Lyon/Storey Nevada Towns – Healthy Communities Coalition has great news for families in Lyon and Storey communities! In late 2014, the Coalition was awarded $679,559 from the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health for a Home Visiting program through the Healthy Families America grant.

Funds for the “Healthy Families Nevada” program will be subgranted to direct service agencies Community Chest (based in Virginia City in Storey County) and Lyon County Human Services, and trained professionals with their agencies will implement the services.

Who Should Participate? Women who are pregnant, and families with newborns less than 2 weeks old are encouraged to inquire about this service.

Purpose: Home Visiting services help support positive parenting, develop nurturing homes and promote healthy child development through regular home visits by trained professionals.

Home visiting services assist pregnant women, mothers, fathers, and caregivers. Friendly and skilled professionals visit families in their homes to share information about what to expect as new parents, and to connect parents to community resources.  The Home Visitor can share information about activities that can stimulate a child’s mind, and can answer questions about health care, nutrition, smoking cessation, post-partum depression, etc. This evidence-based, nationally recognized program has been shown to improve maternal and newborn health and school readiness, and to reduce child injuries.

Studies have confirmed the positive impacts of home visiting programs – they yield between $3 – $6 in savings to federal, state, and local governments for every dollar spent.

Contact: For more information about the “Healthy Families Nevada” home visiting program, contact Lyon County Human Services at (775) 577-5009 or Community Chest at (775) 847-9311.

Additional Resource: In our region, there are many online resources for families. Below is a very useful online resource list for families:

http://health.nv.gov/HomeVisiting/Homevisiting_ResourceDirectory2014.pdf