June 21, 2010

The Cape and Islands Suicide Prevention Coalition is pleased to announce publication of a Position Statement outlining its public education and awareness strategy.  Although significant numbers of people attempt suicide, suicide is not a common event.  Yet when they occur, suicide threats, attempts and deaths ripple across all layers of a community.  With suicide rates 1 ½ times higher than the state average, Cape Cod and the Islands have identified suicide prevention as a public health priority.  90% of people who die by suicide have underlying mental health and substance abuse issues at the time of the act of suicide, yet effective treatment can significantly reduce the risk of suicide. A comprehensive community suicide prevention program requires the education of and participation by all members of the community. This includes recognizing risk and protective factors, restricting access to potentially lethal means, providing adequate screening and treatment for mental health and substance use and promoting social networks.  A full copy of the report Cape and Islands Suicide Prevention Position Statement can also be found at www.suicideispreventable.net.

When you register, you will create a profile that allows you to:  

¨        Post volunteer opportunities, including what kind of volunteers you’re looking for

¨        Solicit in-kind donations on your agency’s wish list

¨        List board openings and interview potential candidates

We anticipate it will take 15-30 minutes to create a thorough profile for your organization. Once you have created a profile, you can post as many volunteer opportunities as you want. Whether you need volunteers for day-to-day tasks, to help with events, or to share their expertise, volunteers are an invaluable resource. When you post your volunteer opportunities on the Cape Cod Volunteers website, you can specify what kind of volunteer would best fit your organization’s needs, including how many volunteers you need, how often you need them, and what kind of skills would be helpful. To start recruiting volunteers, register today at www.capecodvolunteers.org. 

We expect to introduce the website to the public in mid- to late June, but we can’t send the public to an empty website! The website’s success depends on organizations like yours. The more organizations that post information, the more effective the network will be, and the more our community will benefit. The sooner you join the website, the sooner we can invite the public to learn about your organization. Please note: The look of the website will evolve as we continue to add features. This will not affect your entries.

Our Partners:
 
Cape Cod Volunteers is an initiative of the Cape Cod Foundation in partnership with CapeCodOnline.com and our Advisory Committee:

Brian O’Connell (Chair), Cape Cod Foundation Board of Directors;  Mary LeClair, former County Commissioner, Barnstable County;  Rosemary Dillon, Cape Cod Community College;  Rich Brothers, Cape and Islands United Way;  Winslow Adams, Community Member-At-Large;  Jeanne Adams, Community Member-At-Large;  Jim Long, Mashpee Council on Aging;  Liz Smith, Orleans Council on Aging;  Karen Marciante, Yarmouth Council on Aging;  Patricia Hart, Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands;  Sue Daggett, Habitat for Humanity;  Brenda Swain, Falmouth Service Center; and Paula George, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.
 
More about Cape Cod Volunteers:
 
Cape Cod Volunteers links people with meaningful opportunities for community engagement by informing residents and visitors about the many volunteer opportunities, programs, and agencies on the Cape, and by helping people identify their own interests, skills, and passions for community betterment.
 
The vision of Cape Cod Volunteers is to create a network of organizations and opportunities that informs, inspires, and engages people of all ages and backgrounds to strengthen our community through volunteering.
 
Cape Cod Volunteers is funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies Community Experience Partnership, Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Bank of America, and an anonymous donor matched by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
 
History of Cape Cod Volunteers 
 
In late 2006, the Cape Cod Foundation received a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to assess civic engagement of older adults on Cape Cod. Early on, we saw a population of residents and visitors who are rich in experience, energy, and compassion who want to be involved and have the time to give back.
 
We also realized that there are almost as many barriers to volunteering as there are motivations. Where do you start? How do you try out volunteering? How do people new to the community find an opportunity that matches their skills and interests or allows them to learn something new?
 
Cape Cod Volunteers was created to help break down some of the barriers to volunteering by centralizing the Cape’s volunteer opportunities and providing assistance to match volunteers with organizations. And because we want a system that works for everyone, we developed a plan that promotes volunteering for Cape Cod residents and visitors of all ages.
 
Cape Cod Volunteers is user-friendly and will provide two ways to get involved. First, a Cape-wide website centralizes information about nonprofits and their volunteer opportunities. Here, anyone who wants to volunteer can search for opportunities based on their interests, location, and time they can commit. As a second component, we are working to open our first drop-in center this year, where trained volunteer staff will help people explore how they want to use their experience and talents to contribute to the community.
 
We hope that you will find these resources useful and look forward to working with you to make our community even stronger.
 

 For questions, comments, or help posting your information, please contact Katie Mueller, our AmeriCorps*VISTA and Volunteer Initiative Coordinator, at volunteers@capecodfoundation.org  or (508) 790-3040.

The report highlights several findings significant to the health of the Cape Cod senior/elder population. Top household problems reported were anxiety and stress; depression; problems paying for prescription or getting dental insurance and medical care.  Top barriers to getting care included services not accepting new patients; difficulty paying insurance deductibles/co-payments; inability to afford fees for services; services were located too far away; and the cost for time away from work.  Health status, income and poverty; housing and transportation also play a significant role in the health of older Americans.  The good news is that many older residents are active in civic engagement, volunteering, and community life.

Barnstable County Department of Human Services has conducted community-based research for the past 15 years and promotes the health and social well-being of County residents through regional efforts designed to improve coordination and efficiency of human services. To obtain a copy of the Full Report and the Senior/Elder Research Summary Of Findings, please contact the Department at 508-375-6628 or go to www.bchumanservices.net.

In addition to presentations on Regional Network innovations to end homelessness, the event will feature talks on ending individual and family homelessness. Joe Finn, President and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance will discuss the Future of Massachusetts Budget Line Item 7004-0102.  Keynote speaker Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and a nationally recognized expert on homelessness and housing policy, will speak on Ending Family Homelessness in Massachusetts.  

The Cape and Islands Regional Network  to End Homelessness is a collaborative effort of state, county and local government, social service providers, housing agencies, faith based organizations, the business community and dedicated individuals working together to prevent homelessness.

To submit newsletter materials, please include the following information:

• Descriptive Title
• Brief Description of the Content (the who, what, why, when, where)
• Attachments must be submitted in PDF and text format (either DOC or RTF files are acceptable)
• Weblink or Hyperlink if available
• Contact information of the person submitting the information and if appropriate, the contact person for the event (include name, address, phone, TTY, email)

The County Health Rankings are a key component of the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) project. MATCH is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

This web site provides access to the 50 state  reports, ranking each county within the 50 states according to its health outcomes and the multiple health factors that determine a county’s health. Each county receives a summary rank for its health outcomes and health factors and also for the four different types of health factors: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment. Each county can also drill down to see specific county-level data (as well as state benchmarks) for the measures upon which the rankings are based.

The Rankings are a real “call to action” for state and local health departments to develop broad-based solutions with others in their community so all residents can be healthy. The Rankings team is working with health departments to help them take advantage of the discussions and opportunities that will arise from the release of the Rankings. But efforts will also be made to mobilize community leaders outside the public health sector to take action and invest in programs and policy changes that address barriers to good health and help residents lead healthier lives. That includes education officials; elected and appointed officials, including mayors, governors, health commissioners, city/county councils, legislators, and staff; businesses and employers; the health care sector, and others.

This County Health Rankings Web site will serve as a corner stone of the project, a place where people from all these sectors can find Rankings data, as well as action steps and the latest news about the multiple factors that determine our health.  For more details go to www.countyhealthrankings.org

• Elder Abuse Hotline 1-800-922-2275 (V/TDD)
• Child-At-Risk Hotline Report Abuse or Neglect
  800-792-5200
• Baby Safe Haven Hotline 866-814-SAFE (7233)
• Transitional Assistance Fraud Hotline 800-FRAUD-99 (800-372-8399)
• Request Emergency Interpreter 800-249-9949 (V/TTY)
• Disabled Persons Protection Commission Hotline 800-426-9009
• Safelink: Domestic Violence Hotline 877-785-2020
  877-521-2601 (TTY)

The purpose of this event is to increase public awareness of the structure and services of Barnstable County Government and how the County and Falmouth interact.  For more information, contact: Doris Epstein at 508-548-7071 or Alice Carey at acarey034@comcast.net