Congratulations go out to Anneke Mohr, who coordinates City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance at Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and helped to launch Hold On To Your Butt MKE, two initiatives devoted to improving health and the environment by preventing and reducing harm from tobacco use. Anneke received the Wisconsin Public Health Association’s Spirit of Public Health Award in the organization’s virtual ceremony on October 29. The award recognizes "the contributions of an individual who is part of the fabric of public health in his/her community and whose goal is to be 'of use.'"

If you are sick of cigarette litter fouling up your living area, get some help from Hold On To Your Butt MKE. They’re offering do it yourself cigarette butt receptacles and clean up kits for your use. Since the forecast looks good for a while, why not put your time outdoors to good use? Click here for details and to order.

Since 2019, UEDA has been working to convene a diverse set of stakeholders around the implementation of recommendations to address the impact of evictions as described in the Wisconsin Policy Forum report "No Place Like Home." This effort accelerated in early 2020 as the impact of COVID-19 increased financial strain for tenants and landlords, with a focus on developing a tenant-landlord resource center.

Contact jessica@uedawi.org if you need assistance registering or for accessibility related requests by Wednesday, November 11.

Learn how alcohol is marketed and sold in Milwaukee and how it impacts youth. Experts from the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, Counter Tools, and UW-Madison Population Health Institute present findings from 2017-2019 retail assessments in Milwaukee. Watch it on YouTube here and download the presentation slides here.

Wisconsin contributed 89,982 pounds of unwanted medication at 290 collection sites around the state. Well done!

If you missed National Take Back Day, you can find a map of safe and secure medication drop box locations at Take Back My Meds’ website.

While many individuals and organizations, including funders, see the value of family engagement, they often struggle with the logistics of how to engage families. The new report, Moving Beyond the Family Engagement Check Box: An Innovative Partnership to Promote Authentic Family Engagement in Systems Change, by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and Family Voices provides an example of family engagement in systems level work. This webinar shares the partnership that CSSP and Family Voices undertook to create and implement a process for engaging families in the Pediatrics Supporting Parents (PSP) national initiative to promote the social and emotional development (SED) of young children. This webinar will be held at 1 p.m. on November 10. RSVP here.

Aurora Health’s four-week smoking cessation program, Freshstart, is offered at no cost and teaches participants how quit smoking and not be dependent on nicotine, from the comfort of their own home. Sessions will be held on Wednesdays, 3 to 4 p.m., from October 28 through November 18 on Zoom and are sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Register by emailing Laurie.dlouhy@aah.org.

SaintA is offering this free virtual gathering which will focus on Relationship and Reason to Be, with a special focus on equity. It’ll be held from 1 to 2 p.m. on November 12. Register here.

The MHTTC Network is offering the second part of its virtual learning series, Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute. This series is geared towards providing front-line workers (community mental health practitioners, social workers, psychologists, therapists, school mental health personnel, school counselors, educators, etc.) with tools and strategies that can be used when addressing the needs of individuals experiencing grief and loss during COVID-19 and beyond. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on November 12 & 13. Get details and register here. Webinar recordings, slides and resources from Part 1 can be found here.

The Milwaukee County Disability Services Division is hosting this discussion about Milwaukee County’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis, as well as how you can have difficult conversations about racial inequity and injustice in our community. The community café will be held twice on November 18, from 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is required. Email childrenservices@milwaukeecountywi.gov to register. Please indicate session time, interpreter needs and required language. Sessions will be held on Microsoft Teams.

La División de Servicios para Discapacitados del Condado de Milwaukee está organizando esta discusión sobre la declaración de racismo del Condado de Milwaukee como una crisis de salud pública, así como también sobre cómo se pueden tener conversaciones difíciles sobre la inequidad racial y la injusticia en nuestra comunidad. El café comunitario se llevará a cabo dos veces el 18 de noviembre, de 12 del mediodía a 2:30 p.m. y de 6 a 7:30 p.m. Es necesario registrarse. Envíe un correo electrónico a childrenservices@milwaukeecountywi.gov para registrarse. Indique la hora de la sesión, las necesidades del intérprete y el idioma requerido. Las sesiones se llevarán a cabo en Microsoft Teams.

This monthly meeting, held on the first Friday of the month, is designed to introduce, refresh and clarify the Milwaukee County Children's Services programs to our community. Please join us on the first Friday of every month to: learn more about children’s programs in Milwaukee County including The Birth to 3 Program, The Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) Waiver Program, Children’s Community Options Program (CCOP) and more, meet with Milwaukee County Support and Service Coordinators and Managers, and discover and share strategies to empower your child and family. The next session will be held on Friday, December 4, at from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is required. Email childrenservices@milwaukeecountywi.gov to register. Please indicate session time, interpreter needs and required language. Sessions will be held on Microsoft Teams.

Esta reunión mensual, que se lleva a cabo el primer viernes del mes, está diseñada para presentar, actualizar y aclarar los programas de Servicios para Niños del Condado de Milwaukee a nuestra comunidad. Únase a nosotros el primer viernes de cada mes para: obtener más información sobre los programas para niños en el condado de Milwaukee, incluido el Programa Birth to 3, el Programa de Exención de Apoyo a Largo Plazo para Niños (CLTS), el Programa de Opciones Comunitarias para Niños (CCOP) y más, conozca con los coordinadores y administradores de servicios y apoyo del condado de Milwaukee, y descubra y comparta estrategias para fortalecer a su hijo y su familia. La próxima sesión se realizará el viernes 4 de diciembre de 18 a 19:30 horas. Es necesario registrarse. Envíe un correo electrónico a childrenservices@milwaukeecountywi.gov para registrarse. Indique la hora de la sesión, las necesidades del intérprete y el idioma requerido. Las sesiones se llevarán a cabo en Microsoft Teams.

The City of Milwaukee, in partnership with Riverworks Development Corporation, has created the Financial Navigator program. Through this free service, Milwaukee residents can connect remotely with a trained Financial Navigator to receive one-on-one guidance on managing their financial issues. Trained Financial Navigators employed by the Riverworks Financial Clinic will work with residents over the phone to provide information and resources. Residents can call to receive help on a variety of financial topics including budgeting, mortgage assistance, and credit scores.

The Financial Navigators program is designed to help residents deal with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and is a critical part of the City of Milwaukee’s response efforts. Click here or call 414-882-7440 for details and set up a session. Services are available in English and Spanish.

From Mental Health First Aid, here are four tips to manage burnout at work. Most important is practicing self-care so that you can manage symptoms of burnout.

A new issue of Focus from the UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty includes three articles on Covid-19 and poverty, looking at the role of administrative burden in constraining access to pandemic relief, how food insecurity is related to public policies and economic characteristics, and the effects of interpersonal racism on health.

The Great Lakes MHTTC, in collaboration with Mountain Plains MHTTC, Northeast & Caribbean MHTTC, and Southeast MHTTC recently conducted the COVID-19 Mental Health (MH) Telehealth Response and Sustainability Assessment – a survey and research study focused on the use of virtual behavioral health services during the pandemic. The survey examined the use of telehealth services across participating agencies, identified benefits and drawbacks of using telehealth services within these agencies, and determined projected engagement in telehealth services post-pandemic. Download the report at this link.

The City of Milwaukee Health Department launched "Ask MHD" to respond to questions about COVID-19. Email askmhdcovid19@milwaukee.gov to ask your question.

If you are looking for where to get food right now, visit 211 Wisconsin, dial 211, or text your ZIP code to 898211. FoodShare is another great way to get the food you need for your family! If you are interested in applying to receive EBT benefits, please visit Wisconsin's Access website. Find more information from Hunger Task Force.

Community Advocates' COVID-19 Resource Pages:

We update these pages frequently. If you have a resource you'd like us to share, please email lkaiser@communityadvocates.net.

Home To Stay is a new website full of resources for people returning from incarceration developed by the Milwaukee County Community Justice Council’s Milwaukee Reentry Council and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. New entries are being added, so check this site often.