The Interlake FASD Coalition hosted an in-person and zoom event on September 9, 2020 in Selkirk Manitoba at the Selkirk United church.  Coalition chair Sherisse Picklyk Dear welcomed the participants in person and on line and briefly spoke about the topic of FASD and how the presentation would connect with our particular group of kids.  Sherisse welcomed guest speaker Julie Walsh who did an excellent presentation for the community on the dangers of social media and how it impacts upon the adolescents developing brain.  Julie did a similar presentation a year ago at the SSCY center in Winnipeg hosted by the FASD Family Network.  Julie is an MSW with many years of experience providing therapy to nuerotypical and non nuerotypical children and adolescents.  Julie weaves in stories from her personal & professional life and adds humor to help illustrate the topics.  On the day of the event, our coalition members donned masks and welcomed 17 folks via zoom and 18 folks in person.  We handed out squishy brains, a bottled water and a pre-packaged snack to the in-person participants.  Each participant was encouraged to wear a mask and was sat at a table by themselves due to the Covid 19 provincial recommendations.  The presentation was well received and folks stayed after to ask questions and connect – socially distanced 6 feet apart of course!   Sherisse connected with Katie from the Selkirk Record, who also attended the event.  Katie was quite impressed with the presentation and was planning on writing an article for the paper.

Many thanks to all of the coalition members who assisted with that day including Shannon Foster who set up zoom with the assistance of Kim from the Manitoba FASD Coalition; Sasha Carter who did all of the pre-registrations for both the in person and zoom portion and provided in person registration at the event; finally to Chris from the Selkirk Untied Church who provided the venue large enough for us all to socially distance, for her tech support and patience as we figured out this new Covid situation together. 

Sherisse Picklyk Dear  BA, BSW, RSW

Interlake FASD Coalition Chair