TNP blog: We're hiring! Plus, fall recap, January legislative forum & more
- Norwalk Partnership
- 15 hours ago
- 5 min read
2026 is just days away, and we're excited to continue powerful and exciting programming in and around Norwalk together with all of you! In this blog post:
We're hiring for a part-time coalition coordinator
Photos highlighting recent coalition work
Updated resource videos by our TNP Teens
Upcoming Advocacy Opportunities: Legislative Forum, Advocacy training
Community priority planning for Norwalk youth mental wellbeing continues
We're hiring!
Our TNP Coalition Coordinator, Marsha Elbourne, is moving on to a full-time position with the city of Norwalk! We wish her well. Please help us spread the word by sharing our part-time coalition coordinator position with someone you know.
TNP Coalition Fall Recap
Our November coalition meeting served double duty as a regular meeting and also a coalition Friendsgiving, with fun and festive treats and sharing what we are all thankful for. Repeatedly, coalition members shared their gratitude for being involved in such a collaborative and supportive community! Norwalk is really special to all of us, and this coalition work--along with all the other city-wide collaborations--is what makes it great. Our thanks to all of you!
Highlights of our recent work include:
All Norwalk middle school and high school teachers--approximately 600 people--were trained in QPR suicide prevention! Thanks to Catalyst CT | The Hub, Kids in Crisis, Liberation Programs, Norwalk Health Department, Positive Directions, and TPAUD for providing 19 training sessions over three days.
49 NPS staff, including health and PE teachers and school counselors, received cannabis professional development at a half-day event organized by Positive Directions for faculty from Norwalk, New Canaan, Weston, Westport and Wilton. The event featured a live guest speaker, Dr Joe Feuerstein, president of the Fairfield County Medical Association, a curriculum presented by Stanford University’s REACH Lab via Zoom, and collaboration time for teachers.
We created a series of bilingual awareness posters aimed at middle schoolers. In response to a reported increase in Norwalk middle schoolers discussing suicide with their friends but not telling an adult., TNP created a series of bilingual posters was created to promote students telling a trusted adult when they or a friend have a problem. Please download and share!
Andres Velazquez and Yubleiska Gutierrez, two Norwalk teens who are part of our TNP Teens Clubs, have joined the Mid-Fairfield Regional Youth Cannabis Prevention Team organized by Positive Directions. They received training in the Johnny’s Ambassadors curriculum and have now served as peer educators in 3 health classes at NHS!
Check Out Our Annual NHS/PTECH Wellness Fair
On November 20th, approximately 800 students filed through the Norwalk High School gym over 2 hours during the annual wellness fair, organized by NPS and TNP members. They were met by over a dozen community partners, school-based providers, and school clubs with activities, resources, prizes and giveaways. The goal of the fair is to help students become familiar with the faces and programs they have access to on campus.
In addition to specific education and awareness at each partner’s table, students could also get a “Checkup from the Neck Up” where they filled out a behavioral health screening, and talked with a counselor to get a referral for issues such as depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, PTSD, substance use, gambling among others.
Watch this video to go inside the event.
TNP Teens Raise Awareness around Mental Health, Vaping, Coping Skills
Can you name all the FREE services that are available to students in Norwalk high schools? Chances are you might miss a few, and because they want to make sure that their peers know exactly where to go and who to see when they need support, TNP Teens went to work updating the resource videos for their schools. Check them out below, then share them with a Norwalk high school student you know!
TNP Teens Challenge Peers for No-Vape November
In November, TNP Teens club members at all four high schools planned an educational activity to teach peers about the dangers of vaping. During their lunch breaks, students interacted with a colorful board full of vaping Q&A, and helpful resources for quitting. They also tried their hand--or rather their lungs, at an activity which had them blowing through regular white paper straws, then trying to blow through crumpled black paper straws simulating vaping lungs.
TNP Teens Think Inside the Box for Winter Wellness
Club members were busy as elves in December creating "wellness boxes" to help friends cope with holiday blahs and blues. Boxes were stuffed with sensory cheer -- bubble wrap for popping, scents for smelling, hand-painted rocks for inspiring, mints for refreshing breath and spirits, and more. They were placed in visible spots around each school and will be up through the new year.
Upcoming Advocacy Opportunities
It's time for our annual regional prevention legislative forum! You are invited to our virtual legislative forum on Monday 1/12/26 from 8:30am-10am to hear from prevention advocates about topics currently affecting our youth -- including mental health, substances and gambling --and to discuss policy options. Click the image or button to learn more and RSVP.
Organized by Positive Directions-The Center for Prevention & Counseling, in collaboration with ADAM, Catalyst CT | The Hub, Easton's Here to Help, New Canaan CARES, The Norwalk Partnership, TPAUD-Trumbull's Prevention Partnership, Weston Youth Services, Westport Prevention Coalition, and Wilton Youth Council.
Calling Norwalk youth & adults interested in policy change! Want to turn your passion and lived experience with mental health conditions or other issues into skillful grassroots advocacy? This training is for you.
It's offered FREE by The Norwalk Partnership, as a collaboration between Positive Directions, NAMI CT, Kids in Crisis and The Hub. Click the image or button to learn more and register today.
Community Priority Planning: RSVP Now for the Final Two Sessions
Our 4-part series to build consensus around a community-wide priority plan for youth behavioral health in Norwalk is well underway. The first two events in November and December were well-attended , with engaging conversations, and excitement about where the process is going.
The next two sessions will be held in January and February, and we invite anyone who lives or works in Norwalk to participate. Dinner is provided! Click the image to the left or the link below to sign up now at thenorwalkpartnership.org/events.
NOTE: Our next coalition meeting on Wednesday, January 28 from 3-4:30pm will be virtual, with a special presentation by HIDTA. See you there!