Silver Springs, Nevada – The monthly public meeting of the Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties (HCC) takes place at the Silver Springs Community Center at 9am on Thursday April 9th.

Guest speakers during the breakfast meeting include Caroline Punches of Lyon County CASA and Donna McDonald of Nevada Legal Services’ Yerington office.

Join us for Healthy Communities’ monthly public breakfast meeting!

Caroline Punches, Program Coordinator of Lyon County CASA, will describe the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) role in the region. CASA of Lyon County volunteers “speak up” for a child when Nevada’s Division of Child and Family Services has determined it is unsafe for the child to remain at home due to abuse or neglect. CASA volunteers receive training on court procedures, child development, domestic violence and other things that impact child well-being.

Donna McDonald, from the Yerington office of Nevada Legal Services, will briefly describe NLS and offer those present a chance to take a short survey about needs for NLS in their communities. Nevada Legal Services is a non-profit organization providing free legal assistance to low-income Nevadans. A statewide organization serving all seventeen counties, NLS has offices located in Yerington, Las Vegas, Reno, Elko, and Carson City.

Other topics during the meeting include updates on the Health Services Hub developing in Storey/Lyon and an introduction to some of the new Resource Coordinators in Lyon Schools whose positions are funded through HCC; an entrepreneurial bill known as the “pickles and salsa bill” (Senate Bill 441); the new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Basket program; the upcoming Remote Area Medical (RAM) events in Yerington and Carson City; the Lyon County Jail Diversion Program and regional Behavioral Health Task Force; youth leadership, wellness and job skills training programs such as Stand Tall and Comstock Youth Works; volunteer-powered food pantries in Dayton and Silver Springs; and school and community gardens and hoop houses throughout the Lyon region.

Healthy Communities Coalition is composed of hundreds of community volunteers, a small staff, and dozens of federal, state, local and tribal group partners working together on a collaborative leadership agenda to increase community vitality in the Lyon and Storey regions. For more information, call (775) 246-7550 or see healthycomm.org.