Events

The foundation participated in the 2nd Annual Day of Prevention. It was attended by many organizations from across CT.

A variety of local businesses and organizations attended the event to share their services and resources and have live demonstrations. The following is a list of the participating agencies.

Supporting Day of Prevention at the Academy of International Studies in Bloomfield, CT April 30, 2025.

The Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc., together with the Polish Falcons of America Nest 519, would like to say thank you to all the local community members and participating agencies and businesses that attended the Health and Wellness Fair on Tuesday, 9/28/21 in Middletown. 

The Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. set up an informational booth at the Higganum Farmer's Market July 23, 2021. It was a beautiful day, and gave us the opportunity to continue where we left off pre-Covid. We want to thank all the folks who stopped by to support our efforts to spread our message. 

The Nathaniel B Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. were the recipients of the 2020 Haddam-Killingworth High School Holiday Telethon.  

Who are the Vassar Devils and what do they do?

The Vassar Devils are a co-ed a cappella group that loves to perform music of all styles (pop songs, jazz standards, rock ballads, indie hits, etc.), as well as original music written by their members. Recently, they won a competition called Boston Sings, were named the Northeast Champions of the ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella), and sang as one of the top 8 groups in the U.S. and U.K. at the Finals on Broadway! They also won the “Find Your Voice” a cappella songwriting competition held by The Vocal Company, were featured on POP TV’s a cappella docu-series “Sing It On”, and even gave a private performance for President and First Lady Obama at the White House in December of 2015.

In May 2017, they released their first professional studio album, Coming Alive (available on iTunes and many streaming platforms!), which included various songs from their repertoire, spanning from pop, indie, classic rock, and even original music written by their own members! The process of recording and releasing Coming Alive was incredibly fulfilling––so much so that they have begun the process of recording their second professional album, which features the newest members of the group and some awesome arrangements by Devils past and present.

What brings the Vassar Devils to Connecticut?

Their Music Director, Lily Carmichael, attended school with Nathaniel Field at Haddam-Killingworth High School, and the Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. has a special place in her heart. They will be performing at the Killingworth Congregational Church, 273 Rt. 81, Killingworth, on Sunday, March 8, 2020 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm in support of the Foundation’s mission, and in honor of Nathaniel's legacy. Our Foundation is honored by the group’s generosity and we look forward to an incredible evening of harmonies! 

Killingworth based Changing Minds Advocacy Group (CMAG) recently sponsored a two-day course for Mental Health First Aid November 22-23, 2019 at the Killingworth Firehouse. Educator Janine Sullivan-Wiley guided 30 students, including Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors Cecile Haase, Dawn Earley, and Howie Field through the interactive course that provided participants with the knowledge to grow their recognition of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions, identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental illness or addiction, and increase their confidence and likelihood to help an individual in distress. The curriculum revolved around the Mental Health First Aid 5-Step Action Plan to Assess for risk of suicide or harm, Listen nonjudgmentally, Give reassurance and information, Encourage appropriate professional help, Encourage self-help and other support strategies (ALGEE). For more information about Mental Health First Aid, visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org.

CMAG would like to thank the Killingworth Lions Club, HK Youth and Family Services, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Shoreline, Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, St. Lawrence Church Healing Ministries and the Jared Coffin Memorial Fund for their support.

The Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. “You’re Worth It” team supported Niantic’s 2nd annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk! sponsored by the Brian Dagle Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) held on Sept. 19, 2019 at McCook Park in Niantic. Local residents Alicia and Tony Sledzik, Howie Field, and John Griffo joined over 200 participants in the 2 mile walk along the Niantic Boardwalk. The goals of the Out of Darkness Walks are to raise awareness and funds that allow the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to invest in new research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. 

The Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. Vice President Christiana Field was a speaker at the Annual Forum on Suicide Prevention and Mental Health held at East Lyme High School on September 30, 2019. The event, sponsored by the Brian Dagle Foundation, hosted a panel of speakers who provided insight, education, and inspiration on the issues surrounding mental health and suicide awareness. Christiana shared her personal journey since the loss of her brother Nathaniel to suicide in 2015. In addition, Christiana provided an overview of the Crisis Text Line, and discussed her active role as a volunteer. After 6-weeks of intensive training she began working on text conversations. “The goal of any conversation is to move texters from a hot moment to a calm, safe place. Sometimes that means walking a texter though a grounding exercise, providing a referral for further help, and sometimes it just means being there and listening. I’ve typically found that the majority of my conversations last between 45 minutes and one hour. During the conversation, you move through 5 stages: In stage 1 you build rapport through good contact techniques like active listening and reflective language. In stage 2 you explore the issue at hand. It is during this stage that you conduct the ladder-up risk assessment, which involves 4 steps to assess if a texter is at imminent risk of suicide (desire, plan, means, timeframe). In stage 3 you work to identify the texters main goal, and in Stage 4 you work together to collaboratively problem-solve. Finally, you work to wrap up the conversation with a warm close.”

On September 6th, the Crisis Text Line achieved an incredible milestone of 5,026 active Crisis Counselors in the past 28 days! This is a great indicator of how the organization is growing and allows the platform to reach even more texters in crisis. During that time, the counselors handled 83,252 conversations.

Since October 2018, Marie Field, president of the Nathaniel B. Field Memorial Foundation, Inc. has been a Social Justice Project Consultant for Zulerlisse Colon-Martinez, a senior at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford. The purpose of the project is to have seniors demonstrate that they have met the school‘s mission. It is a culmination of all that they have learned about social justice and becoming agents of change. To complete the project, students need to reach out to the community and get involved in a social justice issue that they wish to change. In addition to writing a research paper for her project, Zulerlisse chose to educate other students on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention. She met with them on a weekly basis presenting various scenarios for discussion, teaching about mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, discussing suicidal warning signs and sharing resources where people can obtain help. As part of the project on April 18th, Marie spoke to a group of students and discussed why our Foundation was created and the activities we have been pursing. The students had well-thought out questions and excellent insight. Zulerlisse’s project will culminate by having the smaller group of students present what they have learned to other students. .