Stuff That Matters - A New Hope Podcast

Michael Prelaske is a high school social studies teacher in Wake County, NC, a Graduate Research Assistant at NC State, and founder of 1347 Games, where he designs immersive, multiplayer simulations for classroom learning. His work challenges the traditional model of passive instruction by exploring how digital game-based learning can improve engagement, deepen understanding, and increase long-ter...

Officer Michael Chavis, a Police Lieutenant for the Rock Hill Police department. Coming up on nearly 25 years of service, Officer Chavis has seen it all. Serving as a police officer, detective, a sergeant, lieutenant, public information and an executive officer. We discuss how he got into law enforcement, what role the Rock Hill PD has pertaining to mental health, substance abuse, homelessness and...

Ben Ingraham is a clinical social worker specializing in trauma-focused care for individuals in high-stress, high-responsibility professions, including military service members, veterans, first responders, and medical professionals. With over 12 years of clinical experience in the medical field both in the civilian realm as well as the military, his work centers on helping clients understand, proc...

Carlos Grant is the Executive Director of Alternative Programs in Rock Hill Schools. He has the responsibility of leading efforts across all five of the district's alternative programs that support mental health services, virtual learners, and students at the elementary, middle, high school. (01:15-17:44) -His background and what the vision was when he became the Executive Director of Alternat...

Sharmea Cousar, known as Ms. Icey at our PRTF in Rock Hill, SC, joined New Hope originally in 2015. She has served multiple roles, but has been part of our education department as a teacher the last few years. Her story of compassion and her commitment to the mission, serving youth at New Hope is inspiring and amazing. She was recognized by her peers at our End of Year event with our first-ever Wa...

Building Resilience, Reclaiming Hope – No Exceptions. Since 1992, The Lionheart Foundation has been creating high-impact, evidence-informed programs that empower incarcerated adults, systems-involved youth, adolescent parents, and direct care staff serving trauma-impacted youth. At the core of everything they do is the belief that all human life has inherent worth, dignity, and resiliency – no exc...

Our Mental Health Ambassador, Kiara Grace Nalle takes you through a peaceful journey.

The show goes back to its roots! No guests, as the hosts recap 2025 for the podcast, as well as New Hope's accomplishments and what to look forward to heading into what should be an exciting 2026.

Under the sponsorship of The Steel Network and as a direct result of her relationships and experience at Extivita-RTP, in 2023 Kristy Andrews embraced an opportunity to spearhead a novel and impactful endeavor - HBOT4Heroes, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping our veterans heal naturally. At HBOT4Heroes, the objective is to restore the brain health of our American heroes with Hype...

We speak with our Admissions Coordinator, Lorraine Bethea, to learn all about the intake process, the complexities and challenges, opportunities and successes. The intake process is one of the first steps on a youth's journey at New Hope, and Ms. Lorraine is often one of the first faces that a child will see. It's an uncertain and confusing time for many, but Lorraine's calm demeanor a...

April Simpkins is a dynamic HR leader with over 30 years of experience in executive business strategy and multiple HR certifications. After eighteen years, April successfully sold her consulting practice to focus on her career as a professional speaker. Recognized for her expertise, she is a sought-after international keynote speaker who has spoken at many conferences, including Fortune 500 corpor...

Sitina Digby has been a part of the New Hope family for almost 30 years!! One of our longest tenured employees and someone that has perhaps the closest connection to the building itself. She has moved around quite a bit in her time with us and is now assisting in the PQI department.

On our first Hope Grown with a current staff, we welcomed on the ever effervescent Ms. Kim Hudson. She was named as the building’s third Residential Director in January, 2024, tasked with overseeing the Learning Enriched Autism Program (LEAP). After just four years at New Hope serving in various roles, her tenacity, persistence, attention to detail and dedication to excellence allowed her to advan...

Mary is the Executive Director of Emerald School of Excellence, an accredited recovery high school in Charlotte dedicated to providing a nurturing and supportive environment for students struggling with substance use disorders and other mental health challenges. The school offers a comprehensive range of services designed to support both academic success and personal recovery. The nonprofit opened...

Our Mental Health Ambassador, Kiara Grace Nalle was joined by a recent graduate of New Hope. Nathan Simmons completed his treatment a few years ago and is now living in Seattle, Wash. He is currently working in the mental health space, giving back to kids that had a similar upbringing and face similar battles.

Ian once embraced the “work hard, play harder” mentality, diving head first into a lifestyle that celebrated excessive drinking. He started sipping beer at the age of 1, bartended in the middle of nowhere at 13, built a business from the ground up in 2003, endured two failed marriages, and ultimately sold his company in 2016 while fat and drunk in Vegas. Ian then reached a breaking point and began...

Introducing a new series to the STM channel! Hope Grown features New Hope success stories. This highlights a former resident turned current employee! Nathan graduated from New Hope several years ago. He discusses his childhood, upbringing, some of the struggles he was face with both prior to entering into New Hope's care and then after as well. He and Kiara dive into the impact that being back at...

Victor Armstrong - Vice President for Health Equity & Engagement at The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He is a nationally recognized speaker on issues regarding health equity and access to healthcare, particularly as it relates to individuals living with mental health challenges.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Victor previously served as North Carolina DHHS’s inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer...

We speak with the Executive Vice President and COO of Grafton Integrated Health and the President of Ukeru Systems, Kim Sanders. 00:02:30-00:14:28 – All about Ukeru. 00:14:29-00:27:14 – Outcomes and datasurrounding Ukeru. 00:28:58-00:38:33 – Ukeru’s approach toprevention with proactive interventions. 00:38:35-00:44:24 – The reaction to Ukeru’ssystem from the residents, kids, youth. 00:47:20-00:51:...

Dr. Cynthia Persily at the site of one of our West Virginia transition homes. We held an Open House with 50+ providers, partners and stakeholders in the state. Dr. Persily recently served as the Cabinet Secretary, West Virginia Department of Human Services. She has years of experience on boards, working in hospital settings and also spent 20 years at West Virginia University. We discuss her accomp...

Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH is a physician scientist, the Edward D. Viner Endowed Chief of Medicine at Cooper University Health Care, and Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. T, or Steve as he so graciously allowed us to call him during this episode, is a practicing intensivist (specialist in intensive care medicine), and a clinical researcher...

We are joined by the CEO and Clinical Director of Youth Haven Services, Dawn Johnson. Dawn is also the author of the book, I Survived...So Far, which outlines her incredible story as a mother who has endured the unimaginable pain of burying two of her children and a grandchild. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in child mental health, she offers a unique perspective that intertwine...

Episode 30! We’ve made it, and we’ve officially made it to March, which celebrates many things including Women’s History Month which you can hear throughout this episode, National Social Work month and the first day of Spring. With that comes a busy time for students across the country, so we were honored to welcome on Clinton Reynolds, Vice President of Programming at Communities in Schools of Ch...

We're back! We kick 2025 off with Brant Evans. He is a therapeutic consultant and author. He helps connect kids and families to services, having gained a ton of experience and knowledge from his work in Wilderness therapy programs. He was very observant and taught himself different techniques, practices, preparing himself for more of a leadership role. He went on to work as an Executive Director f...

The first of three parts! Kiara is joined by her friend, the first guest on KC, to discuss the impacts of social media, particularly on ones mental health. There are certainly some drawbacks and negatives, but there are also a lot of positives and uplifting content being posted that can really help in your life.