Giving Rye: Meet the RyeACT Coalition

Giving Rye is a new occasional feature highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Nancy Pasquale of the RyeACT Coalition.

Your Name: Nancy Pasquale

Organization: RyeACT Coalition

Your role: Coalition Coordinator, Co-Advisor, RyeACT Youth Action Team

MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission. 

Pasquale: RyeACT (Rye Action for Children and Teens) is a coalition of local organizations and individuals committed to promoting long term health and wellness by inspiring youth, parents, and community leaders to foster healthy behaviors and reduce youth substance use.

How long have you operated in Rye? 

Pasquale: RyeACT was founded almost 10 years ago, in January 2014 by me and Julie Killian. At the time, I was a Trustee on the Rye City School District Board of Education and Julie was a Councilwoman on the Rye City Council; each of us was chairperson for the Health & Safety Committees of our respective governing bodies and conversations about youth substance use and teen health/mental health were big topics of concern in the community. We were officially awarded our first 5-year federal grant to support our work in youth substance use prevention in September 2016. We were awarded a second 5-year grant in September 2021.   

What programming or work in Rye is the organization best known for? 

Pasquale: 

1. Youth-led peer to peer substance use prevention education
2. Parent/Guardian/Community educational programs and resources
3. County leadership in KNOW 2 Prevent and Countywide Mental Health First Aid, and National leadership with our partners at the Institute for Behavior and Health/One Choice Prevention

Looking forward to 2024, what will be your top initiatives? 

Pasquale: 

1. We will be holding another “Youth Speak Out” community event in the spring of 2024; last held in 2019, this event provides an opportunity for youth to “speak” directly to adults in the community (including parents/guardians and community leaders) about their experiences and to advocate for the support they need to live happy, healthy, productive lives. This is consistent with our ongoing emphasis on youth engagement through our Youth Action Teams and our partnership in supporting Rye Youth Council’s Peer 2 Peer program.
2. We are planning to expand programs to support parents/guardians and other caring adults, including an emphasis on real upstream primary prevention programs specifically for parents and caregivers of elementary school kids. These are part of our #ShowUp4Prevention and “Prevention: Let’s Talk” initiatives.
3. We are involved in two county-wide grants that are year-long initiatives: one is focused on youth vaping prevention, and one is related to addressing co-occurring disorders (the connection between youth mental health and substance use). We look forward to rolling out activities and strategies for both grant projects throughout 2024.

Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services.

Pasquale: RyeACT’s work focuses on multiple strategies to reduce youth substance use and improve mental/behavioral wellbeing. This includes youth engagement in peer-to-peer prevention strategies, parent/adult educational programs, policy advocacy, and more. The best way to get involved is to make prevention a priority in your home and for your kids. Every single person who takes active steps to support the youth in their lives to make the healthy choice to be drug- and alcohol-free is supporting RyeACT, even if they never set foot at an event. But we do hope they will—you can keep up with activities and initiatives by signing up for our newsletter or checking out our website and FB page.

Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status?

Pasquale: No. RyeACT’s work is supported through federal funding as part of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant program. Our fiscal agent for the DFC grant is the Rye YMCA.

Looking back across 2023, what were your organization’s top achievements?

Pasquale: 

1. Youth engagement. We have a vibrant, active Youth Action Team (youth prevention group) at Rye High School that currently boasts a roster of over 100 student leaders, with 50-60 active student leaders. We also launched a Youth Action Team at Rye Middle School with approximately 20 student leaders from grades 6-8. Both teams recently marked Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31) with daily prevention activities focused on this year’s theme: “Be Kind to Your Mind. Live Drug Free!”. Our Youth Action Team has been recognized by the Office of National Drug Control Policy for excellence in youth engagement. In addition, through our national partnership with the Institute for Behavior and Health and One Choice Prevention, the work of our youth leaders has been shared with coalitions and other youth groups in 34 states across the U.S.
2. Cross-sector collaboration. RyeACT works with many sector and community partners to do shared planning and programming to strengthen our work to protect youth mental, emotional, and behavioral health.
3. Reductions in youth substance use over time. Our 2023 student survey data, which we’ll be sharing with the community in the spring of 2024, reflect reductions in youth substance use across all substances, compared to when we started the coalition in 2014. There is still much work to do, as new drug trends emerge and the environment changes, but the progress we’ve made is undeniable.

How can local residents support your organization? 

Pasquale: The most important thing community members can do to support our work is to become engaged and involved and to make youth substance use prevention a priority in their homes and in our community. Attend a community educational event or meeting, check out resources and information on our website. And, of course, people can donate. We’re currently in the final 3 years of our 10 years of federal funding through the DFC grant program. So we’re  currently very focused on finding ways to sustain the work in the long term.

What local Rye residents and area businesses have been the longest, steadiest supporters of your organization? 

Pasquale: The nature of coalition work is to bring together various sectors of the community with a shared vision and mission. This has included many organizations and individuals over the years: our amazing youth leaders at Rye High School and Rye Middle School, the Rye YMCA, Rye Youth Council, the Rye City School District, pRYEde Community Group, Chamber of Commerce, parent volunteers from our PTOs/POs/RAISE, the Rye Police Department, the Rye Free Reading Room, Rye Recreation, Rye Arts Center, St. Vincent’s Hospital Westchester, Greenwich Hospital, the Port Chester-Rye NAACP, the City of Rye, and media partners like MyRye.com and The Rye Record. 

Tell us about you:

How long have you been in your current role? 

Pasquale: I co-founded the Coalition in 2014 and officially became the Coalition Coordinator and Youth Action Team Co-Advisor in 2016.

Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer? 

Pasquale: I started as a volunteer in January 2014. When we secured DFC grant funding in September 2016, my role technically became a paid part-time job, but I work full-time.

How would your friends and family describe you in one word? 

Pasquale: Curious

Pick one:

Pasquale: 

MyRye.com Select from:	Your Pick:
Coke or Pepsi?	Coke
Regular or diet?	Coke Zero
Action movie or rom com?	It depends on the day
Cook, order in or eat out?	I’m a foodie, I like it all – but I prefer to cook
Dog, cat or no pet?	Australian Tree Frog
Balsamic vinaigrette or ranch?	It depends what’s in the salad
Ruffles Original, Lay’s Barbeque or Funyuns?	Ruffles Original
Still, sparkling or tap?	Sparkling

 

What is the kindest thing someone has ever done for you? 

Pasquale: I have been very fortunate in this work to have incredible partners across the community who were willing to trust me and get behind this “big idea” that we could make an impact for the youth in our community. In the beginning, the task seemed insurmountable. Youth use rates were high. Our community tragically lost many young people to overdose. But our community partners came together and continue to do so. First among these, I love the courage and commitment of the young people in grades 6-12 whom I get to work with as part of the RyeACT Youth Action Teams.  They care about the health and wellbeing of their peers, and they are brave enough to stand up and make a difference. They are changing the culture in our schools and our community.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why, and who would you take with you? 

Pasquale: I would love to travel to all of the U.S. National Parks with my husband and my two sons. 

What is your favorite streaming / TV series?

Pasquale: Current favorites are mostly police procedurals on PBS – I love Unforgotten, Annika, Astrid, Professor T

All-time favorites: Northern Exposure, The West Wing, Newsroom, The Sopranos, Last Tango in Halifax, In Treatment

What is your favorite movie?

Pasquale: I love films, so it’s hard to choose just one. Out of Africa, Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, A Room With A View, Shakespeare In Love, Field of Dreams, Drive My Car, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Where do you live in Rye and how many years have you lived in the City? 

Pasquale: I’ve lived in Rye for 31 years, since 1992. For the first 28 years I lived in the Milton Point neighborhood in the home where my husband grew up, and where his family had lived since 1957. In 2020, we did a “downsize” move and now live in town.

Thanks, Nancy! 

Organization’s website.

Specific donation link (No online donations. Donations can be made by check to: RyeACT, c/o Rye YMCA, 21 Locust Avenue, Rye, New York 10580, Attn: Denise Woodin.)

Facebook.