Thank you for catching up with us here!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!
Dear Veterans, Thank you for your service.

Dear Partnership Friend,
     
     First and foremost this November we want to take a moment to thank all of our Veterans who have fought for our freedom. Two Tioga County Veterans who are near and dear to our hearts are Mr. Tim Cleveland, Director of Tioga County Veterans Affairs, and Commissioner Roger Bunn. 

Mr. Tim Cleveland is Chairperson for the very active Elder Services Workgroup who recently offered a Senior Education Seminar complete with guest speaker, Representative Matt Baker. Tim's sincerity, hard work, and good humor makes him an excellent leader who inspires others to serve.

Commissioner Roger Bunn always lends a listening ear and jumps in to help  create sensible steps forward  in  developing community projects that are sure to better quality of life for others. His most recent work includes helping to revamp and invigorate the Tioga County Youth Leadership Program. 

Thank you to both for their service and tireless support!!

To all of our volunteers whose works have helped countless others, and to our supporters who help further our mission, "to foster strong community relationships...", we are thankful for you! We wish you and yours a very healthy, happy Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and holiday season! 


What a busy month! See what's been happening...
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Strengthening Families: 10-14 Years program- Currently, Program Coordinator, McKenna Light is wrapping up the second delivery of this 7 week program and is exploring ways to offer this program in the Tioga County Prison in hopes of reaching at-risk families.

WalkWorks Tioga County - Chelsie Martin is working on developing two new routes in the county. Stay tuned! Learn more about WalkWorks Tioga County here.

Too Good for Drugs - Coleen Evert, Partnership Prevention Specialist is expanding this evidence-based prevention program into Warren L. Miller Elementary in Mansfield.

Safe Kids Workgroup- has hosted one Safe Teen Driver event at Wellsboro Highschool to date, with two more events coming up in November at Williamson Highschool and Liberty Highschool. These events feature distracted and impaired driving simulators, and "fatal vision" goggles furnished by Geisinger Trauma and PennDOT. Information about consequences of unsafe driving is being offered by the Tioga County District Attorney's office and the Wellsboro Police Dept. First Citizens Community Bank is also taking part by offering educational information to teens during these events. 

The Partnership Opioid Coalition - This newer Partnership group has offered two Naloxone Trainings in the community and recently sponsored a DEA presentation with Lycoming County's Project Bald Eagle. Read more below.

Be Your Best You Workgroup has adopted the Tioga County Youth Leadership Program. The group is working to develop ways to update and revamp this beneficial community program.

Elder Services Workgroup just hosted guest speaker, Rep. Matt Baker at their Fall Senior Education Seminar at Morris Firehall. Many agencies represented on the workgroup attended with loads of information about health, safety, and available services for senior citizens. Thank you to Guardian Home Healthcare for their presentation on Home Safety, to the Wellsboro Police Dept. for their presentation about how to properly dispose of unused prescription medications, and to B/S/S/T Area Agency on Aging for an overview of their many services!
Partnership Executive Director Sue Sticklin, DEA Intelligence Group Supervisor Steve Denhup, Project Bald Eagle Executive Director Steve Shope,  and Bradford County Commissioner Ed Bustin.
DEApresentationPartnership Opioid Coalition sponsors DEA Presentation at MU with Project Bald Eagle
On October 25th in  Mansfield University's Straughn Hall t he Drug Enforcement Administration Philadelphia Field Division's Intelligence Group Supervisor Steve Denhup presented "Regional Trends in Drug Availability and Abuse". He described emerging trends in opioid abuse across several counties in our region. It was an information packed presentation with many statistics displayed on a large screen. After describing the all-too-familiar heroin epidemic taking place in Pennsylvania, he talked about stronger more deadly drugs making thier way onto the scene; fentanyl and carfentanyl. A  map of the United States illustrated how northeastern states have the highest concentration of fentanyl use reported in 2016.   One slide described what a lethal amount of fentanyl looked like as compared to a lethal dose of carfentanyl; a mere collection of grains in the bottom of a small vile. Slide after slide described the sober truth about the challenge we are facing as a community.

The audience learned about the myriad of designer drugs available and the threats they pose. Designer drugs are slightly varied in their chemical composition and mimic the effects of controlled substances. Containing the drug problem becomes especially tricky when the slight variance in the chemical composition of these substances keeps them from easily being classified as scheduled narcotics. 

Mr. Denhup spoke about enforcement challenges and initiatives taking place to curb substance abuse including prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) and Operation Trojan Horse, a DEA initiative that encourages the use of in-depth investigative techniques, data collection, and intelligence analysis to track down the sources of substances that caused fatal overdoses.

Mr. Denhup's depth of knowledge was apparent as he spoke and fielded many questions from the audience. 

 A big thank you to presenter, Steve Denhup of the DEA and to  Project Bald Eagle 's Steve Shope for organizing this event with assistance from Mansfield University's Casey Wood and Tioga County Partnership's Executive Director, Sue Sticklin.  The Partnership's Tioga County Opioid Coaltion was honored to sponsor this community education opportunity!

Learn more about the DEA here.

Learn more about Project Bald Eagle here.
 
Visit Us at www.tiogapartnership.org
Partnership Welcomes a New Board Member at the 24th Annual Meeting
JulieJulie Schlosser, is a board certified music therapist and has owned and operated Arts for All in Mansfield since 2005.  Julie's company provides music therapy services, early childhood music classes, and guitar, piano, voice, and ukulele lessons to the greater Tioga County area. Originally from Latrobe, PA, Julie fell in love with this area while a music student at Mansfield University and decided to stay and build her business here and give back to the communities that make Tioga County such a wonderful home. Julie also volunteers as a den leader for Mansfield Cub Scout Pack 2106, helped to organize and lead the Endless Mountains Arts Cooperative, and also is the music director at Saint James Episcopal Church. She enjoys spending time hiking, camping, and enjoying the outdoors with her husband William, son Benjamin, and their dog Della.
 
Julie would like to extend her gratitude to the board of TCPCH and is excited to work with the team to contribute to the important task of creating healthy and vibrant local communities.
Welcome aboard, Julie!!
Tioga County Partnership Celerates 24 years of Service
at Annual Meeting
Mr. Bob DeCamp was named recipient of the prestigious Ronald J. Butler 2017 Outstanding Community Health Service Award, presented by Mr. Ron Butler.
Mrs. Anja Stam was named 2017 Volunteer of Distinction. Award presented by Program Coordinator, McKenna Light.

Mrs. Marcie Reese was awarded the 2017 Board Member of Distinction honor, presented by Sue Sticklin. Sue was sure to include a personalized Big Gulp beverage giftcard for Marcie, since they seem to be her favorite!

The Tioga County Partnership for Community Health held its Annual Business Meeting and Celebration on October 18th at the Deane Center Grand Community Room in Wellsboro, PA. Board President, Jim Weaver made opening remarks and facilitated the business portion of the meeting. Program Coordinator, McKenna Light presented a program overview of the Strengthening Families:10-14 years program. The meeting continued with a presentation of the "Year in Review" video presented by Stacy Kelley, Media and Outreach Consultant. Annual statistics an
workgroup accomplishments   were also displayed. President, Jim Weaver led a brainstorming session and asked attending members what they value most about the Partnership. This will be used to inform the new strategic plan. Board elections were held and Mrs.Julie Schlosser was elected to fill the vacant seat on the Partnership's Board of Directors for a three year term.  Learn more about Julie here.  
Retired Executive Committee Member Ron Butler, Executive Director Sue Sticklin and Program  Coordinator McKenna Light recognized outstanding volunteers with appreciation gifts. Their names will be added to plaques that hang inside the Tioga County Partnership office building at 33 Pearl St, Wellsboro.  
AwardsCongratulations to:

2017 Board Member of Distinction: Mrs. Marcie Reese 

2017 Volunteer of Distinction: Mrs. Anja Stam

2017 Volunteer of Distinction: Mr. Andy Tom

2017 Outstanding Community Health Service Award: Mr. Bob DeCamp

 

Following volunteer recognitions, Dr. Peter Keller noted that a good amount of useful feedback was collected from members in the recently distributed Partnership online survey. The feedback is being taken into consideration and the new strategic plan will be rolled out by the beginning of the new year. Closing remarks were given by Jim Weaver. Thank you to all who particpated and attended!
Mr. Andy Tom was named 2017 Volunteer of Distinction. Award presented by Director, Sue Sticklin.
Homemade Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner
Support Your Local Food Pantries
The savory sweet aroma of harvest feasts will fill many households for the coming months. Remember to share a little of this slice of heaven with those less fortunate. Contact your local food pantries. Ask what they need and how you can help. A little can go a long way to warm others' hearts and homes!

Mansfield Food Pantry, Route 6, Mansfield 570-662-2864
Matthew 25 Food Pantry (Blossburg UMC) Blossburg
570-638-3046
Strait From The Heart Food Pantry, Lawrenceville
570-827-2627
Wellsboro Area Food Pantry, Queen Street, Wellsboro
570-998-4018
The Compassion Center (Westfield Area Food Pantry) 814-367-5723
Millerton UMC Food Pantry 570-537-2444
Tioga Community Food Pantry ( located at St. Andrews Episcopal Church) 607-206-4509

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Thank you for your community spirit!