Today we Talked to Sydney Ormerod and Joyce Sims of the Newport Health Equity Zone about how they create ties in the community and how YOU can get involved! For more information about the amazing work at Newport HEZ, visit https://newporthealthequity.com/

Hi everyone! This week on Totally Preventable we are excited to chat with Conexión Latina Newport! Greg & Polly sit down with two of the founders, Rebekah Rosen-Gomez and Yolanda Macias, to learn more about the amazing work being done by Conexión Latina with the Hispanic community in Newport.

Conexión Latina Newport was founded in 2019 by four local women who were frustrated by the injustices faced by Newport’s ever growing Hispanic population and the lack of resources available to them. The mission of Conexión Latina is to educate, inform, mobilize and advocate for all Hispanics in Newport, as well as advise and partner with social services, education and government agencies, on how they best meet the needs of the Newport Hispanic Community. Through relationship and trust building, Conexión Latina bolsters needed services, ensures accessible systems, and creates the communities confidence to access those services. For more information, visit www.conexionlatinanewport.org or check out their Facebook at www.facebook.com/conexionlatinanewport.

Totally Preventable is excited to have Christine Nolan join us this week! Christine is the founder and president of Trinity Healthy Living, a recovery support organization that serves individuals struggling with substance use disorders in Rhode Island. Trinity Healthy Living offers a holistic approach to recovery and focuses on the spiritual, mental, social, and physical well-being of an individual in recovery. For more information about Trinity Village, visit https://trinityvillage.org/.

Welcome back to another episode of Totally Preventable! This week we are joined by Anthony Faccenda, Director of AIDS Project RI. Founded in 1985, Aids Project was the first AIDS service organization in Rhode Island. Their mission is to provide a compassionate, nonjudgmental, and collaborative response to the needs of people living with, affected by, and at risk for HIV. Aids Project RI serve more than 1,500 people throughout Rhode Island every year. 

Aids Project RI offers a wide range of support services such as:

To schedule an free HIV Testing appointment or see upcoming testing dates, https://aidsprojectri.org/get-tested/#testing-by-appointment

This week we're joined by Deacon John Silvia Jr. of Saint Barnabas Church! Saint Barnabas Church is a Roman Catholic Stewardship Parish in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Deacon John works closely with community organizations to foster the message of prevention and empower youth as well as providing recovery supports for residents struggling with a substance use disorder. Learn more by visiting St. Barnabas Church (weconnect.com).

Hey preventors! This week we're excited to have Dan Fitzgerald, Executive Director at Chariho Youth Task Force, National Senior Manager of Advocacy at The American Lung Association, and Trainer/Mentor of Activism at Truth Initiative. Greg & Polly ask Dan about the amazing work being done by Chariho Youth Task Force and engaging youth in prevention programs. Visit https://www.charihoyouth.org/ to learn more!

Carolyn James joins us this week to discuss the many pathways of recovery support available at CODAC Behavioral Health throughout Rhode Island. Carolyn is the Community Outreach Prevention Liaison and Tobacco Cessation Coordinator at CODAC, the oldest and largest nonprofit in RI. For more than 45 years, CODAC has worked with individuals, families and communities in RI. CODAC provides comprehensive outpatient and community-based resources to those living and struggling with the challenges of substance use disorder and behavioral healthcare issues.

This week we are joined by Officer Maddie Pirri, School Resource Officer in the Portsmouth Public Schools, and Officer James Thulier, Drug Recognition Expert from the Portsmouth Police Department. In this episode we discuss the role of School Resource Officers within local schools and how the Portsmouth Police Department educates youth about the risks associated with impaired driving.

This week we are joined by Sarah Dinklage, the founding Director of Rhode Island Student Assistance Services (RISAS). The RI Student Assistance Program has grown from a pilot in seven high schools to over 70 middle and high schools in 32 Rhode Island school districts. RISAS provides a range of evidence-based programs designed to prevent substance use and promote mental health in youth regardless of income level, cultural context, or immigration status. We sit down with Sarah to learn more about the amazing work being done in schools across Rhode Island and the resources available for students.

This week we are joined by Gloria Crist, Creative Director the CORE Org! 

The CORE Org. is Creative Outreach Reinventing Expression, a source, and resource 501(c)3, providing arts enrichment and wellness. The CORE Org. was created by Ms. Gloria Crist, who holds a Master of Arts in Holistic Counseling as well as a CAGS in Expressive and Creative Arts. She is a professional actor/director and producer with various credits in theater/film and television. Gloria has been the Creative Director of Tiverton High School Drama since 2009. She has been an arts-integrated specialist for many years, and has worked with children in the public school system, private settings and adjudicated/at-risk children. Gloria has developed many arts-integrated programs and non-profits for children and young adults, including most recently, TASA (Tiverton After School Arts), which was The Core. Org.’s predecessor. She believes all children from all levels of life are entitled to arts-integrated learning, and self-awareness through the creative process.

Peer Productions, a collaboration with the CORE org and Newport County Prevention Coalition, is taking the power of film and social media and putting it in the creative minds of 8th-12 graders to write, produce and act in their own series of films- in the hope their narrative will have a wider and more realistic approach for young people struggling with the chaos and mental health issues Covid introduced into their world.  PEER PRODUCTIONS fulfills a specific need:  Giving young people the power to express themselves through writing/acting and film- in real time- with real stories on big theme issues:  depression, anxiety, relationships, self medicating, substance abuse, gender identity, isolation and feeling like "not being heard or seen".

For more information, visit www.thinkfeelcreate.org or www.newportcountyprevention.org/peerproductions