WRVthrives Partnership Meeting
Thursday June 11, 2015 at the Grace Cottage Wellness Center from 3:00pm – 4:30pm
We started our meeting with introductions and announcments
- The Wardsboro Library is planning an event for the September – they will be showing the film “The Opiate Effect”
- A discussion will follow with Marryann Morris of The Collaborative (prevention coalition in the Londonderry area), someone from Turning Point Recovery Center, and a doctor involved in the Hub and Spoke program. We will get the word out when a date is finalized.
- 3 Generations Collaboration is an organization in the making that will connect youth and seniors through community service and volunteering. Janice Hall and James Zoller are developing the organization and are looking for a fiscal agent. They have done much research and found a readiness in the West River Valley to begin their efforts.
- The Fit and Healthy Kids Coalition is proud to make their Fit and Health Kids tool kit available, which is mainly designed for teachers to integrate physical activity, healthy nutrition, and mindfulness in the classroom – it can easily be utilized by parents and others working with kids. Remember to start off by taking the SURVEY!
- The Townshend Business Association has been proud to support Leland and Gray graduates with scholarships, the Community Hope & Action group with funding for a community event, and local business through promotion. The annual Pumpkin Festival will be October 17th this year!
- Grace Cottage is offering smoking cessation classes every other month for individuals 18 years and older. The next class starts on July 7th from 12:00-1:00pm and runs once a week for 4 weeks. Participants receive free nicotine replacement products to help them quit. For more information contact Mel Lively at 365-3715.
- There was a Windham Opiate Response meeting recently in Brattleboro that had representatives from various treatment and recovery organizations in the area. The meeting highlighted the resources in the area to help people struggling with addiction. Someone who attended said that there was a great sense of hope that came from the meeting.
- Pat has been trained as a Teen Influencer and has the ability to train others in the community. This training is for anyone who has connections with teens. It helps them understand the signs of prescription drug misuse and gives practical ways to talk with teens and address any concerning issues around substance use/abuse.
- Updates on WRVthrives work
- Funding – we have submitted two grants to support the work of the Community Hope & Action group, one to the Windham Foundation and one to the VT Arts Council. We will know if we received the funding in August. Some of the funding will go to Thrives staff to help administer the group (3hrs/week) and the rest will go to the monthly events. We will hear about the Drug Free Communities (DFC) funding in September – keep your fingers crossed! We have Holt funding for another 6 months which we can spread out for a year (about 10 hours of staff time a week), and we have Partnership For Success funding for another year (will fund about 10 hours of staff time a week plus ATI, Rx, and parenting class programming).
- We are in the process of hiring a new staff person as Julia will be leaving at the end of July to begin a Master’s degree program in Seattle, WA. Interviews will be held next week.
- Community Hope & Action is still meeting every Wednesday morning at 9am in the Townshend Library. Anyone is welcome!
- WRV Food Group – for an overview of the group go to https://wrvthrives.org/community-partners/ Thrives is helping put together a direct mailing that will feature organizations and initiatives in the West River Valley that promote wellness. The local resource guide will be an insert to the publication. The plan is for it to go out the end of August and, if there is interest and funding, for spring version to be created and sent in March 2016.
- ParentUp campaign – this is a great website/campaign designed by the Vermont Department of Health. We have posters and note pads and have it prominently featured on our website. We will also be using facebook posts they have generated.
- Active Parenting – This is a class designed for parents with middle – high school age children. WRVthrives has 4 facilitators being trained and will offer 2 class this coming year. We are partnering with Leland and Gray to engage parents with students starting in the middle school and it will be open to all parents in the community as well.
- Website unveiled – VISIT: https://wrvthrives.org/
- Those in attendance searched through the site and gave feedback.
- We also brainstormed ways to promote the site so more people will utilize it as a resource.
- Next steps:
- Do we want to organize a Teen Influencer training in the fall?
- Hang up ParentUp posters
- Please share the website with your constituents
- Get people to like the West River Valley Thrives Facebook page