CORTLAND, N.Y. — The annual Cortland Counts Community Forum will take place on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at Grace Christian Fellowship, 1250 Fisher Ave., Cortland, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The forum is one part of an on-going, multi-pronged community assessment process implemented by the Community Assessment Team (CAT), which includes representatives from: Seven Valleys Health Coalition, Cortland County Health Department, SUNY Cortland Institute for Civic Engagement, Cortland Regional Medical Center and United Way for Cortland County. The process also includes the annual Cortland Counts Report Card, which provides statistics for the health and well-being of Cortland County.
In addition to the annual report card, a comprehensive Cortland Counts Report is published every 3-6 years, with detailed information on health and safety status, economic statistics, social cohesion, housing, and environment. The information is collected using local, national, and state data bases, and assessments include input from local focus groups, including senior citizens, health and human service agency leaders, local recipients of human services, and students. Data from current and previous report cards including the latest comprehensive report (2013) can be found online at www.sevenvalleyshealth.org/cortland-counts. The next comprehensive report will be released later in 2019.
This years forum will feature keynote speakers, Jackie Leaf, Executive Director of Seven Valleys Health Coalition and NYS Association for Rural Health (NYSARH), and Karen Dudgeon, LCSW. Leaf and Dudgeon will be presenting on the connection between Social Determinants of Health, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Trauma Informed Care. In addition, there will be presentations for each of four "track areas" that affect the community: health, youth, housing, and economic. Topics and speakers include the following:
HEALTH TRACK: Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, with Mark Thayer, Community
Services Director at the Cortland County Mental Health Department
YOUTH TRACK: School Readiness, with Matt Whitman, Coalition Director of Cortland Area
Communities That Care
HOUSING TRACK: Radon, with Liz Gesin, Public Health Educator and Derek Green, Public
Health Sanitarian of Cortland County Health Department
ECONOMIC TRACK: Local Food, Susan Williams, Project Manager at Seven Valleys Health
Coalition.
Light refreshments will be available during the program. All community members interested in the well-being of Cortland County are invited to attend the forum. Break out sessions for each track area will be held the following week at Cortland Regional Medical Center. To RSVP contact Seven Valleys Health Coalition at 607-756-4198. For more information visit www.sevenvalleyshealth.org.
