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Health department and CRC push ACK CARES calendar, QPR trainings and community legal clinic
Summary
Staff outlined plans to centralize human-services events on the ACK CARES community calendar, expand QPR suicide-prevention trainings, coordinate social-media outreach with the town communications team and publicize a free legal clinic and immigration resources hosted March 29 at Nantucket High School.
Committee staff said the town is expanding a centralized listing of human-services events and resources on the ACK CARES calendar and is working to improve outreach so residents and seasonal visitors can find services.
“All of those trainings are gonna be on the ACK CARES calendar,” staff said, describing a new community calendar where providers can post events directly. Staff said the calendar is hosted through a contractor (Trilogy) and that the town lacks the internal bandwidth to maintain the full resource list without that vendor.
On trainings, staff said the town has scaled up QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) instructor capacity and is planning sessions targeted to high-stress workplaces, restaurants and public events. QPR is described as a short behavioral-health training to identify signs of distress and connect people to supports; staff said sessions will be scheduled before and after the start of the summer season and promoted through the ACK CARES calendar and planned communications work.
Committee members discussed social-media outreach and coordination with the town communications office, which is building a centralized comms function. The Nantucket Foundation has previously shared information for grant recipients on its social channels; staff said the goal is to formalize cross-posting and coordinate advertising for priority events.
On immigrant and legal resources, Sarah Wright (committee member) said SourceHub of New Bedford will hold a free legal clinic at Nantucket High School on Saturday, March 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The clinic will offer free attorney advice in family law, workers’ compensation and immigration, and assistance with MassHealth and Health Connector renewals. Sarah said she encouraged SourceHub to post the event on ACK CARES and that South Coast Legal Services also provides monthly immigration support through the Saltmarsh Center and can be contacted for appointments.
Transportation and medical-travel coordination also came up: members said a Transportation Task Force has met several times and plans to invite ferry and air providers and Steamship Authority partners to reduce duplication and improve access to medical-travel resources. Members said multiple, overlapping travel funds exist (philanthropic and town-linked), but residents often don’t know which fund to contact.
Staff said they will continue outreach to cross-list events with Culture & Tourism and to expand the calendar’s audience so summer visitors can find human-services offerings.
