H2O workshop seeks to shift paradigms

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Members of the Community Action Team here, known locally as Hanscom Helping Organizations, met Jan. 18 at the base conference center to discuss their shared efforts toward prevention.

Col. Roman L. Hund, installation commander, opened the all-day workshop by encouraging the team to work as one.

“There are things that we can do as a team that you can’t do as a single entity in any one of your areas,” said Hund, speaking to members the helping organizations, as well as to squadron commanders and unit directors invited to kick off the workshop. “How we help our Airmen, help the entire community here at Hanscom, takes all of you working together as one.”

Carolyn McCafferty, Hanscom’s community support coordinator, said the focus of the workshop was to shift the paradigm from response to prevention.

“All of our original paradigms for engaging the Hanscom communities were through the lens of someone already struggling, or at risk of struggling, with an issue,” said McCafferty. “Together we need to pivot toward building a comprehensive prevention strategy.”

After the opening remarks, members of the helping agencies, known as H2O, discussed the focus.

The goals are to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and collaboration of the teams; strengthen prevention components and distinguish prevention goals; better integrate prevention programming across issues that share risk and protective factors; and increase the utilization of tools that will strengthen skills in developing prevention deliverables.

Organizations participating in the workshop included the Chapel, Child and Youth Programs, Civilian Health Promotion Services, Equal Opportunity, Mental Health, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and others.

McCafferty, Brandi Ruiz, Airman and Family Support Center Flight chief, and Wendy Reyes, chief of Equal Opportunity, facilitated the meeting.

“The workshop was positive and fruitful. It was a great start on embracing this new approach,” McCafferty said. “We applied the prevention paradigm concepts through application exercises that enabled our helping agencies to come away with ways to add prevention skills to programs and events that they may offer in the near future.”

She added that the team developed an action plan with the goals of expanding internal and external communication, boosting collaboration and creating a synergetic focus on supporting community needs intended to improve the quality of life for all who work, live and play on Hanscom.

For further information about Hanscom Helping Organizations, visit their webpage at http://www.hanscom.af.mil/Units/Support/.  

Watch for future articles in the Hansconian on how the H2O team implements their action plan.