2014 Wilmington Resource Directory Summer Update

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It Can Wait!

Hello from the It Can Wait® Team! Last year you took the pledge to never text and drive and signed up to hear about new ways you can support the cause. Working together, we've inspired more than 5 million pledges to never text and drive, more than half a million It Can Wait tweets, and over a million downloads of AT&T DriveMode® and other apps since the campaign began. We are excited to share with you, what's new with the It Can Wait movement! Summer is here, and in case you didn't know, it's the most dangerous time of year to be driving. We're calling on you now to help make our roads safer for everyone. We know how hard it can be to fight the temptation to pick up the phone when you're behind the wheel, so we are introducing new tools to help drivers prevent texting "in the moment of temptation." By posting #X in text messages, social media or email you are telling your friends you're about to drive and can't respond until you safely reach your destination. How You Can Help Use #X to pause the conversation in text messages, social media or email. This will let everyone know you're about to drive and will respond once you safely reach your destination. Spread the word about #X with your friends, family, and social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Come up with your own creative way to share #X before you drive. We’ll be on the look-out for the most creative ideas and by verifying your Instagram or Twitter account at ItCanWait.com; your posts could be featured in It Can Wait campaign communications. Stay in touch! Follow us on Twitter - @ItCanWait. Visit our website for updated features, tools, and creative solutions like our Drive Mode app. We have big plans for 2014 and it starts with you. Look out for additional communications from the It Can Wait team this summer about what you can do to participate in our annual day of action on September 19. Together we'll spread the movement and share the message: #X before you drive. No text is worth a life. Thank you for raising your hand to help us make our roads safer! The It Can Wait Team Follow us on Twitter @ItCanWait Visit us at ItCanWait.com

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YCAT Award for Excellence

The Wilmington Coalition for a Healthy Community, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Wilmington and the Will County Health Department, sent 14 Wilmington teens to the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute (CGTI) leadership camp this summer at Eastern Illinois University. This 5-day youth leadership conference sponsored by the Illinois Alcoholism & Drug Dependence Association is an award-winning program that offers opportunities for teens around the state to learn about leadership, healthy choices, and working with others to create better communities.

This year, our Wilmington YCAT (Youth Community Action Team), organized and led by Coalition Coordinator Christina Dyer and Will County Health Department's Dominique Harris, won the award for the most outstanding CAT in the State of Illinois, in only their first year as a team. CATs are made up of youth who attend the same school or live in the same geographical area. Action teams receive training and guidance to become local agents of change for their own school and/or community. Teams work cooperatively to determine the needs in their schools and/or communities and then create "action plans" specific to those needs. The goal is that youth return to their schools/communities ready to implement a plan of action for positive change.

Wilmington YCATs accomplished the following in their first year as a team:
        Presented policy suggestions to the WHS Principal and Vice-Principal to tighten up the tobacco policy at the high school and create     a new e-cig policy;
        Presented the facts about medical marijuana to the Wilmington community at a youth-led Coalition meeting;
        Created a smoking bench at the baseball fields to keep the second hand smoke away from the dugouts and bleachers;
        Completed a media campaign via radio and billboards aimed at parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of underage drinking;
        Completed a Your Actions Matter underage drinking campaign in partnership with Wilmington's packaged liquor establishments;
        Cleaned up our city's parks in a Cigarette Butt Clean-up Day.

The YCATs have more plans ahead for this year's team. These are youth who believe in doing something about our community's issues and taking proactive steps in making the community a healthier place for everyone.

From left:
Kassidy Hansen, Max Narine, Brendan Czys, Keaten Hansen, Aidan Ekberg, Hunter Imhof, Ava Narine, Martina Flowers, Holly Robbins, Delaney Pigott, Tristen Ekberg, Cortney Eaker, and Becky Fischer
Front row squatting:
Dominique Harris, Liz Palkoska, and Grant Imhof
YCAT members not pictured:
Skylar Flynn, Kylie Gerovac, Sunny Winker, Susan Soda, Alec Roth, & Meghan Bloom