Welcome to the CHCC team, Alissa!

Alissa Wigglesworth joined CHCC as a Program Coordinator last month!

Alissa Wigglesworth comes to CHCC with a B.A. in psychology and substance misuse studies from Keene State College. She has been working in the field of prevention since 2019 and has a passion for building community relationships, working with youth, and fostering healthy communities throughout Maine. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, singing, ukulele, skiing and spending time with her cats, Luna and Nellie.

Please join us in welcoming her to CHCC! She can be reached at [email protected].

Updates in Prevention

CALLING ALL STUDENTS!

If you received a T-shirt this spring during Red Ribbon Week, please wear it to Biddeford's Annual Family Fun Festival! Visit CHCC's table with your shirt to receive a FREE grab bag and spin the prize wheel!

Project Alliance will meet Wednesday,

August 17 at 9 a.m.

Project Alliance Updates

Thank you to all who were able to join us for our special lunchtime meeting on July 27. Our new program coordinator, Christina Schechtman, will be reaching out to coalition members throughout the month to try and connect one on one.

For updates and information about upcoming events - meeting minutes can be found here.

Prevention Resources

Maine Prevention Services has some great tips on how to host safe teen gatherings. Click the image to find out more about MPS.

Good to Know Maine has a wide variety of information on marijuana use and transport laws. For more information, click the image above.

Interested in exploring topics related to prevention science and practice?

Applied Prevention Science International has created a new section on their website called PREVENTION TOOLBOX. The toolbox stores all previously released Prevention Nuggets and Prevention Highlights. Both resources are updated regularly to provide timely updates and published reports related to prevention science and practice.

Do you know how stigma surrounding opioid use disorder is affecting your community?

A recent study examining the stigma associated with opioid use disorder found that younger adults had lower comparative levels of stigma than did older adults. The Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) provides a brief video synthesis of the findings and implications.

For the full results, and related video presentations, click HERE.

Lead Safety

Click the photo at left for video tips on how to keep your child safe from the dangers of lead. Lead poisoning is 100% preventable.

AmeriCorps Opportunity with Biddeford Police Department

The Biddeford Maine Police Department is partnering with the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) and AmeriCorps VISTA to offer an exciting opportunity for a driven, service-minded individual who is passionate about helping their community confront the challenges of addiction and substance use disorders.

This individual will complete a 365-day term of service which their efforts will be to address the opioid epidemic and expand access to treatment and recovery. This member will help build, strengthen, and sustain police-led programs to reduce overdose deaths and help more people with substance use disorders access treatment and recovery

In exchange for their hard work and dedication, this individual will gain access to an array of benefits, including, but not limited to, a bi-weekly living allowance, educational expense relief through the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, and valuable professional development opportunities.

If you know of anyone interested in joining this team, please send them this link to apply: here. If you'd like to know more about our partners in this fight, please visit paariusa.org and americorps.gov.

Updates from SNAP-Ed

From our Eat Well Play Hard classes - a delicious and nutritious lesson called "Flavorful Fruit," where participants made fruit kabobs with blueberries, strawberries and pineapple.

Another snapshot from an Eat Well Play Hard class - a crunchy and creative lesson called, "Vary Your Veggies" students made veggie monster faces with cucumbers, carrots and peppers.