22 Sep 2020

Weekly Bulletin 9/21

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The following bulletin includes information regarding the Well Connected Communities initiative for the week of September 21, 2020:

In this Edition

  • Q3 Reporting
  • Upcoming Wave 1 Community Evaluation Activities
  • Youth Voice and Leadership
  • PD and Coaching
  • News, Research, and Resources from the Field

Q3 Reporting

  • The Q3 report will be due September 30, 2020.
    • The reporting will consist of each community submitting a community report – submitted via the WCC community portal
    • one LGU Financial Status Report – submitted through WebGrants
    • one Tobacco Separation Protocol validation letter – can be submitted via WebGrants as an attachment with Financial Status Report or emailed to smcneil@fourhcouncil.edu.

Upcoming Wave 1 Community Evaluation Activities

  • The  Center for Community Health and Evaluation, the evaluation partner for WCC, will be conducting their first major evaluation data collection effort at the community level. This first year of the evaluation, CCHE will be focusing on communities that participated in Wave 1 of WCC. In the coming weeks, CCHE will be reaching out to PIs who started in Wave 1 for support on the following evaluation activities:
  • Community coalition surveys – CCHE will launch a survey at the end of August/beginning of September to collect information on how community collaboration is going, what is working well, and where there might be opportunities to strengthen partnerships. You will receive a report that includes the survey results for all of your communities that complete the survey for your use and so that you can share back with your communities.
  • Youth interviews – CCHE would like to ask PIs of Wave 1 communities to help identify 1 youth who would be willing to talk about their experience with WCC. The youth could be from any of your communities that engaged in Wave 1; ideally they have been participating in WCC for at least one year, but that’s not required. CCHE aims to conduct the youth interviews in early September.

Youth Voice and Leadership

What is it?

This is a 1-year program that offers students that are interested in hands-on learning to assess and improve population and community health and well-being across sectors with a heavy focus on racism and systemic factors that contribute to inequity. Fellows for this program will be offered training and coaching in applying leading from within skills, leading together skills, and leading for equitable outcomes from the WE in the World team. 

Why join?

As a part of the program, Fellows will have the opportunity to work with youth and other community members for social transformation in areas they are passionate about. They will join a global network of young minds and hearts working to lead together for equity and well-being while looking at their own local conditions to apply their learning.

How to apply?

Please see here for a brief application form, application closes September 28, 2020. For further information please feel free to contact us at louisa.mancey@weintheworld.org.

  • Youth Food Security Webinar Postponed

The Youth Food Security Webinar originally scheduled for September 23 has been postponed.  At the September 2 Youth Introductory Session, there was wonderful WCC work already in progress engaging youth leadership in organizing the distribution of blessing boxes (similar to Little Free Libraries), and other food distribution techniques.  If anyone has youth who would like to help plan and carry out a youth-driven food security webinar, please let JoAnne Leatherman (jleatherman@fourhcouncil.edu) know by the end of September.  We would like to highlight your work through this webinar, which will likely be in late October.

  • Youth Mental Health Peer Circle

Part 2: October 7, 2020, 7:00 – 8:00 PM ET

Mental health is important at every stage of life. This peer session on mental health will explore the impact of mental health from youth and adult perspectives. Beyond the examining the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of youth and adults alike, we will be learning from our peers their experience and opportunities available to lead people to mental well-being.

Register for Part 2

The registration is organized by Community so one adult lead from the community will register all youth and adults (The adult that registers everyone from their community will need to share the ZOOM link with all participants.) The session will be based on the discussion from the September 2, 2020 Session.

PD and Coaching

  • We are continuing to share feedback and connect with communities around their action plans. As you continue with your action planning efforts, the PD team is happy to connect to provide guidance and learn from you about the ways in which your goals connect to policies and systems in your community. If you are interested in discussing the feedback or receiving additional support as you update your action plan, please contact Shay McNeil at smcneil@fourhcouncil.edu.  

News, Research and Resources from the Field:

  • NEW Webinar 9/30: Rethinking ID/DD Transportation Services During the COVID-19 Era

Register for the webinar on September 30 at 3 – 4:30 pm ET. 

The COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges for people with disabilities and older adults, as well as for the aging and disability networks. But leaders rose to the challenge — as innovators and inventors, partners and problem-solvers. States and intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) providers successfully implemented updated waivers, procedural strategies, and other creative approaches to ensure continuity in home and community-based services (HCBS) and overall health and safety. Through the pandemic, we discovered opportunities to rethink and redesign HCBS.

ACL and the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) are partnering to present a series of webinars to explore these opportunities.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 from 3 – 4:30 p.m. (EDT) for the third webinar of this series, which will focus on transportation services. Specifically, we will:

  • Review the transportation landscape for individuals with ID/DD;
  • Learn from providers about their strategies to operate and maintain transportation services during the pandemic; and
  • Discuss the future of transportation and lessons learned from COVID-19.

ACL Administrator Lance Robertson will provide opening remarks on the webinar.

Register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you have questions about the webinar series, please email AoD@acl.hhs.gov.

  • NEW From eXtension
  • Connect Extension Virtual Chat, September 24th, 1 PM – 2 PM ET: Health Equity and its Implications for Extension Practice. 

Hosted by Roger Rennekamp, National Extension Health Director, ECOP as part of the Health & Well-Being Subgroup.
Cooperative Extension has a long history of providing educational programs which help build health literacy.  But given what we know about the root causes of health disparities, are these programs alone sufficient to change the health trajectories of individuals experiences suboptimal health outcomes?  Might it be necessary for Cooperative Extension to focus more explicitly on reducing or eliminating disparities in health outcomes between groups?  How does that align with the mission of Cooperative Extension and the land grant university system? Join this chat for an engaging discussion with your colleagues about one of the most important issues of our time. Learn More

  • Impact Collaborative Summit Registration, Registration Deadline – September 30th. The Impact Collaborative Summit is a team event for eXtension Member Institutions and will be held on October 13th & 14th, 2020. Community partners are encouraged to participate on teams. We highly recommend sending teams that include 3-8 individuals focused on a project or program aligned with state/institutional strategic priorities and/or community issues.

    In 2019, teams that incubated with eXtension’s Impact Collaborative program received $700K in federal grants and an additional $50K in grants directly through the Impact Collaborative. 40 project and program teams participated in two national Summits, and 92% of participants reported that they would recommend the experience to others. So far in 2020, teams that incubated with the Impact Collaborative have received $1.3 million in grants.  Learn more at extension.org/success about teams that have participated in our Impact Collaborative program.

    The Impact Collaborative Summit helps increase Cooperative Extension’s organizational readiness and capacity for innovation and change by connecting teams with skills, tools, resources and partners that can expand and deepen their impact. Participating teams will receive one on one support from coaches to help identify gaps in their project and program planning, and have access to our network of expert Key Informants to help fill those gaps.

    For 2020, our Impact Collaborative program is being delivered virtually. We invite members to take advantage of their membership benefit by sending project and program teams to the Impact Collaborative Summit. Teams that participate will be eligible and invited to apply for small grants made available by the eXtension Foundation to help further their project/program development. Learn more and register.
  • Urban Food Systems Symposium in October Will Focus on Climate, Community, Secutiry, Production, and Distribution
    Heather Woods, Program/Project Coordinator, Kansas State University

All things food in and for urban areas will be in focus during the 3 rd Urban Food Systems Symposium scheduled for virtual delivery on Wednesdays in Octobe r and hosted this year by Kansas State University and K-State Research and Extension.   2020 Urban Food Systems Symposium   online sessions will be offered from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m…Learn More

  • Obesity and its Impact on Health Including COVID-19 Risks
    Sonja Koukel, Professor/Extension Health Specialist, New Mexico State University
    Subgroup: Health & Well-Being

Obesity has serious health consequences including increased risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and many types of cancers. Concerns about the impact of obesity have taken on new dimensions this year as having obesity is one of the underlying health conditions associated with the most serious consequences of COVID infection…Learn More

  • Racism is a Public Health Crisis – Online Lecture by Camara Phyllis Jones
    Roger Rennekamp, National Extension Health Director, ECOP
    Subgroup: Health & Well-Being

Camara Phyllis Jones will deliver Oregon State University’s Tammy Bray Leadership Lecture on Friday, October 2 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM Pacific Time Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, Ph.D., MPH is a family physician and epidemiologist whose work focuses on naming, measuring and addressing the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of the nation…Learn More

  • NEW Racial Healing for Ourselves, Our Communities and Our Future

Webinar  // Date: Sep 29 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EST

The fourth webinar in APHA’s Advancing Racial Equity series will discuss racial healing as essential for dismantling racism and advancing racial equity.

REGISTER NOW

Presenters will:

  • Explain a model for truth, racial healing and transformation, or TRHT.
  • Describe efforts of the TRHT Campus Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
  • Explore how Indigenous values can guide racial healing within and across communities.

The first three webinars attracted over 14,000 live participants and more than 2,600 views of the recordings to date. This demonstrates how hungry we all are for information on how we can dismantle racism. To help you use the webinars to initiate or deepen anti-racism efforts in your organizations, schools and communities, we’ve developed a discussion guide to be used along with viewing the webinar recordings. Advancing Racial Equity Webinar Series: Discussion Guide (Part I) includes:

  • a summary of each webinar;
  • pre-webinar reflection questions;
  • post-webinar discussion questions;
  • an activity; and
  • resources for each webinar.

The guide is primarily designed for public health students and professionals. However, many individuals and groups can also use the guide to launch meaningful conversations about racism and racial equity. Please feel free to share the webinar recordings and guide with your networks.

  • NEW From the Journal of Extension
  • A Time Like No Other: 4-H Youth Development and COVID-19
    June 2020 // Volume 58 // Number 3 // Commentary // v58-3comm1
    Arnold, Mary E.; Rennekamp, Roger A.
    In this thought leader commentary, we review the potential devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people, including trauma, impacts on mental health, socioemotional distress, and changes in academic learning. Stating that 4-H is uniquely positioned to mitigate these effects through intentional positive youth development efforts, we present a call to action for 4-H educators and Extension administrators as we move from initial reaction to recovery and beyond. We recommend four research-based strategies to ensure that youths not only survive, but thrive, in this time like no other.
  • County Commissioner Perceptions of Cooperative Extension: Implications for Strengthening the Partnership with County Government
    August 2020 // Volume 58 // Number 4 // Feature // v58-4a3
    Blevins, Mark; Jayaratne, K. S. U.; Bruce, Jackie; Bradley, Lucy; Stumpf-Downing, Mitzi
    We undertook a study to determine county commissioner perceptions of Cooperative Extension. The majority of county commissioners had had prior involvement with Extension. Nearly 59% represented rural counties, and 94% indicated that agriculture is important to their county economies. Overall, the commissioners had a positive perception of Cooperative Extension, and their overall perception positively correlated with the significance of agriculture to the local economy. Our findings have implications for county-based Cooperative Extension professionals seeking to build all-important strong partnerships with county commissioners.
  • NEW Reimagined In America Webinar

From RWJF

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the outdoors have become an important refuge for people to escape the confines of home and find new means of entertainment. Yet quality parks and green spaces tend to be unevenly distributed across cities—often leaving people with low incomes and communities of color without easy access. Research shows that time spent in parks, green spaces and nature boosts health and well-being. To help communities thrive, we must make sure everyone has this opportunity. We’re learning how cities in Costa Rica, India, Singapore and beyond are using creative approaches to connect residents with nature. What can you learn from them as you seek to achieve health equity in your community?

Join us on September 25, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. ET for our webinar Reimagined in America: Investing in Nature to hear:

  • Why investing in nature is good for health, equity and the economy
  • How connections to nature can be part of your COVID-19 recovery
  • What you can do to integrate nature into your neighborhoods and infrastructure

Register to participate >

From Yahoo Life

September 13, 2020

Yahoo Life has partnered with Emmy – and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster Soledad O’Brien for the exclusive premiere of the documentary Hungry to Learn. O’Brien and her team followed four college students facing the hard choice of paying for college or paying for food and housing. She discovered that an astounding 45 percent of college students are struggling with hunger. O’Brien reports on how the hunger crisis is escalating this fall as most campuses open remotely because of COVID-19, leaving financially struggling students with no place to live or eat.

  • Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA)

The National Council for Behavioral Health is pleased to announce that they are currently accepting applications to become implementing sites of teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA).  This new version of Mental Health First Aid (specifically for teens) is an evidence-based training that was brought to the United States in partnership with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. It teaches high school students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades how to identify, understand and help their friends with mental health and substance use challenges and how to get the help of an adult quickly.   While other version Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) have been widely utilized by Cooperative Extension, tMFA has just recently been made available to schools and youth serving organizations partnering with schools that are interested in delivering the program in their community.  To learn more visit https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/become-an-instructor/applying-to-teen-mental-health-first-aid-information-and-resources/

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