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Voices from the Inside
A Film Screening of "Zero Percent"

Please join us as Union Theological Seminary and Hudson Link for Higher Education host a screening of the award winning movie "Zero Percent" about the Hudson Link college program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Graduates of the program, experiencing the transformative power of education, continue to have a 0% recidivism rate. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session moderated by Prof. Samuel Cruz and featuring a panel of prison experts including: Hudson Link Executive Director Sean Pica, Rev. Canon Petero A.N. Sabune former Pastor and Protestant Chaplain at Sing Sing, Helen Dillon, prison volunteer, and several graduates of Hudson Link. There will be a brief reception after the panel discussion. For more information and registration, click here.
Compassion, Care and Companioning of the Elderly and Caregivers
Thursday April 14, 2011 6:00 p.m.
Social Hall
On March 17, 2011, the Center for Disease Control released their preliminary finding, "Americans are living longer." The average life expectancy in the U.S. is at an all time high: 78.2 years. This trend is also global. According to Julia Moulden of the Huffington Post, there were 600 million people 60 and over worldwide in 2000. By 2025, that number will double. And right now in the developed world, people 80 and over are the fastest growing population group.
Compassion, Care and Companioning of the Elderly and Caregivers is an inter-disciplinary panel of professionals working with aging and serving the aging population. As ministers and spiritual professionals, we need to be equipped to care for this fastest growing population. The panelists were asked to address the following questions:
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What are the basic and particular needs of the elderly from your professional perspective?
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What keeps you up at night as you think about your work with the elderly and elder care?
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Where do you see connections between the elderly, elder care and spirituality?
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What are the aspects of contemplative care that work particularly well with the work with the elderly?
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Any helps or challenges from the Bible or religious traditions on aging and caring for the elderly?
Learning In Community is a discussion and reflection series for Union faculty, staff, students and friends, sponsored by the Office of Integrative and Field-Based Education. Integrative and Field-Based Education aims to foster learning communities that exemplify "ministerial imagination", integrating religious tradition and commitment, knowledge, skill, and moral integrity, in professional formation. As such, and in partnership with teaching churches and agencies, the IFE Program will provide learning opportunities where critical reflection on theology and practice, models of vocation, and examination of contemporary issues can flourish.
This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP online to attend.
About the Panelists:
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Audrey K. Chun, MD is the Medical Director of The Martha Stewart Center for Living (MSCL). The MSCL serves to promote and facilitate access to health care resources for older adults and to enhance the public perception of aging. Through the MSCL, patients and their caregivers will have access to programs and resources appropriate for their needs and interests. These may include medical care, healthy living activities, educational programs, caregiver support, and community referrals through the most up-to-date technologies and evidence-based information. Dr. Chun is also the Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Clinical Geriatrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
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Laura R. Jervis, Executive Director, West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. (WSFSSH) Ms. Jervis has served as the Executive Director of WSFSSH since 1977, the year the organization was founded. She oversees all of WSFSSH’s housing development and management activities, and the formulation and implementation of its full spectrum of social service programs which includes the development and management of twenty five buildings housing more than 1600 people and a staff of 350 persons. Ms. Jervis holds a B.A. Degree from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and Masters Degrees in Divinity and Administration from the Princeton Theological Seminary. She was the recipient of the NYAHSA’s Professional of the Year Award in 1994, and the Andrew Murray Witherspoon Leadership Award from the Witherspoon Society, Presbyterian Church, USA. Ms. Jervis’ affiliations include membership in the New York City Presbytery, serving as Parish Associate for Rutgers Presbyterian Church, Moderator of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church, and serving as a Director on the boards of the American Waldensian Society, the August Aichorn Center and Homeless Services United.
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Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson, senior pastor of First Congregational Church of Stamford, brings vast experience as a pastor, teacher, counselor, facilitator, and organization development consultant. Dr. Jackson formerly served as interim senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, associate pastor for congregational life at The Church St. Paul and St. Andrew (United Methodist), interim pastor and lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, and associate worship coordinator at The Riverside Church in New York City. She is also the founder of Center of Spiritual Light, providing empowerment support and coaching for organizational leaders and helping professionals. Prior to entering professional ministry, Cari Jackson had an extensive career in human resources, organization development, management training, and mediation in a cross-section of business and community service organizations.
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Maureen Matthews, RN, PhD is the founding Director of To Whom I May Concern project. She brings to this project many years of experience as a nurse and psychotherapist. She has worked with people with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses and their families/friends for over 30 years. In the community, Maureen has participated in the assessment and treatment process and facilitated support group and psycho-social activities for people with early stage memory loss as well as collaborated with nursing homes to develop specialized care programs.
Currently, Maureen is the Director of the Early Memory Loss Program at the Stamford Counseling Center, a pastoral counseling center located in Stamford, CT. Maureen's inspiration comes from people like Paulo Friere, a Brazilian educator who encouraged oppressed people to speak their truth; Oliver Sacks, a neurologist who always goes beyond signs and symptoms to the person that suffers; Tom Kitwood, a pioneer in person-centered dementia care; and Anne Bastings, Director of the Center on Age and Community, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who brings together the arts and aging communities to create new ways of thinking and acting.
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Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, ACPE, is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. He serves as the Director of Training for the Center's Buddhist Contemplative Care Programs. He is a ACPE Chaplain Supervisory Candidate. Koshin is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is a co-founder of the Buddhist Psychotherapy Collective. He is the Co-Director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center, where he also serves on the Medical Ethics Committee. Koshin began Zen practice over twenty years ago, and he is a Senior Soto Zen Buddhist Priest. He gives plenary addresses, workshops and retreats on contemplative based approaches to leadership and care, and meditation in a variety of settings from corporations to national healthcare conferences.
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Robert Chodo Campbell, HHC, is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. He serves on the Core Faculty for the Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Programs. Chodo is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is Co-Director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. Chodo brings his life experience and his Zen and psychoanalytic study to his teachings in the areas of: anxiety and depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and contemplative approaches to care. He began formal Zen training in 1994 and currently he is a Senior Soto Zen Buddhist Priest. He gives plenary addresses, workshops and retreats in a variety of settings from corporations to national healthcare conferences.
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Judy Talvacchia, MDiv, BCC is a married Roman Catholic lay ecclesial minister. She is a graduate of Weston Jesuit School of Theology and is a Board Certified Chaplain. She served as a chaplain for 9 years at a skilled nursing facility and has ministered in adult day care settings. Currently, she is a chaplain at Spaulding Hospital, Cambridge, MA. Judy also offers spiritual direction, programs in spirituality and is a facilitator for the Holistic Formation Program at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.
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Rabbi Mollie Cantor is a supervisory education resident at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Until 2010, she served as the pediatric chaplain at the Kravis Children's Hospital at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where she was a member of the pediatric palliative care team, providing spiritual care to patients and families of all religious and cultural backgrounds. Previously, Rabbi Cantor served as chaplain at Calvary Hospital, which specializes in pain and palliative care for people with advanced cancers. Rabbi Cantor was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) and completed her chaplaincy training at the HealthCare Chaplaincy in New York.
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Dr. Brigitte Kahl, Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary, is an innovative New Testament scholar whose work has been groundbreaking in Pauline studies. She brings a new perspective to Biblical scholarship by analyzing the dynamic relationship between the New Testament and the Roman Empire. In her pioneering book, Galatians Re-Imagined: Reading with the Eyes of the Vanquished (2010), Dr. Kahl re-defines the traditional paradigm of Pauline interpretation and radically recasts justification by faith as a theology of resistance and transformation.
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