Cyndy Hillier
We sat down with Women to Women Network member Cyndy Hillier, of Tualatin Together, and here’s what she had to say…
Who does Tualatin Together serve?
Our primary focus is providing connections for mental health and substance misuse resources for youth, and families in Tualatin, and our community as a whole.
How does Tualatin Together help?
We are helping by building resilience skills for youth and parents, we have mentorships for youth, providing resources for parents to have better conversations with their kids, and for children to learn their own self-worth through personal mission statements. We are partnering with the school district around social and emotional learning at the K-12 level and we’re doing things in parallel with the school district with youth and families.
In addition, through our clubs at the high school and middle school, we’ve introduced a Friends Helping Friends: A Handbook for Helpers, by Carol Painter. It’s a curriculum that’s used at Creekside Community High School that the youth really just latched onto. We’re really excited to be able to lean into the kids and help them to be the best people they can be.
We are also focused on mental health and substance abuse disorders. We know that building resilience skills and coping skills, and providing resources in that process has a bottom-line positive impact on educational outcomes, builds families, builds youth, and builds community.
How did Tualatin Together start?
The organization has been around since 1991. Tualatin Together is a stand-alone non-profit that is part of the Communities that Care/Drug-Free Communities grantees, a movement that started in the early 90s. It was a grassroots movement across the nation, called the Together Movement. It was started by parents who wanted to get educated about marijuana because youth were beginning to use and abuse it at a much higher rate.
How did you get into this line of work?
I was brought in initially because of my involvement in the community, my involvement with the PSOs, schools, and families, and my ability to bring the community together. I also had connections that could help move the group forward. My role has expanded considerably over the years.
For me personally, helping youth develop into their best selves is the number one thing I could ever have done to make a difference. And doing that with full knowledge of substances and how they can affect youth, and the resources available should they need them. There is addiction in my own family and I see what it does to families. I see the shame and the stigma around addiction and people need to better understand the mental health aspects of addiction—they are so connected. The more we learn about early childhood experiences and trauma that is unrecognized and unaddressed, the more we understand how our world is broken in different ways, and we need to come together and talk about these things.
My goal for Tualatin Together is to help Tualatin be the best city to raise a family. So, we are building the proper safety nets where we can talk about mental health issues, substance use disorders, prevention strategies, and be part of something bigger.
What brings you the most joy in your work?
Seeing kids accomplish things they didn’t think they could. Our youth groups are youth-led, adult-guided, but when the kids pull together their presentations for the school board, for city council, etc. they are speaking their truth. For me to be able to find resources to give these kids the skills to do the research and enable them to figure out what is their mission statement, speak their truth and make a positive difference in the world… that’s huge.
What defines the organization?
What defines Tualatin Together is the impact we’re having on the community and the opportunities we are creating for our youth and families to be more resilient.
What is the most important thing you want people to know about Tualatin Together?
Every person can impact prevention and help build a safety net for youth and families in our community. Everyone possesses values that can make a difference. It doesn’t mean you have to attend a Tualatin Together meeting, you can come to a training and then share with a neighbor or a co-worker. Follow our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Signup for our newsletter. You can support youth in their various fundraisers or learn more about being part of our movement as a coalition and board member.
Every community member is part of our work, whether you know it or not. And you are a welcomed and valued member. We welcome everyone’s opinion and input, but we want people to understand we are a data-driven, prevention science, and evidence-based organization that always keeps our mission at the forefront of our work.