Healthy Communities August Meeting Includes Speakers on VA Outreach and CADCA Training

Healthy Communities August Meeting Includes Speakers on VA Outreach and CADCA Training

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties meets Thursday, August 10 at 9am, via Zoom (connection details below). The HCC public meeting includes coalition and group partner updates and introductions, discussion of matters of regional importance to health and wellness, plus presentations by guest speakers.

Guest speakers are Kim Donahue, Veterans Outreach Program Specialist with the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System, who will explain outreach to the veteran population in our region, and Brooke Sterns of Community Chest, Inc (CCI), who will describe takeaways from a recent training at a national CADCA conference.

Veterans Outreach Program Specialist Kim Donahue, who helps support and connect the veteran population with important benefits and services, will go into detail about support available to our region’s military population and communities through the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System. The VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System recently received a 5-Star Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality rating. CMS uses a five-star quality rating system to measure the experiences Medicare beneficiaries have with their health plan and health care system — the Star Rating Program. Health plans are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being the highest.

Brooke Sterns of CCI recently attended a Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) training in Texas. CADCA is a membership organization representing over 5,000 coalitions worldwide “working to make communities safe, healthy and drug-free.”  Brooke will explain what she learned and how the training can strengthen efforts in substance misuse prevention in schools and communities. Healthy Communities received DPBH funding to send about a dozen representatives from CCI, Lyon County Human Services, and Lyon County School District to the Mid-Year CADCA training, alongside Healthy Communities employees. With the shared goal to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free communities, the conference provided training in parent engagement, evidence-based practices in prevention, and discussions on the intersection of behavioral health and substance misuse. Attendees were given opportunities to engage with coalition leaders, exchange experiences, and share best practices. They received training from top experts in the field; information, tools, and strategies to take ATOD use prevention work to the next level; and the latest science on substance misuse issues.

What is Healthy Communities Coalition? HCC is a private nonprofit that uses a collective impact model: Common Agenda + Multiple Sectors = Collaborative Impact. HCC is a collaboration of people who imagine 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 resident-led organizations, and practicing acceptance and love rooted in the belief that every person has a unique and important gift to offer.

Join the meeting via Zoom at

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89754311274?pwd=RnBSTHRSQkdHZ2U2bGpDcy9YSjhDZz09

Meeting ID: 897 5431 1274

Passcode: 147839

Dial by your location

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 669 444 9171 US

+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

From VA website https://veterans.nv.gov/suicide-prevention-overview-by-ndvs-suicide-prevention-coordinator/:

From Community Chest of Nevada, Inc. website https://communitychestnevada.net/about-us/our-staff/: