimal guidance from the providers that you would typical turn to for support like pediatricians, daycare providers, and schools.

To the Moon and Back has partnered with Child Trends to complete our own research study in 2022. Child Trends is the nation’s leading research organization who focuses on improving the lives of vulnerable children and families through its work. We expect results to be available within the year.

The money raised from the golf tournament is going directly towards kicking off this research. It will allow us to add more children to our study as well as make it possible for us to publish our findings and develop an educational training package around the results.

Sam The Superhero and His Super Life is OUT NOW!

Sam The Superhero and His Super Life is OUT NOW!

To The Moon and Back (TTMAB)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to children born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) and their families—is proud to unveil their new children’s book, Sam the Superhero and His Super Life. The book centers on a boy named Sam and his sidekick stuffed dog, Hercules. Sam lives with his grandparents and has good and bad days like any child, made more complicated because he was born substance-exposed. But similar to a superhero, Sam has his own super courage and great strength, and with his loving grandparents, friends and Hercules, Sam finds the support he needs to succeed.

“We wanted to create this book to normalize the experience for kids born opiate dependent and provide insight to some of the long term consequences of in utero opiate exposure,” explains TTMAB founder, Theresa Harmon. “Our goal is to get this story into the hands of teachers and classrooms, so that we can raise awareness about neonatal abstinence syndrome and the needs of our kids.”

The story’s title was conceptualized by 8-year-old Sophia Markella and brought to life by authors Kathryn & James Pearson, along with illustrator Lauren Jezierski. Sam the Superhero and His Super Life is available for purchase, here: https://amzn.to/32A8TXz.

TTMAB is a 501(c)3 dedicated to children born with in utero substance exposure and their families. Since 2017, TTMAB has been the leader in providing support, education and advocacy for the littlest victims of the opioid epidemic. Among the organization’s many initiatives are twice monthly support groups for foster/adoptive parents and relatives of children born with substance exposure, monthly play groups that teach children with NAS ways to self-regulate, build fine and gross motor skills and improve their body awareness, and Nurture A Superhero care packages that provide carefully cultivated newborn take home packages for children with NAS.

Press Contact:
Hayley Brinkman | Big Picture Media
195 Broadway, Suite 341. Brooklyn NY 11211
Office: 212-675-3103 | Hayley@BigPictureMediaOnline.com

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Sam the Superhero and His Super Life

Sam the Superhero and His Super Life

It’s official! Sam’s story has a title and the book is off to the publishing house!  And… Sam is smiling!  “Sam the Superhero and His Super Life” was the brainchild of Sophia Markella. Sophia is 8 years old and lives in Marshfield. She is a second grade student at Governor Winslow School, in Marshfield. Her hobbies include playing soccer, lacrosse, dancing, bike riding, and FaceTiming with her friends. She loves the beach and spending time with her family/friends. When she grows up, she aspires to be a teacher. She is an avid reader and looks forward to reading the book she named, “Sam the Superhero and his Super Life.”

Winner receives an Autographed copy of the book and To The Moon And Back will donate 20 copies wherever Sophia chooses!

Stay tuned for release date, ordering options, and Sophia’s choice recipient for the 20 copies!!