Totally Preventable

This week Polly & Greg talk with Community Policing Officer Brittney Ripke and Lieutenant April Amaral of the Newport Police Department! Office Ripke and Lieutenant Amaral share their experiences working within their community and how they encourage positive relationships between youth and police officers through community events focused on family fun. Visit www.cityofnewport.com/city-hall/departments/police/patrol-division/community-policing to learn more about the NPD Community Policing Unit or follow their Facebook @NewportRIPolice to stay updated on community events!

This week we're talking with Caroline Dyhrberg, Youth Advisor, and Jhane Pereira, Youth Advisor Supervisor, of the Basic Center! The Basic Center Program (BCP) through Family Services of Rhode Island provides resources and assistance to youth under 18 experiencing homelessness. Youth can receive up to 21 days of shelter with a host home and professional, personalized support to meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth. The Center works to reunite young people with their families or to locate appropriate alternative housing and provides food, clothing, and access to medical care; individual, group, and family counseling; crisis intervention; recreation; and aftercare resources. For more information, visit https://www.familyserviceri.org/programs/basic-center/.

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.