Peach Pulse Archive 2014
Celebrating 5 years!
It’s been five years since Georgians for a Healthy Future launched in 2009 with a commitment to provide a strong voice for Georgia health care consumers and communities as health policy is made in our state, and it’s been an action-packed five years!
Please join our board, staff, and our longtime champions on the evening of August 7th as we reflect on our successes and challenges over the past five years and look ahead to the next five.
We’ll hear remarks from our special guests Dr. Gary Nelson, President of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, and Andy Miller, CEO and Editor of Georgia Health News.
Thompson Hine
3560 Lenox Road NE
Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30326-4266
Anouncing New Initative to Fight Stubstance Abuse Among Georgia’s Youth
Young people in Georgia are gaining access to health insurance at historic levels, creating new opportunities to increase access to essential prevention and treatment services. At the same time, misuse of and addiction to alcohol and drugs blunt the potential of too many young Georgians. To fight this drug epidemic, Georgians for a Healthy Future and the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse are launching an initiative to expand services to prevent addiction in youth.
Together, the two organizations will run a three-year project in Georgia to improve access to effective screening and intervention services that can minimize the destructive consequences of alcohol and drug misuse and addiction among our youth. This new effort, focused on youth ages 15 to 22, will combine a cost-effective public health approach called Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) with the power of consumer-led advocacy. Georgia is one of five states selected to participate in the national project managed by Community Catalyst, a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization, and funded by a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The project aims to improve access and coverage for early screening and intervention services by increasing both the number and type of locations where youth can access those services, and increasing the number and type of professionals who can conduct screening and brief intervention. For the full project launch announcement, click here.
Georgians for a Healthy Future is excited to welcome Laura Colbert, our new Community Outreach Manager! Laura joins GHF from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Strong4Life initiative. She spent her first two years as the Camp Director for Camp Strong4Life, a camp program for overweight and obese children and their families and the last two years developing and overseeing Strong4Life’s community partnerships and outreach efforts. Laura has an MPH from Emory University, where she focused on health literacy and the social determinants of health. Before moving to Atlanta, Laura attended UGA, where she earned her B.S.Ed in Kinesiology. At Georgians for a Healthy Future, Laura will manage community outreach to build, maintain, and strengthen relationships with community partners statewide. We’re thrilled to have Laura on board–please feel free to welcome her to GHF and to contact her at lcolbert@healthyfuturega.org!