Healthy Communities December Meeting Speakers Discuss Legislative Session, Alzheimer’s & FFJC

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties meets every other month at 9am at the Silver Springs Community Center at 2945 Fort Churchill Street, Silver Springs, NV 89429.  The next public meeting is Thursday, December 12, 2024. The meeting will include a holiday-themed hot breakfast with coffee.

The agenda includes updates and introductions, discussion of the Coalition’s three points of regional collaboration (healthy food, health and wellness, and community development), plus presentations by guest speakers. Presentations this month will focus on the Fines and Fees Justice Center FFJC, the upcoming Nevada legislative session, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Nick Shepack, Nevada State Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC), will give an overview of the Center, which works  “together with affected communities and justice system stakeholders to eliminate fees in the justice system, ensure that fines are equitably imposed and enforced, and end abusive collection practices.”

He will then give tips and take questions on how to track proposed legislation, engage and be effective during the upcoming Nevada legislative session. Shepack has a Master of Social Work (MSW) from University Nevada, Reno, where he completed a practicum at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Washoe County Public Defender Office. Afterward he was hired by the ACLU of Nevada’s policy department, focusing on state wide legislation and reform, before going on to work with the FFJC. Shepack has been a lobbyist for the last three legislative sessions where he has helped to pass over a dozen pieces of legislation, many of which he helped author.

Sandy Severance, Community Engagement Manager of the Alzheimer’s Association Northern Nevada office, will discuss the ten signs of Alzheimer’s, brain health, myths and resources. In Nevada, nearly 55,000 people live with Alzheimer’s with 84,000 unpaid caregivers. The Northern California and Northern Nevada Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association provides support, education, training, and other resources to increase knowledge and to support those facing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias or memory loss.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties (HCC) is a private nonprofit that uses a collective impact model (a common agenda shared by multiple sectors). HCC is a collaboration of people who dream of a future where all have the opportunity to live healthy, vital lives. How do we “reverse engineer” to get to that preferred future? By supporting resident-centered change, stimulating active citizenship, strengthening community-led organizations, and by practicing acceptance and love rooted in the belief that each and every person has a unique and important gift to offer. For more information, see healthycomm.org or call (775) 246-7550.