Get Involved

Friends Committee

Tri-Town’s Board of Directors has established a new committee called the Friends of Tri-Town. The mission of the Friends is to gather supporters of positive youth development and increase engagement in volunteer opportunities with Tri-Town Youth Services.

The Friends Committee provides community members with a way to engage and support Tri-Town which we call “Pop-Up Volunteering!” Friends will receive email notifications of upcoming volunteer opportunities and can sign up to help out with raising awareness at events that fit into their schedules.

The Friends Committee provides a low-commitment way to give back to your community. Contact info@ttysb.org for more information or to join our village of supportive adults!

Youth Action Council

We cannot prevent teen substance use, bullying, or youth suicide without input from the young people in our community! Youth Action Council is a community-based leadership program for students in grades 6 through 9. These ambassadors of Tri-Town Youth Services have the opportunity to become empowered and engaged in an evidence-based process for planning and implementing prosocial and wellness initiatives with an adult coordinator. We invite students to join our coalition. Share your stories of teen life: what you love about our community and what you wish were better. Receive leadership training, learn about the 40 Developmental Assets, and work side-by-side with community leaders to solve some of our area’s biggest challenges. Find your voice, share your ideas, and help make our schools and our neighborhoods even better.

Parent Advisory Group

Engage parents, representing children of all ages, in a constructive dialogue about prevention. Members of this work group will receive training in healthy brain development, with additional information about trauma and addiction. Parents will also deeply dive into the 40 Developmental Assets: what they are, how to build them, and which are most commonly lacking among youth in our community. The Parent Advisory Group will create opportunities to hear parent concerns through surveys and town hall meetings. Based on needs, the Advisory Group will plan a series of events to address topics of concern and share information about positive communication, establishing boundaries, and staying connected to our values as parents.

Community Wellness Group

Can we address the concept of “wellness” as a community? That is the challenge for the Community Wellness Group! This team will look at the community through a holistic lens, with concern for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our neighbors. The Community Wellness Group will develop new programs that promote and support stress management, self-care and overall good health. Underlying their work is the notion that if we can build healthy habits, we can teach our children to do the same.

Policy Task Force

The Policy Task Force thinks creatively about how state and local laws, ordinances, or school policies can be used to reduce the risk of substance use among residents of Chester, Deep River, and Essex. Developing laws or ordinances to limit the availability of drugs or alcohol is one part of this work. Another critical component is building a more comprehensive safety net for higher-risk youth (those using alcohol or drugs regularly, those involved in the juvenile justice system, or those consistently absent from school). The Policy Task Force can help build a system of family support into the consequences of drug or alcohol infractions. This system of support may include parent education, early intervention or addiction services, or mental health services, as needed. The Policy Task Force may also help establish a network of community service and mentoring opportunities for young people in need of extra care and attention. Wherever possible, we seek to wrap services around those neighbors at higher risk for drug or alcohol abuse.

Steering & Sustainability Work Group

We need dedicated community members with vision! Help us plan for the years ahead. This working group will survey and talk with neighbors about their concerns and identify ways the Coalition can help. They will receive training in prevention strategies determine the best approaches for addressing our community’s unique needs, and employ creative thinking to leverage our Drug-free Communities Grant to keep the work alive after that funding expires.

School Partnership Team

The Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition’s great work with Region 4 continues! As Region 4 and its partners select a new life skills and substance abuse prevention curriculum from the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices, this team will support the trained facilitators who will implement the program in the new school year. The School Partnership Team will help build a calendar of classroom lessons, special assemblies, and family events centered on positive school climate, self-confidence and resistance skills, and drug and alcohol awareness. Building upon the tremendous success of the Valley Peer Advocates Program, we will also be developing more opportunities for trained Peer Captains to support their fellow students, especially incoming Freshmen and John Winthrop student leaders.