The Charlestown Coalition News: 
Issue 40
December 2019
Curbing Marijuana Use Among Teens : Charlestown Coalition Model featured in The Boston Globe
As school systems across the city and state grapple with how to deal with teen marijuana use, Charlestown Coalition director Sarah Coughlin says that recognizing why kids use marijuana in the first place may be key to curbing problematic use. "Scare tactics don't work-we've figured out a way to do something that works," says Sarah. Read more about what we're doing here in Charlestown and how it can serve as a model for others.  


Raising Questions about BHA Redevelopment:
Turn It Around Youth Profiled in the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge

Youth Leader, Fatima Fontes, has raised some great questions concerning the BHA redevelopment process, so much so that the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge chose to feature her in a front page headline. We are hopeful that Fatima's and others' advocacy will spur a more transparent conversation with those most directly affected by the redevelopment. 

Click here to read Boston Housing Authority's response to Fatima's interview. 

Connecting in the Community and Spreading Holiday Cheer
Our Turn It Around youth group participated in several community events during the month of December. Neighborhood merchants and community organizations came out for Charlestown Holiday Night Out to promote local business and spread holiday cheer along a trail from one end of town to the other. Turn It Around set up shop in front of Starbucks selling holiday cards and artwork and had a great time meeting local residents who were interested in the group's mission. Turn It Around members also volunteered to take photos of kids with Santa, an event sponsored by the Mark & Michelle Gorman Scholarship Fund. 

(Artwork and cards still available for purchase, please reach out to the Charlestown Coalition for more information.)
A Year in Review: 2019
In case you missed our year in review videos, visit our YouTube Channel  or click on the images below and see what we've accomplished in 2019!

Charlestown Coalition in 2019

Turn It Around in 2019

Turn It Around :
Youth of the Month

   
 Feisal Ali is December's
Turn It Around
Youth of The Month.
Feisal is Turn It Around's final Youth of The Month for 2019! Feisal has faithfully attended every single Turn It Around meeting, has been one of the few volunteers to stay and clean up after meetings, and worked every event we did last month. It's been a pleasure to see how much Feisal has grown in the past year. He's gone from being a shy 8th grader, brand new to Turn It Around, to being an integral, and irreplaceable member of our group. We are so proud to announce Feisal as Turn It Around's December Youth of The Month.

-Mswati Hanks (Youth Prevention 
Coordinator)


Voices of Recovery
Samuel Arroyo-Breeden 
Samuel Arroyo-Breeden  is sharing his journey in recovery with us this month.


Click below for the full interview.



Get Connected, Stay Informed
To learn more about our programs, our staff, community partners, resources, upcoming events,  Turn It Around , program impact, and more, click the button below:





Charlestown Coalition  | MGH Center for Community Health Improvement  
617-726-0059 |  scoughlin1@partners.org

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