Members Present:
Kim Allen, Jennifer Dusky, Rachel Ellis, Stephanie Evans, Rachel Goodman, Lauren Patterson, Jackie Pipes, Jennifer Sanchez, Candace Tillman, Asailio Timmermeier, Lynn Wood
Members Absent:
Anne Marie Bryant, Tony Cowan, Matt Driscoll Brad Edwards, Danielle Frazier, Kelley Harris, Donny King, Crystal Lemus, Ryan Martin, Johnny Norton Jackie Rawls, Jim Ring, Maria Smith
Staff: Shirley Corker (Community Development Coordinator)
Guests:
Erin Cobb (Shine Pediatric Therapy), Susan Cope (TCCY), Tabatha Curtis (Tennessee Alliance For Drug Endangered Children, Statewide Coordinator), Jeanne Drake (TN Voices), David Long (TN Dept. of Health), Ray Render (Congressman John Rose’s Office), Jamie Block (Robertson County WIC Clinic), Marcello Scalzo (Alive Hospice), Oliva Seay (A Step Ahead Mid TN)
Opening Remarks:
- Welcome was extended. Next meeting date was announced as September 8, 2021 at 12:30 pm. All future meetings will be virtual until further notice.
- Roll call was taken for members and guests. Afterwards the meeting was turned over to Chair Ace Timmermeier to facilitate the rest of the agenda.
- The minutes from the June 9, 2021 meeting were presented for approval. Two corrections were noted: Kim Allen and Susan Cope should have been listed as present. With no further edits Lauren Patterson made a motion to approve. Lynn Wood offered a second and minutes were approved with the two requested changes.
New Business:
- Marcello Scalzo, Community Relationship Manager, from Alive Hospice was introduced as a guest speaker. Mr. Scalzo provided an introduction to Alive Grief support services and talked about the great resources and hospice care they are known for. He shared his own grief story having lost 3 family members and a close friend within 6 months. He discussed the common characteristics of grieving. He talked about how COVID has not allowed people to grieve and say goodbye in traditional ways. He stressed people can grieve for a lot of different reasons and everyone grieves in their own way. There is no right or wrong way for people to grieve. Alive is the only not-for-profit in the State. They don’t turn anyone away. Their fees are based on a sliding scale and they don’t ask anyone to prove their income. There are no restrictions on the loss, or type of grief you are experiencing, or a time stamp on your experience. They have 6 grief counselors. Their services provide support groups, to include in 8-week closed group program, ways to honor lost ones such as the Blessing of the Bricks, the Butterfly Release, and a Forget Me Not Camp for teenagers. They do grief education training and counseling for $50 an hour. They have 6-minute videos that can be accessed online that are free and are facilitated by a grief counselor. Ace has all these links that she can share with members and the community at large on request. Mr. Scalzo took questions and was thanked for his presentation.
- Tabatha Curtis, Statewide Coordinator for TN Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, shared her screen for her presentation. Their mission is to increase training and ongoing educational opportunities regarding issues faced by drug endangered children and their families. The program was established in 2006 because of the methamphetamine problem. Over the years it was decided there was another epidemic, the opioid epidemic. They realigned their advisory board and restarted the alliance with a million-dollar grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice. The money was used to create 6 response teams across the Sate and create lots of community awareness. Their vision is to have 100% healthy, happy, and safe children free from drug exposure and drug use. She defined drug endangered children and discussed the risks for children whose parents abuse alcohol or drugs and the prenatal and postnatal difficulties these children experience. Children often become victims of the illicit drug trade and become trapped in generational substance abuse. Children growing up in these environments may experience emotional, behavioral, or cognitive problems. Their organization takes a multi-disciplined approach partnering with and collaborating with 6 different agencies, law enforcement, child protective services, judicial, medical, community coalitions and education. She gave the locations of all the 6 response teams and their contact information. These counties were selected because they already had drug coalitions and were already doing the work. If you feel a child is drug endangered, you need to call 866-6384 or Children’s Services at 877-237-0004. If it is a life-threatening situation call 911. She ended her presentation by announcing a National Drug Alliance Conference on August 24-27 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The cost is $375 for the week. She agreed to share her slides with Council members. They will be emailed out to members when received.
- The Chair wanted the Council to be aware there were funds left over from the Healthier Robertson County program in the amount of $2,456.37. These funds are being held in an account at the Community Foundation of Middle TN for the Robertson County Health Council to use. She and Lauren Patterson are the Co-signers for the funds.
- Stephanie Evans made the Council aware that September is National Suicide Awareness month. She also shared that a Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic will be held this Saturday at the Center.
- Shirley Corker gave a quick update on County COVID information from the TN Department of Health County Dashboard.
- The next meeting is on September 8 and will continue to be virtual until further notice.
- The meeting was adjourned.