Healthy Communities of the Capital Area

'Better Together'

Annual

REPORT 2022

Artwork by Rachael Reynolds, HCCA's SNAP-Ed Coordinator

Table of Contents

The Organization

Our Mission

Reflections from the Executive Director

Remarks from the Board Chair

The Board of Directors

Financial Overview

Preventing Youth Substance Use

Substance Use Prevention

Drug-Free Communities

Tobacco Prevention

Youth Engagement

Healthy Foods and Physical Activity

Let's Go! 5-2-1-0

SNAP-Education

Maine Farm & Sea to School Network

Maine Farm to Institution

Find Out More

HCCA Strengthens Community Health

Meet HCCA Staff

Thank You to Our Funders

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Reflections from the Executive Director

I want to take this opportunity to applaud the wonderful team of professionals I have the pleasure of working with at HCCA. From staff to board members to community partners, the level of commitment to public health in southern Kennebec County is unmatched. The past year continued to bring COVID challenges at every turn, but Team HCCA met the challenges and settled into a hybrid work flow that supports both the team and the community.

This year's annual report and meeting theme, Better Together, illustrates that commitment. The annual meeting will again feature awards for those doing exceptional work in public health in partnership with HCCA. Celebrating these individuals is another way to highlight how we are better together. Thank you HCCA SNAP-Ed Coordinator, Rachael Reynolds, for designing the concept and artwork for this theme.

In the following pages you will learn more about HCCA's accomplishments this year, including the launch of the inaugural Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute, expansion of youth supports, and creation of more healthy spaces.

The Financial Overview highlights how HCCA is continuing to provide direct support to the communities we serve. Like many businesses and nonprofits, COVID and other impacts continue to challenge the organization financially. Please consider donating to HCCA to support this valuable work.

Thank you to HCCA staff, board, and community members who continue to support public health and primary prevention in our communities.

Remarks from the Board Chair

Time - where does it go? There is not enough of it. It goes by like a flash! As Dr. Seuss once said, "Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."

Collectively and once again, HCCA board members and staff contributed their time and talent to support the organization's mission and core values over the course of another unprecedented year impacted by the ongoing pandemic and under the guidance of the Executive Director, who has boundless passion for public health.

Board membership was both at its highest and lowest in the span of one year, as some board members made the difficult decision to resign due to competing personal and professional commitments. Despite this, great progress was made, and as a result we are recruiting new members. Please reach out if you are interested in joining this dynamic board of directors.

Board subcommittees, supported by staff members, made impressive advancements leading to stronger awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work we do, and for each of us personally. The Advocacy Committee kept a finger on the pulse of public health issues at the Legislature, keeping us informed and engaged in these efforts. The Finance Committee invested a tremendous amount of time updating policies and creating new processes to support the long-term financial sustainability of the organization. The Fundraising and Membership & Development Committees always have their work cut out for them and have been tireless in seeking new funding opportunities and new membership.

As I reflect on the memories of the past year and celebrate the successes, I value the commitment of all who are such strong proponents of supporting public health in the communities where we live, work, play, and worship.

Board of Directors

Thank you to HCCA board members for your continued engagement in HCCA's work. We are grateful for your support, dedication, and efforts in fundraising, equity, advocacy, and development in new processes and protocols.

Jodi Beck, RN, Chair

Benjamin Brown, MD

Patrick Cheek, PhD

Salam Al-Omaishi, MD, MS

Cathleen Dunlap, MEd, MSW, LCSW

Deborah Emery, MEd, CAS, Vice Chair

Patricia Hart, MS, CPH

Patricia Hopkins

Ranae L'Italien

LIsa Miller, MPH

Sarah Miller, MA

Patricia Clark, MS, CAS

Merry St. Pierre

Ashley Tetreault, MBA, Secretary

Courtney Yeager, MPPM, Treasurer

Colin Webb, BA

Sara Grant, LMSW, CES, MHRT/C

Financial Overview

Thank you for your continued support by:

Substance Use Prevention

Patricia Buck-Welton, april hughes, and joanne joy

Substance Use Prevention at HCCA focuses on preventing underage use of alcohol, cannabis, and other substances. HCCA partners with schools, healthcare and mental health partners, Head Start, law enforcement, social services, youth serving and volunteer organizations, and other community-based groups, to change community conditions and share information.

Drug Free Communities

patricia buck-welton and Joanne Joy

Gardiner Area Thrives (GAT) is supported by the US CDC’s Drug Free Communities Coalitions support funds. The coalition is made up of interested and involved individuals that inform and implement prevention efforts. The members represent twelve sectors; youth, parents, business, media, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement agencies, religious and fraternal organizations, civic and volunteer groups, healthcare and behavioral health professionals, state or local governments, and other organizations with a focus on reducing substance use.

Tobacco Prevention

elizabeth deprey and april hughes

HCCA supports a tobacco-free Kennebec County through education, prevention, policy, and training initiatives. Highlights include Sidekicks, interactive youth training on holding respectful peer conversations about tobacco and vaping; and Quitting Tobacco Together (QTT), training for social service and healthcare providers to initiate effective quitting conversations.

Gardiner Mayor Pat Hart (left) with Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Elizabeth Deprey (right) in Gardiner's smoke-free downtown pocket park.

Staff worked with organizations to pass 29 smoke-free and tobacco-free policies, impacting 68,843 Kennebec County residents and visitors by reducing secondhand smoke exposure, establishing healthy norms, and supporting those trying to quit.

Youth Engagement

kevin carter

HCCA partners with the Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN) to help generate youth-led projects in Kennebec and Somerset counties. Youth groups use education, advocacy, and social media to help drive policy change in their communities.

let's go! 5-2-1-0

nan bell

HCCA partners with Let’s Go! to connect with schools, after-school programs, Head Starts, and other early child care sites. Let’s Go! aims to create and support an environment where children can live the 5-2-1-0 messages every day. These include eating fruits and vegetables, doing physical activity in place of recreational screen time, and reducing sugary drink consumption. Let's Go! at HCCA collaborates with 81 sites in southern Kennebec County to promote healthy habits around eating and physical activity.

SNAP-Education

rachael reynolds and courtney whitney

HCCA’s SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educators support SNAP-eligible individuals and families in gaining the knowledge and skills to shop, cook, and eat healthfully on a limited budget. This year, Rachael and Courtney continued to offer virtual live, recorded, and in-person classes throughout southern Kennebec County. They also work in collaboration with community partners on policy, systems, and environmental change (PSE) strategies to address food insecurity and increase access to healthy food environments. HCCA's educators collaborated with community partners on four different PSE strategies, including community gardens, gleaning, and healthcare/community linkages.

Nutrition Educator, Alexis Guy, has moved to a new position, closer to home, with The Opportunity Alliance's SNAP-Ed program. HCCA has welcomed Courtney Whitney as our new Nutrition Educator.

HCCA Nutrition Educator, Courtney Whitney

Maine Farm & Sea to School Network

stephanie cesario

HCCA is home to the Maine Farm and Sea to School Network, a social impact network connecting the leadership of state agencies, school nutrition, cooperative extension, non-profit partners, and other stakeholders to support farm and sea to school programs across the state. These can include school gardens, local food in school cafeterias, youth food systems education, experiential learning, and school food security.

Pictured above: Members of the Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute Planning Committee

Maine Farm to Instutition

Stephanie Cesario and renee page

HCCA is home to Maine Farm to Institution, a network focused on connecting local food to food-serving institutions including schools, colleges and universities, healthcare facilities, and correctional facilities. MEFTI continues to grow the Maine Food Policy Work Group that works to educate and advocate, and convene the Food Processing Work Group, and the Maine Food Convergence event series.

MEFTI Leadership Team members at a strategy meeting

Pictured left: Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute organizers at The Ecology School, the site for the in-person workshop portion of the Institute

HCCA Strengthens Community Health

Over the past year, HCCA's programs continued to adapt to remote work. HCCA showcased their flexibility and versatility across a host of new projects, partnerships, and collaborations.

HCCA established a new relationship with Viles Arboretum and is excited about future fundraising opportunities.

HCCA staff continue monthly equity meetings to advance racial equity in our community health work.

The HCCA blog continues to offer fun seasonal recipes, activities, and healthy living tips for individuals and families.

In collaboration with Gardiner Area High Schools’ Gardiner Creates, Gardiner Area Thrives focused on HOPE with the Yellow Tulip Project and supported students in planting 500 tulip bulbs.

MEFTI in support with HCCA, continues to support an inclusive, statewide food policy platform designed by leaders with lived expertise of food system inequities.

Meet the HCCA Team

Renee Page, MPH, CLC, PS-C

Executive Director

Joanne Joy, MA, TPS, PS-P

Senior Program Manager

Jane Hutchinson

Financial Administrator

Patricia Buck-Welton

Substance Use Prevention Coordinator

April Hughes, MPH, PS-P

District Tobacco Coordinator

Elizabeth Deprey

Tobacco Prevention Coordinator

Kevin Carter

District Youth Coordinator

Nan Bell

Let's Go! Coordinator

Courtney Whitney

SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator

Stephanie Cesario

Food Systems Senior

Program Associate

Rachael Reynolds

SNAP-Ed Coordinator

thank you!

State and Federal Grants

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Maine Prevention Services

• Maine Youth Action Network at Opportunity Alliance
  
• Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at MaineHealth
• Center for Tobacco Independence at MaineHealth

University of New England

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Department of Health and Human Services- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

United States Department of Agriculture - Food and Nutrition Services

Foundations and Other Funders