Silver Springs, Nevada – Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties’ June public meeting takes place on Thursday, June 8th, 2017 at 9am at the Silver Springs Community Center. The monthly meeting includes discussion and collaborative action planning on a wide range of issues of regional importance.
On the agenda this month is an update on bills that have passed during this Legislative Session, particulary bills on education, Veterans, marijuana, state parks and recreation areas, and access to health care and behavioral health care. Coalition board members Sarah Adler (National Alliance on Mental Illness Western Nevada) and Shaun Griffin (Community Chest, Inc executive director), will describe some of the potential impacts of the 2017 Legislative Session.
Three Guest Speakers:
Teacher Rachel Leach of Silver Stage Elementary will update the group on the latest accomplishments of the school’s remarkable G.R.E.E.N. Team. Rachel and the 6th graders who compose the team have won numerous awards for their innovative food waste reduction system, and school garden, hoop and alternative crop projects. For instance, in 2014 they earned a Pioneer Award from Northern Nevada Development Authority as a “leader in green practices” in a 5 county region. They were selected as keynote speakers at the 2014 Nevada Food Systems Summit at the Governor’s Mansion and the 2015 Lyon County Thrive Conference . Their work has repeatedly been recognized as a model project and highlighted by the Nevada Department of Agriculture, Nevada Small Farm Conference, and the USDA’s national Food Waste Challenge.
Healthy Communities’ Prevention Coordinator Tammy Sutton will provide updates on Stand Tall youth teams’ tobacco, alcohol, prescription and other drug use prevention work in Lyon and their award of an all expenses paid trip to the National Youth Advocacy Summit in D.C. and their annual Stand Tall leadership camp at Lake Tahoe. Tammy is a certified Community Health Worker and a certified trainer for Community Health Workers.
Esmeralda Velazquez of Volunteer Attorneys for Rural Nevadans (VARN), who has extensive experience as a legal advocate, paralegal, and is accredited through the Board of Immigration Appeals, will describe some of the services and goals of VARN. Currently, she is the Immigration Specialist and Paralegal at VARN, where she carries her own case load of immigration clients whom she counsels, advocates for, and represents before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. She also serves as paralegal under the Domestic Violence Victims Assistance Project and assists the volunteer attorneys through VARN’s Pro Bono program with translation/interpretive skills when a language barrier is present.
What is Healthy Communities? Healthy Communities Coalition is a regional, private nonprofit composed of hundreds of community volunteers of all ages, plus dozens of diverse local, state, federal and tribal groups, a small staff and a dedicated board of directors.
The Coalition uses strategies that include building hope, empowering people to help themselves and their communities, and inspiring residents to recognize and build on their communities’ strengths and to work together for effective collaborative impact.
Intersecting Hubs: This approach has allowed the Coalition to engage diverse group partners, plus community volunteers of all ages and all walks of life, in initiatives broadly grouped around 1) a Healthy Food Hub (increasing access to affordable, locally grown food), 2) a Health and Wellness Hub (increasing access to affordable medical, behavioral health and dental care services, prevention and education), and 3) a Community Development Hub (job skills and leadership development, volunteer opportunities, arts in public spaces, etc.)
Monthly Meetings: The Coalition hosts monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 9:00 am, usually at the Silver Springs Community Center (location may vary). These meetings are open to the public and all are welcome.
Please call the Coalition office at 246-7550, or see the Coalition website at healthycomm.org to verify time and location for meetings.
