2024 Sub-Award Recipients Announced
ST. JOHNSBURY, VT (March 6, 2024) – Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH), Umbrella and the Lamoille Family Center are excited to announce the sub-awards recipients of the 2024 Northeast Vermont Prevention Consortium – Prevention Lead Region 3.
Priorities that these awards will address include reducing underage substance use as well as high-risk adult substance use, increasing supports for LGBTQIA+ youth and creating a community where youth and adults feel valued. Competitive and non-competitive sub-award recipients and descriptions are listed below.
Newport Health District
Coventry Village School received $4,996 to support and educate students in grades six through eight about substance use and misuse. They will contract with Journey to Recovery Community Center to replicate a successful program at North Country High School.
Journey to Recovery received $10,000 for a social detox bed, open and available to adults in the midst of substance crisis. The program offers many protective factors such as an introduction to alternative stress management skills, sober lifestyle, and providing support for goal setting and achievement.
Lake Region Union High School received $10,000 to support and educate students in grades 9 –12 about substance use and misuse. The school is contracting with Journey to Recovery.
North Country Supervisory Union Encore Program received $5,000 to hire more high school staff to work in Encore Afterschool programs. These programs give students leadership opportunities, connections to their communities and healthy relationships with their adult co-workers – who often act as mentors.
St. Johnsbury Health District
Forestville Foundation Inc./Craftsbury Public House and POWERED Magazine received $10,000 to support underrepresented vulnerable adult community members with building life and job skills to bring back to their local communities to become vibrant champions and drive inclusive growth.
Stable Connections received $10,000 for their program, Leading the Way, which offers a unique opportunity for experiential learning with a strong focus on strengthening an individual’s confidence, connectedness, character and leadership skills.
The HUB received $9,978 to provide a welcoming and safe space for community members, likely living at or below the poverty line, to enjoy a meal together or take the prepared meal out to enjoy later. This project will involve local community volunteers to prepare, cook, package ready to-go meals and deliver meals to the HUB for distribution on a weekly basis.
Catamount Arts received $7,362 to fund continued programming at Catamount Arts Open Stage, a substance free alternative for youth. The program promotes community building and increases feelings of value, connection and support among area youth and the adults who work with them.
Morrisville Health District
Lamoille County Mental Health received $10,000 to develop a Risk Assessment Protocol with one school in Orleans South Supervisory Union. It involves an early intervention approach focused on connecting and supporting high risk students early on to prevent future violence.
Lamoille South Supervisory Union received $7,395 for the Lamoille South Love, Inclusion, Trust project, which seeks to create a more inclusive environment where all adults and youth feel a sense of connectedness and belonging so they can thrive in the classrooms and beyond.
Hyde Park Elementary School (HPES) received $9,976 to support all students and staff members who will be “sorted” into five “Houses” by January 2024. These Houses will act as their “school family” during all their years at HPES. This system builds character, encourages academic excellence, fosters school spirit, strengthens relationships and promotes a culture of belonging for all.
The Center for Agricultural Economy received $9,953 to fund staff time and supplies needed to conduct one-on-one and group listening sessions with adults and youth focused on substance use, including those with lived experience, to understand challenges, goals, and ways to connect.
Newport and St. Johnsbury Health Districts
Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NKHS) received $9,983 to aid in prevention of substance misuse with local high school youth. They will use The Prime for Life® education program for groups of ten students ages 14 to 19 for four 10-week sessions, reaching 40 students. They will also use funds for disseminating care bags to homeless children and youth as well as medication lock bags.
Umbrella received $6,875 to conduct a community needs assessment focused on the inter-relationship between substance misuse and intimate partner/sexual violence and how, from a holistic perspective, this affects risk and protective factors.
Morrisville and St. Johnsbury Health Districts
DREAM Program received $10,000 for DREAM’s “Guided Mentoring” program, which is an in-school, curriculum-based, peer-to-peer mentoring program that explores four key themes: mentoring strategy, identity, sense of place, and purpose.
St. Johnsbury, Newport and Morrisville Health Districts
Coalitions Northeast Prevention Coalition, 302 Cares, ONE Prevention and Healthy Lamoille Valley received $75,000 per Health District with additional $5,000 to Morrisville and Newport Health Districts to support smaller community projects. Funding for coalitions supports ongoing and sustainable substance misuse prevention work in their respective communities. Coalitions implement evidence-based practices aimed at promoting protective factors and reducing factors across the lifespan.
The Prevention Lead Organization Grant, which totals 1.2 million over two years, aims to increase regional and community capacity to deliver meaningful substance use prevention to optimize well-being among individuals, families and communities across the lifespan. The total amount funded for non-competitive and competitive sub-awards for FY24 was $366,518.
Funding was made possible by the Vermont Department of Health Division of Substance Use Programs. To learn more, contact the Prevention Lead Organization Program Managers Northeast Vermont Prevention Consortium – Prevention Lead Region 3 Regional Coordination Team Carolyn Towne, Cheryl Chandler, Amanda Cochrane, Jessica Bickford, Kathrin Lawlor and Roynell Sanders at NVPC-PL@nvrh.org or visit nvrh.org/nvpc-pl.