Last Monday, the Chelsea Kiwanis Club heard from Chelsea Hospital’s Director of Community Health and Wellbeing Kate Yocum and SRSLY Chelsea Director Allie Blaszkowski. Earlier this month, the two gathered input from Kiwanis’ members about the Community Health Needs Assessment. This time, the subject was SRSLY Chelsea’s activities and accomplishments over the past year.
SRSLY Chelsea was formed in 2008 by a coalition of community leaders and concerned citizens to complement the school system’s teaching about the negative consequences of substance abuse. Mental health was later added to their focus areas to improve outcomes for young people.
The coalition wants to hear ideas from students who are passionate about health and want to be involved in the community. Students have identified their top areas of concern as school stress, parental substance use and abuse, lack of access to therapeutic resources, supporting a loved one with mental illness, and a need for a positive, trusted adult relationship.
Highlights this past year included:
- A pumpkin smashing event, where negative words were written on pumpkins before they were destroyed, and pumpkins with kind words written on them to take home
- Free hoodies given out
- Study support from teachers after school
- Doughnuts for senior class students
- A Wheels & Reels movie at the fairgrounds
The Chelsea Kiwanis Club was happy to continue its support for SRSLY Chelsea.
