MONTCALM HUMAN SERVICES COALITION

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Background
Resources
November 2010 Local Event
On November 2, 2010 Ionia and Montcalm Counties' Community Collaboratives came together to plan an event called "Building Capacity to Support Military Families." At the event, 42 people from the two counties learned about issues faciling military service members and their families and worked to develop strategies to better support them. See the event report. The Ionia Montcalm Military Supports Committee grew out of this event.  
 
Military Child Education Coalition Public Engagement Event  

On November 9-10, 2010 Lisa Lund and Leigha Christensen were selected to represent Montcalm and Ionia Counties at a statewide Public Engagement event called "Living in the New Normal." It was convened by a statewide steering committee and facilitated by the Military Child Education Coalition. The purpose of the Public Engagement event was to share information on the experience of military families and develop strategies to address the needs and strengthen resilience of children in military families. Click here to view the event's opening Powerpoint presentation (14 slides) and click here to learn about/get in touch with the sector groups that continue to work. MCEC is a great educational and support resource.  

 

On-Going Efforts

Lisa and Leigha continue to promote this important initiative at local, state, and national levels.
  • They co-presented at the Statewide Technical Assistance meeting February 24, 2011 with their Community Collaborative colleagues.
  • On March 8, 2011, Lisa and Leigha attended a training presented by Dr. Angela Huebner in Lansing called "The Impact of Military Deployment on Children and Families: Research Updates and Implications for Support" (click here for the Research References handout and here for the Online Support Resources handout). Dr. Huebner also reviewed a military family needs assessment report completed in 2010.
  • On April 26-27, 2011 Lisa attended the Supporting Families of the National Guard and Reserve Institute in Lansing
  • The Montcalm Human Services Coalition has added a military representative position to the group. 
  • On May 3-5, 2011 they attended the Army OneSource Partnership Forum in San Antonio Texas
   
Click here for the January 21, 2011 Ionia Sentinel Standard Article link about our efforts. There is a data error in the article- the Ionia youth number should be 176, not 108.  
 
See the resources tab for new military-related resources being added as identified.