Opinion
Op-Ed: Prevention vs. Rescue in New Canaan
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Over the past three years, our surgeon general Vivek Murthy has outlined the perils of being socially isolated (worse than 15 cigarettes per day) and the pressures that disproportionately impact parents and caregivers raising children (increased loneliness, strains on finances and time, increased concerns about children’s health, safety, tech use and future success). Sometimes as New Canaanites, reports like this that may capture national trends resonate, and sometimes they don’t. We like to think our small town offers some immunity to these challenges, until we are reminded that we are not.
I’m fortunate to serve on the Health and Human Services Commission in town and have the opportunity to consider how we allocate resources that most greatly align with the needs of those in our community. Generally speaking, we allocate funding to initiatives that lie on the spectrum from prevention to rescue. Our hope is that we fund resources in our community in a way that best addresses the needs our residents have.