Baked goods bring the community together. That’s what Island baker Julia Blanter believes and how the first annual Great Martha’s Vineyard Bake-Off was born.
This year's Youth Task Force survey on behavior risk showed a rise in teen mental health issues. The survey was administered to middle school and high school students in the fall.
While we all know Martha’s Vineyard youth face unique challenges, great work is being done to ensure that these challenges are being faced head-on. Based on recent surveys, we know that all the way through middle school, our youth are making excellent, healthy choices, at rates higher than national averages. This is the result of community collaborations and the careful, concerted effort of our parents and schools to ensure that our youth are informed, invested and empowered. We are aware that there is much work to be done.
The Martha’s Vineyard Youth Task Force will be able to continue promoting a healthy Island, thanks to a recent grant from the federal Drug Free Communities programs.
Totaling $625,000, to be distributed over a five-year period, the grant enables the Youth Task Force to continue its substance abuse prevention work, co-coordinator Theresa Manning said on Monday. The Youth Task Force was established in 2004 by the Dukes County Health Council after statistics showed substance use among Vineyard youths to be higher on average than state levels.
The Dukes County Health Council Youth Task Force will expand its services into career counseling for young adults thanks to a three-year grant totaling $212,800 from the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation. The funds will be used to facilitate Project Next, which will provide support to the young adults population on Martha’s Vineyard through a variety of programs and initiatives. The project will begin with a series of focus groups and assessments as well as open office hours to provide financial and career counseling.
