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Local Voices

Perrin Family Foundation Partners with Human Services Council on Youth-Led Social Change At Briggs High School

The Human Services Council is pleased to announce that the Perrin Family Foundation has awarded a grant of $25,000 to its Dr. Robert E. Appleby School Based Health Centers. This partnership will fund the PhotoVoice Project Briggs High School, as well as provide general operating support to the School Based Health Centers—the only facilities in Norwalk providing free, school-based medical and mental health care.

PhotoVoice is a powerful social research strategy that can mobilize youth to spearhead community change. It teaches youth life-long leadership skills, how to work as a team, and how to influence change in a positive way. Through the PhotoVoice project at Norwalk’s Briggs High School, students have identified issues of community concern, captured it through photography, and then worked to bring about social change. As the program enters its third year, Rhonda Capuano, Director of the School Based Health Centers, looks forward to strengthening the PhotoVoice project.

Capuano shared: “The support from the Perrin Family Foundation will allow us to hire a part-time Youth Organizer who will become proficient in PhotoVoice, and then use PhotoVoice with Briggs High School students to focus on one issue with an action plan for a small, winnable change victory for the students. Actually creating social change is where our program requires refinement, and we are excited for the support of an experienced Youth Organizer to propel our students to become true change-agents in the Norwalk community.”

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Judy Meikle, who currently works with nonprofit organization S.A.V.E. (Serving All Vessels Equally) to organize youth councils at Norwalk’s high schools, has been tapped to serve as the part-time Youth Organizer for the School Based Health Center’s PhotoVoice project.

“Judy’s prior expertise will be invaluable to the PhotoVoice program,” noted Capuano. “I am excited to take PhotoVoice to the next level at Briggs High School and see our students use this strategy to foster positive community outcomes.”

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About the Perrin Family Foundation

The mission of the Perrin Family Foundation is to partner with organizations based in under-resourced communities across Connecticut in order to create environments that support youth as leaders of social change. The Perrin Family Foundation understands youth-led social change as a long-term process that builds the confidence, knowledge, skills and collective leadership of young people while addressing the root causes of injustice and equity in their lives and community. For more information, visit: www.perrinfamilyfoundation.org

About The Human Services Council and The Dr. Robert E. Appleby School Based Health Centers

For seven decades, the Human Services Council has identified unmet community needs and ‘filled in the gaps’ by creating and fostering programs that educate, safeguard, and empower the people of our communities. With a primary focus on helping children and families in the Greater Norwalk area, its five programs address child abuse and advocacy, school-based medical and mental health services, mentoring, alcohol & drug prevention, and homelessness. For more information, visit www.hscct.org.

The Dr. Robert E. Appleby School Based Health Centers (SBHCs), a program of the Human Services Council, eliminate barriers to treatment by providing medical and mental health care to Norwalk Public School students at school and at no out-of-pocket cost to their families. The SBHCs provide medical and mental healthcare in the three Norwalk high schools (Norwalk High School, Brien McMahon High School and Briggs High School), as well as mental healthcare at Nathan Hale, Ponus Ridge, and West Rocks Middle Schools. With a return-to-class rate of 92%, the School Based Health Centers keep Norwalk Public School students healthy, in class, and ready to learn.

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