Healthy Communities Coalition hosts monthly breakfast meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 9am. Diverse groups and community volunteers gather to share news and to collaborate on system changes that improve access to affordable, local food and to health care, and that support community-based, sustainable economic development. The meetings also include presentations on a wide variety of topics by guest speakers. Following are details about upcoming guest speakers at the Coalition’s March and April meetings, which take place at the Silver Springs Community Center:
The Thursday March 8th, 2018 meeting includes a special presentation by Healthy Communities’ school-based Stand Tall team members on their strategic efforts to promote health and wellness and to prevent alcohol, tobacco, opioid and other drug use within their schools and towns.
In addition, Dayton High School students will present their Citizen Science Project which focuses on how to make a cleaner Dayton community by increasing awareness of trash and garbage and educating the public regarding types of trash with an emphasis on plastic. The nine students, who are in Linda Flaherty’s Marine Biology class, will also offer information about a new app that tracks refuse, and will show those attending the meeting how to download the app.
In addition, Healthy Communities’ school-based Resource Coordinators serving the schools in Silver Springs and Dayton will describe how their work bridges the resources between schools and communities to help school staff, students and their families thrive. Later this year, Resource Coordinators serving the Yerington and Fernely regions will also give a presentation about their work.
APRIL MEETING
On Thursday April 12 beginning at 9am, Cindy Adams of the regional Mobile Crisis Response Team will describe resources now available to rural residents. The Mobile Crisis Response Team can provide crisis intervention and support to Nevada families dealing with a behavioral or mental health crisis.
Anna Coons of Lyon County Human Services will briefly describe activities in our region that recognize and support the goals of National Childhood Abuse Prevention Month. Goals include recognizing and fostering healthy and supportive conditions that enable children to develop and thrive, such as improving the coordination of programs and services within communities, and promoting meaningful and measurable changes in the lives of children to improve their social and emotional well-being.
Afterward, from roughly 9:30-10:30am, Dr. Deborah Loesch Griffin and Lyndsey Langsdale of Turning Point Inc will offer a one hour community forum regarding Birth through Grade 3 Reforms. The purpose of the forum is to solicit input about what a Birth through 3rd grade (B-3) approach might look like in rural Nevada. The vision of B-3 is to build and support a cadre of educators and leaders – in both early childhood and elementary education – who are well-equipped to ensure that Nevada’s young children have a high-quality continuum of learning that begins at birth and extends through elementary school. All who are interested are invited to attend and share perspectives related to young children’s learning and development. Participants are asked to RSVP interest by April 5th to Deborah Loesch-Griffin at trnpt@aol.com and please cc: Wendy Madson, Executive Director of Healthy Communities Coalition, at roots@healthycomm.org.
The Nevada Department of Education has contracted with Turning Point, Inc., the National P-3 Center at the University of Washington, and FirstSchool to develop a plan to bolster the quality and coherence of birth-through 3rd grade (B-3) learning across the state. The Nevada Ready! B-3 approach is funded by the Federal Preschool Development Grant.
For more information about Healthy Communities, see healthycomm.org. Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
