Staff and advisory board members of the SouthCoast Healthy Housing and Workplace Initiative (SCHHWI) Leadership team gathered for a final meeting at the headquarters of YMCA Southcoast on September 17, 2014 to summarize and applaud their work to-date. Project Manager Alice Rebelo introduced staff members Gail Rodrigues and Jaime Berberena who put together a 20-minute video composed of interviews with various project participants summarizing the gains that have been made in reducing tobacco use and improving health in the South Coast of the staff who gave field updates and reports on the evaluation plan. SCHHWI was created in 2012 when members of Voices for a Healthy SouthCoast were granted a $1 million Community Transformation grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop smoke-free housing and worksites in the South Coast, Click here for a three-minute video of the meeting. For more about the program, contact Alice Rebelo at 508-996-9622.

(Top row) YMCA Southcoast Vice President of Operations Nancy Bonell welcomes team members to Y headquarters in New Bedford for their final gathering. (Middle row) Project Alice Rebelo praises the work of the group and introduces a 20-minute video created by Gail Roderigues and Jaime Berberena to highlight some of the accomplishments of the project that used a number of interviews, including one with Community Health Worker Channa Guinard. (Bottom row) New Bedford Housing Authority Wellness Educator Jamie Berberena, Fall River Housing Authority Wellness Educator Jack Shipley, Health Advisor Nicky D'Abrosca, Media Consultant Gail Hartnett Roderigues, and YMCA CEO Gary Schuyler share their thoughts about the outcomes of the project.