Diverse groups from across Milwaukee County are inviting individuals and families to Grant Park Location 4, 1335 Grant Park Dr., South Milwaukee,  from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, to experience activities and gather resources that will improve their health and wellness. "Discover Wellness" will feature a Walk for Wellness, free food, prizes, activities, and a chance to win a Milwaukee Bucks swag bag, a Kwik Trip gift card, an adult and kid’s bike, and more.

MCSAP will be hosting their annual International Overdose Awareness Day Memorial Event in partnership with local organizations to commemorate those who have passed from drug overdoses, and to provide support to family, friends, and communities who are deeply affected by those losses every day. All are welcome to this event, to be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 31, at Humboldt Park Bandshell, 3000 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee. There will be a memorial to honor those we have lost to overdose, a resource fair, open mic, poster making, and free food.

Want to volunteer or participate in the resource fair? Contact Gloria Marfo at gmarfo@communityadvocates.net.

Newly released drug overdose data from the CDC shows widening disparities between different population groups. In just one year, overdose death rates (number of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people) increased 44% for Black people and 39% for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people. Most people who died by overdose had no evidence of substance use treatment before their deaths. In fact, a lower proportion of people from racial and ethnic minority groups received treatment, compared with White people. Read the full report here.

This publication serves to prepare and guide coalitions in primary medicine safety efforts, health promotion messaging, and program implementation, while also offering a toolkit to access authoritative sources on medicine safety initiatives. Download it here.

The hotel room block at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center is now open. It closes September 19. See the full schedule and information on registration fees at this link.

Data You Can Use (DYCU) seeks applications for the Data Dream Award. Winners will realize their “data dream” through the professional services of DYCU and expertise of our partners. Milwaukee-area nonprofits will be selected through a competitive process and awarded at Data Day on October 19, 2022. Get details at this link.

The City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention is offering the Summer of Healing initiative in which you can learn about community resources, holistic healing practices, cultural practices and self-defense techniques. This program will also have activities and prizes for youth and teens. The next program will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 13, at Sherman Park, 3000 N. Sherman Blvd., Milwaukee. If you are interested in attending and have any additional questions, reach out to the Office of Violence Prevention through Facebook by clicking here.

The meeting will be held on Zoom on August 16 from 3 to 5 p.m. Click here for meeting materials and to request a link. ASL interpreters will be provided. To request other accommodations, please email barbara.beckert@drwi.org by August 8.

Two sessions will be offered – at 12 noon on August 16 and an encore presentation at 12:30 p.m. on August 24.

A growing body of research has begun to change understandings of how toxic environments can affect young people, particularly African American boys and young men. In this webinar presented by UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty, you will hear from Noni Gaylord-Harden, Jocelyn Smith Lee, and Alvin Thomas about risk and protective factors for youth in conditions with exposure to poverty, racism, and violence, and about how research, policy, and practice can incorporate these lessons. It will be held from 1-2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 17. Register here.

Join neighbors and community stakeholders at the Mental Health Emergency Center Open House for tours and information about the services that will be provided by Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services. The open house will be held Wednesday, August 17, from 4 to 6 p.m., at 1525 N. 12th St., Milwaukee. RSVPs are required at this link.

The Wisconsin Peer Recovery Conference will be held August 18-19 and will be an in-person event. This conference is an opportunity to learn about effective support within community services, mental health and substance use recovery. The Peer Recovery Conference registration will be open through Wednesday, August 10, with a registration fee of $100. Advocates, mental health professionals and peer specialists are encouraged to attend. To register, click here.

Community Advocates is offering Youth Mental Health First Aid workshops to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.

In honor of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, Community Advocates has updated its Milwaukee County Mental Health & Wellness Resource Guide to expand resources for and by People of Color. You can download it here.

Beginning in the summer of 2021, a workgroup of Region V Public Health Training Center partners and stakeholders from across the region began to gather and review resources for public health practitioners to conduct racial equity assessments, primarily at the organizational level but also at the individual level. The result is a resource library of racial equity resources, including assessment tools and guides, as well as other informational items of a variety of formats. Get it now.

Advocacy can take many forms, from meeting with a legislator in Washington, DC, to attending a town hall in your local community, to sending an email to a legislative staffer. Everyone who wants to participate in advocacy can do so regardless of experience level or time constraints. Learn to get your issue on the policy radar screen so that you can make a difference in your community. This CADCA guide will teach you how to engage in advocacy for substance use prevention, but the principles covered can be applied to any advocacy effort at any level of government. Download it here.

From Operation Prevention, use the wisdom of Native practices of wellness combined with the insights of modern science to help Native and non-Native students avoid the dangers of substance misuse. These hands-on, standards-aligned resources empower students to embrace positive and holistic health practices and gain an understanding of modern and historical Native approaches to wellness. Learn more at this link.

This data visualization from SAMHSA illustrates the steady decline of alcohol use amongst adolescents, informing parents/guardians and communities that taking action against underage drinking is effective. Download it here.

Johnny’s Ambassadors is on a mission to educate teens, parents, and communities about the dangers of today’s high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide. The organization focuses on youth marijuana awareness, prevention, and education. Primarily, they share data-driven facts and clear messaging with teens and parents to reduce the likelihood they will use marijuana and stop progression to more problematic use. Donations primarily go to create free educational resources on their website for you to use and share. Their goals are to keep youth from using marijuana and increase their perception of harm in using.