Mental health month blog: Videos, community convos, mini-golf TNO, peer supports
- Norwalk Partnership
- May 9
- 4 min read
Happy mental health awareness month! Thanks to everyone who joined us for our 4th annual NorWALK for Mental Health event on May 3rd. It was a beautiful day of fun, community, and sharing support and resources. (See NoN article here.)
In this blog post:
Videos from last week's NorWALK for Mental Health event
Community Conversations on youth behavioral health
May's Teen Night Out: Mini-golf!
Upcoming parent chat and lunch & learn
2 peer support resources to know
Raising awareness, providing support: our 4th annual NorWALK for Mental Health
On May 3rd, we had an amazing showing of community organizations and visitors for the Wellness Fair and awareness walk. Please click on the embedded videos in this post to hear in heartfelt testimonies from some of our speakers, and also check out the slideshows of Terri-Ann Gordon's fabulous photos here.
Congrats to our school prize winners:
BMHS & NHS each won $500 toward their post-graduation parties
BMHS Lacrosse team won a mini-golf / dinner event (not to mention leading the walk and being one of the limbo contest winners!)
NHS Bears won a mini-golf event
Kids in Crisis and BMHS/CGS TNP Teens won pizza parties
Many thanks to our planning team: Anamilena Moreno Lonergan, Andre De Nunzio, Dayna Macari, Jess Vivenzio, Joe Esposito, Julie Foy, Katie Gallo, Kelley Tomlinson, Kristine Paz, Lisa Gregory, Margaret Watt, Nicole Hampton, Staci Peete, Tessa Kurtz, Dr. Tichianaa Armah
And huge thanks to our sponsoring organizations for underwriting the event costs, advertising, and prizes: the Armah Family Foundation, Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, Family & Children's Agency, 1st Taxing District, Newport Healthcare, Norwalk ACTS, Norwalk Health Department, Norwalk Police Department, Nuvance Health Foundation, Odyssey Family Empowerment Center, Positive Directions, The Norwalk Partnership (through City of Norwalk funding), and Triangle Community Center
Community Conversations for Norwalkers with Lived Experience
Are you a Norwalk teen, or a parent/guardian of a Norwalk teen, who has recently struggled with mental health or substance use issues? We're planning Community Conversations on youth behavioral health & want to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Let us know you're interested & we'll be in touch!
These groups are part of a community-wide priority planning process we are undertaking through a grant from the New Canaan Community Foundation.
Please download and share the flyer (English and Spanish) below:
Mini-Golf Teen Night Out
Our next Teen Night Out will be an evening of mini-golf with both the Ringside and SoNo Ice Cream food trucks -- open to any high schoolers from Norwalk! This event is coming right up on Friday, May 16th. Please share with teens & encourage them to RSVP here since space is limited.
TNOs are a series of fun, substance-free social events for HS students from Norwalk, organized by members of The Norwalk Partnership and funded through a grant from the City.
Please download & share the flyer in English & Spanish:
Upcoming Free Events:
The latest in this year's Parenting Chat series is an upcoming talk about supporting youth of all identities & from all communities. This event will feature a panel discussion with local professionals and a Q&A session. Panelists will include bilingual Spanish speakers.
The parent chat series is organized by members of the Norwalk ACTS Social-Emotional Health leadership team.
This event will be at the SoNo library on Tuesday night, May 13 from 6-7pm. Sign up at bit.ly/parentingchatnorwalk
Positive Directions is offering the next QPR suicide prevention training on May 30 from 12-1:30pm as a lunch & learn. Just like everyone should be CPR trained, we should all be QPR trained as well, so please consider attending and spread the word! Snacks & coffee will be provided. Please RSVP here.
QPR training is also coming up for all Health 2 students at NHS and PTECH, with trainers from Positive Directions, Norwalk Health Department, and Catalyst CT | The Hub. Looking to train a group in English or Spanish? Please email mwatt@positivedirections.org
New Peer Support Resources to Share:
The CT Support Group project is a statewide mental wellness & peer support project by and for teens and young adults, housed at Positive Directions and funded by DMHAS.
This project is the rebranding & next generation of what used to be known as TurningPointCT. It features a new Discord server, free drop-in peer support hours, free access to 1:1 peer support, and a website refresh (currently underway) to showcase a clearinghouse of peer supporters and peer support groups throughout the state available to young people in CT.
Quinn Jannetty, the CT Support Group Project Manager, spoke at the recent TNP coalition meeting. Feel free to connect with Quinn at qjannetty@positivedirections.org.
Please download and share the flyers below to local teens and groups, and follow @ctsupportgroup!
(P.S. If your website has any links to TurningPointCT.org, please update them to CTSupportGroup.org!)
New Foundations Recovery is a Norwalk-based recovery coaching organization focused primarily on 16 to 34 year olds. NFR's Leah Roque spoke recently at the TNP coalition meeting to share their services, which include recovery coaching, intensive case management, family coaching, safe transport, and connections to treatment.
Cam Piasecki, NFR's CEO is a Norwalk native! You can reach him at cam@NFRecovery.org
Download and share the flyer below:
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