Community Connections

Exposure to reading at a young age is crucial for long-term success in school and beyond.

With the growing number of young children in Menomonee Falls, the Early Literacy Team seeks to provide families with resources to support literacy and language development. With the support of a Community Outreach Grant from Froedtert Menomonee Falls, the team has assembled 150 "Brain Bags" that contain a guide to support babies' brain development, a children's book, and educational and informational resources of local partner organizations. The Menomonee Falls Public Library will distribute Brain Bags to families. Surveys are in place to help gain feedback from families receiving the bags.

To get your very own Brain Bag, stop by the children’s desk at Menomonee Falls Public Library. Please call the children’s department at 262-532-8915 with any questions.

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MISSION: Improve the mental health of the Menomonee Falls community

VISION: Mental health is the foundation for the well-being of the collective community.

Core Values:

• Inclusive
• Supportive
• Connected
• Compassionate

The mental health initiative brings together local service providers and community organizations to reduce mental health stigma and improve early interventions for people living with mental health conditions. The mental health team includes a coalition of educators, healthcare providers, and residents who are addressing barriers and areas of influence for supporting mental health in the Village.

The School District of Menomonee Falls received a Mental Health Grant and has opened clinics staffed by outside providers in the high school, middle school and two 3rd-5th grade elementary schools. In addition, all schools are increasing mental health training initiatives.

The full mental health team continues to communicate and look at existing systems to help improve ways to address mental health needs that are becoming more prevalent. To increase awareness and reduce stigma for mental health conditions across the community, the team promoted Mental Health Month in May by sharing green ribbons, informational fliers, and posters from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

In the past year, mental health services shifted to virtual offerings. NAMI is offering Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training virtually. Visit the NAMI QPR Training page for more information. The FCAST organization continues their work to combat human trafficking.

The data shows our senior (80+) population growing. The intent of this work group is foster an all inclusive community where those with dementia will be enabled to live as independently as possible and continue to be engaged in community life.

The Dementia Friendly team's goal is to foster an all-inclusive community where those with dementia can live independently as possible and continue to be engaged in community life.

The Purple Tube project ensures that residents living independently with dementia receive the best care possible from first responders. This project will place purple tubes containing useful information in home freezers throughout the Village. Inside the purple tube is a medical history, instructions for participant interaction, power of attorney information, and other information that allows first responders to provide the best possible care. For more information, visit Dementia Friendly Community.

What is a Dementia-Friendly Community?

• Recognizes dementia
• Promotes early detection
• Creates dementia-friendly environments
• Holds the capacity for a crisis response system
• Trains businesses to be dementia -friendly
• Provides services and support to have individuals with dementia have the highest quality of life

There are several ways the initiative has made Menomonee Falls more dementia friendly in 2019:

1. Obtained Village Board support (a resolution was adopted in February supporting the Dementia Friendly Communities designation)

2. Developed and distributed dementia awareness brochures

3. Partnered with the Waukesha County Aging and Disability Resource Center to offer dementia training sessions for first responders, healthcare workers, local businesses, and other stakeholders.

What’s next – the Purple Tube Project. The Purple Tube Project will ensure that people living on their own with dementia receive the best care possible from first responders. Purple tubes will contain useful information including medical history, instructions on how to interact with the dementia patient, powers of attorney, and a photo if that person is known to wander. The tubes will be placed in freezers and signs will be posted so emergency crews can easily identify homes with dementia patients. The roll out of the Purple Tube Project launched in 2020.

Go to the Village website to learn more about Dementia-Friendly Menomonee Falls.

Join the Facebook Group: Dementia-Friendly Menomonee Falls

Fit in the Parks is a health and wellness initiative that Village of Menomonee Falls community partners brought to you as part of the Live Well Waukesha County initiative. FREE activities will be held in various parks throughout the Village this summer. See page ## for more information.

On-Site therapists are currently providing telehealth and distance/virtual options.

Click on the Disability & Special Education Resources page for information for teachers, students, and parents to help connect with the community, post-secondary opportunities, and funding supports. This is not an all-inclusive resource page for all areas of need, but a starting point for exploration and planning

Please visit the Menomonee Falls Food Pantry website for additional information.

Check out the Menomonee Falls Public Library website.

Eras Senior Network is collaborating with the Menomonee Falls Police Department on the Purple Tube Project to help keep residents living on their own with dementia safe in their homes. Important information regarding the care recipient is documented on a 3-part form and placed in a purple tube in the refrigerator for first responders to access in the event of an emergency. This project is in its first year and is currently offered to residents of Menomonee Falls.

How it Works:

• The caregiver and care recipient contact Eras Senior Network at (262) 549-3348 to request a 3-part purple tube form and purple tube
• The caregiver will place one portion of the completed form in the purple tube and will then store the purple tube in the care recipient’s refrigerator
• The caregiver will give the other two pieces of the form to Eras
• Eras will share the form with Menomonee Falls Police Department to store in the care recipient’s file.