​​The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is expanding its services to young people and families affected by the COVID-19 crisis with a $50,000 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation.
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The Children’s Coalition will use the funds in support of three programs:
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• Mental Health: Increased suicide screenings and mental health access for junior high students in rural parishes through the SOS: Signs of Suicide prevention program, which includes education for caregivers and teachers about the signs of depression in young people and ways to seek help.
• Rural Technology Access: Providing computers for incoming college freshmen who serve as student ambassadors for the Union Parish Alliance for Community Transformation (U-ACT) program, which makes opportunities for young people to make positive choices that prevent and reduce substance abuse in Union Parish.
• Supporting Students and Families: As needs arise among student families, the Children’s Coalition has been providing support, from providing shelter and supplies such as diapers, wipes and cleaning supplies to helping families access the internet to continue remote learning for students.
  
  

Speaking about the Coalition’s mental health work funded by this grant, Executive Director Leann Bond said, “This crisis will affect families and children everywhere — whether it’s directly from COVID-19 exposure or the economic downturn. Young people are especially susceptible to the mental health impacts, because this is happening at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives when caregivers might see some warning signs as simply adolescent angst. These essential resources will help families learn the signs, make a plan, and access screenings. We have to pay attention now more than ever.”

Michael Tipton, president of the Blue Cross Foundation, added: “We are grateful for organizations like the Children’s Coalition who are working to support kids and families across the state during this crisis. Mental health is going to be a key factor in our resilience and recovery, and this kind of support is incredibly important to offer to those in need.”
Caregivers and families can find more information about the Children’s Coalition, including the SOS and U-ACT programs at www.childrenscoalition.org or by calling 318-323-8775.

About the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana
The Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1998 with the mission to create “communities where children and families thrive." The Coalition currently serves children and families in 14 parishes with services addressing the developmental, social, and emotional needs of children ages 0-18 through early care and education, health care, parenting education, and youth development.
 
About the Blue Cross Foundation
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation works each day to improve the health and lives of Louisianians by empowering everyday people to do extraordinary good. By building and funding coalitions of friends, families and neighbors, the Foundation hopes to build a healthier Louisiana, particularly for its children. The Foundation is funded solely by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, but is a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity. Together, Blue Cross and the Blue Cross Foundation invest $3.5 million each year into Louisiana’s communities and nonprofits.

All of our senior U-ACT Ambassadors are grateful and appreciative of the generous donation of laptops from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. 

​Tomorrow, the Louisiana Department of Health and Louisiana Public Health Institute are bringing people together from all points in Northeast Louisiana to have a voice about disparities and the response to a public health crisis in Louisiana. 

You can register to attend and support the people of Northeast Louisiana on 05/07/20 at 4:00pm. You can register online by https://bit.ly/2VUEvVm.
 
Panelists Include:
Adam Holland, Mayor of Oak Grove
Blake Kramer, Franklin Medical Center CEO (Winnsboro)
Dejaneiro Davis, Ouachita Parish Teacher, Activist, Motivational Speaker
Jamie Mayes, Monroe Community Advocate, Education Disparities Specialist
Katie Parnell, CommuniHealth CEO (Morehouse and surrounding areas)
Kris Mayers, East Carroll Libraries
Mary Barrios, Children's Coalition Healthy Living Coordinator, Union Parish Community Health Educator and Advocate, Latino Community Advocate
Ronnie Walker, Mayor of Ruston

We are so proud of all the students who participated this year and would like to wish you the best in all things you do positive.

​Special shout out to the winner of the Positive Choice Award presented by Ms. Mary Barrios to Jaedyn Warren.

We absolutely love supporting students making positive choices!

U-ACT is a program of the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and funded by the Drug Free Communities Grant.

Last night, several employees connected with locals at the Union Parish Chamber Dinner and U-ACT Ambassadors helped make the event successful by greeting every guest as they walked through the door, leading the invocation before dinner, serving dinner and drinks, removing finished plates, and wishing safe travels as people exited. The U-ACT Ambassadors made everyone feel welcomed and appreciated. The Chamber Dinner also recognized and awarded outstanding citizens and businesses within Union Parish. Not only were door prizes given to several lucky winners, but the silent auction items were from Union Parish businesses. 

To learn more about U-ACT and their success in Union Parish, click the button below. 

​UNION PARISH, La. (KNOE) - Officials in Union and Lincoln Parishes and Louisiana Tech are looking to bring a new youth program to northeast Louisiana. Police Athletics Community Engagement (PACE) started as a free athletic league to teach kids in inner-city neighborhoods in Omaha, Neb. core values and build relationships with them.

(Source: KNOE)Louisiana Tech kinesiology dept. chair David Szymanski and other organizers are meeting with local law enforcement officers, pastors and other community leaders to introduce them to PACE.

"Everybody wants to help their children or the youth in the communities, and this program, I believe, is a way in which we can accomplish that," Szymanski says.

PACE founder Antonio Espejo with the Omaha Police Department says it's helped build relationships with his department and the community. "A lot of officers coach the teams. We also have a lot of community partners that help coach with these teams, and it's just instilling values a lot of these kids don't have," Espejo says.
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Mary Barrios says that program will be beneficial to kids here in northeast Louisiana. "It's important to not only tell kids not to do drugs, but to do other things in its place,” says Barrios, healthy living coordinator for the Children’s Coalition. “Positive, prosocial activities they can do that will keep them out of trouble and keep them from thinking about drugs."

​Officer Antonio Espejo, the founder and Executive Director of the PACE Program from Omaha, NE,  met with law enforcement, school officials, local government and community leaders to provide information about starting a similar program in Union, Lincoln and Claiborne parishes.  PACE stands for Police Athletics for Community Engagement and focuses on giving children at-risk the opportunity to play organized sports. 

​PACE's baseball program has had a minimum of 90 participants each year since 2009. The baseball program is coached and mentored by police officers. These officers volunteer their time, on and off-duty, to coach individual teams. Officers spend the entire eight week baseball program with their team instilling the ideas of sportsmanship, responsibility, and teamwork. Often times, these officers are the same police officers that patrol the participants’ neighborhoods. This allows kids to see police officers from a different perspective, and affords officers the opportunity to build a strong relationship with the families they serve. In 2019 PACE had over 700 participants in our Baseball Programming, and over 5,800 in total program participation.

U-ACT, a program of the Children's Coalition, is working with countless community partners including Dr. David Szymanski, Dept. Chair of Kinesiology at LA Tech and the District Attorney on this project.

Today our Healthy Living Coordinator, Mary Barrios, spoke with the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mary works with our U-ACT program which tries to reduce the incidences of underage drinking, misuse of prescription drugs, marijuana, and tobacco along with other data-driven priorities in Union Parish.

Our local DEA agent, Darryl Cowan, partners with us to host events such as Red Ribbon Week and Prescription Take Back Day. The next Prescription Take Back Day is April 25, 2020 at various locations in Northeast Louisiana. For more information, click the button below.