Collective Impact
To work on issues of healthy eating, active living, access to care, and the social determinants of health, we believe that we need everyone at the table.
The Healthy Wilkes Action Team, which had been working together for years without formally codifying, truly coalesced around The Duke Endowment’s Healthy Peoples, Healthy Carolinas grant award.
The Healthy Wilkes Action Team believes that all children (and adults!) in Wilkes County should be safe, healthy, and able to thrive. It’s a big vision – but one we’re committed to.
Just because a child experiences trauma doesn’t make them “damaged goods.”
With a third of our children are growing up in poverty, that brings a whole host of problems like food insecurity, unsafe housing, and poor health outcomes. One group can’t tackle all these issues alone, so The Health Foundation brought together and trained a cross-sector group of professionals in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).
ACES is the idea that when bad things happen to you as a child, it affects how you go through life as an adult. When a child is abused and doesn’t receive counseling, for example, that can result in health problems like depression and obesity in adulthood. Each of these team members is passionate about improving outcomes for children in Wilkes County and brings their own specialized knowledge to the table.
In 2020, The Health Foundation was asked to take Safe Spot Child Advocacy Center under our wing when their parent organization, SAFE, Inc., closed their doors. It’s been a massive undertaking, but the CAC, which provides healing and justice to child victims of sexual abuse or physical abuse, is set to become its own independent non-profit agency in 2022!
Another program addressing ACEs is our Reconnect for Resiliency trainings.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Reconnect for Resilience
The Reconnect for Resilience ™ program is trauma-informed and resiliency-focused, offering practical strategies to promote a culture of resiliency in a school, healthcare organization, or community.
Though the concepts are all grounded in recent neuroscience, this training presents material about stress, trauma, the brain, the autonomic nervous system, and well-being skills in a simple, teachable format designed for anyone to learn, regardless of their level of education or mental health background.
The curriculum is offered in a 14-hour training. For more information or to register for an upcoming class, contact Jenn Wages at jenn@healthywilkes.org or (336) 838-1949.
The Wilkes Resiliency Collaborative was formed in 2016 to understand how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are impacting our community and to create a pay toward a more resilient community.
Key partners in this collaborative include Juvenile Justice, Wilkes County Schools, Wilkes County Health Department, Wilkes Community Partnership for Children, Wilkes Recovery Revolution, Safe Spot Child Advocacy Center, Wilkes Community College, Children’s Developmental Services Agency, Project Lazarus, and Child Abuse Prevention Team.
The Collaborative is developing a comprehensive resource guide for community members and professionals, hosting multiple Connect Wilkes events throughout the year. At Connect Wilkes, agencies are invited to a round of “speed dating” to build relationships between groups serving children and families.
The Address the Stress Conference, now in its third year, is an annual event held at Camp Harrison in Boomer, NC. Targeted toward people in the helping professions, such as social workers, first responders, mental health professionals, and others, the Conference provides both a learning session as well as opportunities for attendees to practice new ways to decompress.
Wilkes Resiliency Collaborative
Community Opioid Prevention and Education (COPE)
In 2015, Wilkes County had the highest drug overdose mortality rate in North Carolina. We know we have to do something. We’re committed to bringing this epidemic out of the darkness, to bring our friends, family members, and neighbors back into the community.
The COPE (Community Opioid Prevention and Education) Team is studying the impact of opioid misuse in Wilkes County and how to best help people bounce back. The whole team includes representation from law enforcement, the health department, the hospital, the recovery community, concerned citizens, and more
We won a grant from UNC-Chapel Hill to contract with a program coordinator for COPE and to receive technical assistance, coaching us in best practices, and helping us figure out the right fit for our community.
Thanks to the years of work done by the COPE team, The Health Foundation was awarded a grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission to implement a Crisis Intervention Team in Wilkes County, pairing Peer Support Specialists and mental health professionals with law enforcement to improve crisis call outcomes.
To learn more and get involved, contact Kirstin Roberts, Program Manager, at kirstin@healthywilkes.org or (336) 838-1949.
Mental Health First Aid, like CPR, prepares participants to interact with a person in crisis and connect that person with help. It introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses, builds understanding of their impact, and overviews common support systems.
It teaches participants a five-step action plan to support someone developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or having an emotional crisis. CareNet Counseling, through a grant provided by The Health Foundation, is offering this training to the public.
To register for the class, please contact Belinda Smithey at bwsmithey@gmail.com or call (336) 838-1644.
Mental Health First Aid
