CMC:Foundation for Change

10/12/2026

💙 Spots Are Open! Join Us for Hope and Harbor Family Support Group: Intro to the Invitation to Change💙

Supporting a loved one who is navigating substance use can be challenging. Finding support, learning new skills, and connecting with others who understand can make a difference.

CMC: Foundation for Change invites New York State residents to join our in-person Hope and Harbor Family Support Group: Intro to the Invitation to Change, a welcoming, drop-in group for family members navigating a loved one’s substance use.

Through our four-week Invitation to Change orientation curriculum, participants will be introduced to practical tools and skills to help them approach difficult situations with greater understanding, communicate more effectively, and care for their own well-being.

📅 Group Details:
- Start Date: Monday, October 19, 2026
- When: Mondays, 6:00–7:15 PM ET
- Where: CCPR Recovery Community Outreach Center
- Address: 1 Taconic Place, Chatham, NY
- Group Leaders: Carl Quinn and Rhonda Usyk
- Format: In person
- Admission: Rolling admission — join anytime!
- Eligibility: New York State residents only

This is an opportunity to learn, connect, and discover new ways to support both your loved one and yourself. You don’t have to figure it all out alone. 💙

Please share this post with anyone who may benefit from this support!

https://itc.cmcffc.org/group-details?recordId=nDg6fqFbwRDhMq

10/08/2026

Invitation to Change: Support & Skills Group

Are you supporting a loved one who is navigating substance use or other harmful behaviors? You don't have to navigate it alone.

Beginning October 8, 2026, Cassandra Toppi and Annmarie Shafer will lead a 15-week online Invitation to Change (ITC) Support & Skills Group for family members and loved ones.

This group offers practical, evidence-based tools to help participants:

• Strengthen communication
• Reduce conflict
• Respond more effectively to a loved one's substance use or other harmful behaviors
• Support their own well-being
• Connect with other families who understand

📅 Thursdays
🕕 6:00–7:15 PM ET
💻 Online
🌎 Open to anyone
🔄 Rolling admission

Start Date: October 8, 2026

Spots are currently open. Learn more about the group and register here: https://itc.cmcffc.org/group-details?recordId=1RVvwHeuoOMIKW

Please share this post with anyone who may benefit from support, practical skills, and connection while navigating a loved one's substance use or other harmful behaviors.

09/29/2026

Join CMC:FFC in-person in Rochester, or virtually for these two events with the Rochester Academy of Medicine!

Jeff Foote is providing a free virtual professional development (with CME's and CE's available for some professions) - The Invitation to Change Approach: Breaking Stigma, Supporting Families, Improving Outcomes for People Struggling with Addiction

Wednesday, October 7, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Learn more and register here!: https://www.raom.org/activities-and-programs/the-invitation-to-change-approach-breaking-stigma-supporting-families-improving-outcomes-for-people-struggling-with-addiction-1

Regional Leader Barb Klein will be onsite with ITC materials and to chat with folks who'd like to know more!

The following day, Jeff Foote and Barb Klein are co-presenting a hybrid in-person/virtual community presentation - Beyond Addiction: Fostering Compassion, Connection & Communication

Thursday, October 8, 2026
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Learn more and register here!: https://www.raom.org/activities-and-programs/beyond-addiction-fostering-compassion-connection-communication-1

09/24/2026

Support. Skills. Connection.

Supporting a loved one who is experiencing substance use or other harmful behaviors can be challenging. You don't have to figure it out alone.

Our Fireside Family & Friends Invitation to Change: Support & Skills Group is a 15-week online group offering practical, evidence-based tools and a supportive space for family members and friends.

Participants will learn ways to:
✨ Strengthen communication
✨ Reduce conflict
✨ Respond to challenging behaviors
✨ Support their own well-being
✨ Connect with others who understand

📅 Begins Wednesday, September 30, 2026 for 15 weeks
🕕 6:00–7:15 PM ET
💻 Online
📍 New York State residents only
🔄 Rolling admission — spots are currently open!

Know someone who might benefit? Share this post with them.

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09/22/2026

En este grupo, las familias aprenderán herramientas para apoyar a sus seres queridos con problemas relacionados con el consumo de sustancias, como dr**as y alcohol, utilizando el enfoque de La Invitación al Cambio, basado en la ciencia y la compasión.

Inscríbase aquí:
https://itc.cmcffc.org/spanish-group-directory

Accede a recursos adicionales en español visitando nuestra página web. https://cmcffc.org/espanol

09/14/2026

Join us TONIGHT September 14th or next week on September 21st for one of our September Family Mondays sessions.

Family Mondays are live, 60-minute virtual sessions for anyone who loves someone struggling with substance use. Each month, we cover a new topic, led by one of our expert trainers and focused on practical tools to support your loved one and yourself with compassion.

The session on September 21st is our first Family Mondays session specifically geared towards Siblings, though all are welcome!

Location: Zoom
Cost: $15 (sliding scale available)
Sessions take place at 6pm ET.

For more information and to register, visit the links below!:
September 14th: https://cmcffc.arlo.co/w/events/50-supporting-other-members-of-the-family-when-a-child-is-using-substances-family-mondays-parent-family

September 21st: https://cmcffc.arlo.co/w/events/51-understanding-my-siblings-substance-use-issues-and-how-to-support-them-family-mondays-sibling

09/10/2026

Register now for the AFINet NewsFlash Conference!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfahavUWv7B3v0bpbLNW3jG4vRbQnbY3UDPVAJ76-B9Xrej2w/viewform

AFINet’s 7th Annual Conference is just around the corner! On 15–16 September, members of the AFINet community from across the world will come together online for two half-days of presentations, discussion, reflection and exchange.

This year’s conference will place a special spotlight on the experiences of family members in the Global South, with keynote contributions from Helena Maria Tannhauser Barros of Brazil and Abhijit Nadkarni of India and the UK. Their presentations will offer important perspectives on the experiences of families affected by a loved one’s alcohol, drug or other addictive behaviour in different cultural and social contexts.

09/02/2026

Thank you to RAW - Recovery All Ways for having our wonderful Regional Leader Barb Klein speak at the Scotty B Overdose Awareness Day.

09/01/2026

If you haven't had a chance to yet, grab yourself a copy of Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis by Stephanie Wittels Wachs. It is a heartbreaking and hopeful examination of what happens when a person is struggling and what might change that trajectory.

We are so honored to have been included in the book. Check out Chapter 8 on Compassion which talks about the ITC and how families can stay connected: "ITC allows for that messiness and imperfection to exist. It allows for the shame, embarrassment and guilt that accompanies our low points, when we show up as monsters instead of saints, and encourages a willingness to show up again anyway. It allows our values-- things like love, hope and connection--and our thoughts and feelings--which are often steeped in fear and pain--to coexist."

Based on the groundbreaking podcast of the same name, Last Day weaves together a heartbreaking story of personal loss and an unflinching investigat...