The Community Coalition invites everyone to gather at Grace Chapel on March 9th to continue work on the three goals identified by the 80+ participants who attended the October 7th Kick-Off:
- Reduce stress and improve wellness
- Address mental health issues
- Prevent underage drinking and substance abuse
Steering Committee members include representatives from community groups, including Selectman Suzie Barry, Kate Ekrem and Brent Maracle from Lexington Interfaith Clergy Association, Eileen Jay from the Chinese American Association of Lexington and the LHS Site-Based School Council, Bettina McGimsey Chair of the PTA/PTO Presidents Council, and Kathleen Lenihan (LHS PTO Co-President), as well as Val Viscosi (Director of School Counseling), representatives from the the Police, Fire, and Human Services Departments, and School Committee members Sandro Alessandrini and Jessie Steigerwald.
The Coalition was formed to bring town and school staff together with community members to build a stronger network for youth. Lexington has had a long-standing commitment to supporting community, but organizations have not always worked in concert. Adopting a coalition approach offers many benefits, including aligning on goals, pooling resources, scheduling events so they build on one another, and reaching a broader section of the community. While town and school staff have frequently undertaken outreach efforts together, the Coalition aims to also bring community volunteer organizations to the table to find new ways to address concerns around stress, mental health, and substance abuse.
The October meeting also identified some possible improvements. Sharing and learning from data will be a part of the Coalition’s early work; for example the Coalition aims to utilize data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to inform its work. Gathering input from students directly represents another concrete step. The Coaltion also plans to make more consistent use of a shared events calendar to avoid situations where two events targeted at the same youth-focused audience are inadvertently scheduled on the same day.
The Coalition welcomes new members, as well as anyone who wishes to attend just to learn more about the goals and how the Coalition is working to achieve them.
