CCC&Y Spotlight — Coalition celebrates busy but productive 2025

Jan 13, 2026 | CCC&Y Info & Events

By the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth

COCONINO COUNTY —  As we prepare for another wonderful year ahead serving children and youth throughout Northern Arizona, the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth would like to recognize a very busy but productive year for the organization.

 

2025 CCC&Y Conference at Lowell Observatory  

With a setting that gazed toward the stars, the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth successfully presented its 2025 CCC&Y Conference on Sept. 9, 2025 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Guest speakers included Iyo Affo, a Culturalist and Trauma Specialist who presented “Cohere. Connect. Conduct,” and Dr. Sandra Solano, who combined science with human emotions and taking care of oneself during her presentation “From Within to the World: Harnessing Heart Coherence for Healing and Systematic Empowerment.”

 

CCC&Y supported partners to present “Voices Unheard” 

Speakers at the “Voices Unheard: Breaking the Silence” — A community gathering for prevention, strength and healing, made it clear that domestic violence, stalking and human trafficking are all ongoing issues that must be addressed year round by community leaders, law enforcement and others. 

Sponsored by the Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth, Coconino County, the City of Flagstaff and CF Productions, LLC., the event featured a number of speakers who shared their personal stories of facing abuse and how they overcame those challenges. They included Lynnette GreyBull, Húnkpapha Lakhóta and NorthernArapaho, the founder, director of Not Our Native Daughters; Savanna J. Sanders, executive director of AppleJack’s Ranch, focused on “Lived Experience, Domestic Violence and Trafficking;” Tyesha M. Wood, Diné, a seasoned law enforcement professional with 17-plus years of experience, presented the program “Behind the Screen: Staying Safe from Digital Danger;” Detective Bethany Hyde of the Flagstaff Police Department, Cherokee, talked about “Building Trust on the Path to Justice: Crime Reporting, Investigation and Community Collaboration,” with closing remarks, healing and resources by Dorothy Gishie, a traditional practitioner.

CCC&Y Executive Director, Virginia Watahomigie was a planning member of the grassroots committee and Emcee of the event.

 

Reimagine Community efforts in the region

The Coalition was one of four organizations in Arizona to be selected in April 2023 for the Vitalyst Health Foundation’s System Change Grant.

In years 2023 and 2024 we supported Coconino County and the City of Flagstaff with trauma-informed awareness training that became a part of their human resources training. We also hosted the system change symposium for both organizations.
In 2025, in addition to the collaboration and inclusion of the City and County in our annual conference and Voices Unheard mentioned above, we deepened the work with the City of Flagstaff in additional ways.

From dealing with day-to-day tasks and public service requirements, to assessing and meeting community needs such as building permits, parks and recreation programs, library services, to addressing housing, fire and police response, to responding to and working to prevent emergency including wildfires and floods, City of Flagstaff employees often face a wide range of community stressors and traumatic events each day. Each individual has their own stress and trauma that they may be dealing with on top of the complex work they are tasked with.

To support City of Flagstaff employees, CCC&Y Executive Director Virginia Watahomigie presented the workshop “Trauma in the Workplace” on March 26, 2025.

“These trainings have been fantastic, especially this live video training! I think this is a valuable program and glad to see it at the city. I truly appreciate today’s meeting. It was insightful and valuable.I am excited to learn more, share the information, and do the work!” participants said.

The Coalition also worked with Pale Blue as a consultant for most of the year having 6 joint sessions with the City and several planning meetings with CCC&Y. The sessions included a diverse work group from the City, Kevin Campbell and Elizabeth Wendel, Watahomigie said.

“The Flagstaff Learning Series was convened to explore innovative, community-centered approaches to public service and social well-being. Participants examined how to shift from deficit-based frameworks toward capabilities-focused perspectives, integrate trauma-informed practices, and apply practical tools that empower local communities.

Key themes emerging from the sessions include: 

  1. Trauma-Informed Engagement: Recognizing the protective power of human connections and collective approaches.
  2. Values and Social Change: Reflecting on non-negotiable societal values and dignity-centered practices.
This year we are working with the Reimagine Community work group to spread the work they did with Pale Blue to the wider city. 
 
Further, as a committee we plan to finalize the embedding of trauma and resiliency informed awareness and practice through the city. 
 
We wish to give a special thank you to Deputy City Manager, Shannon Anderson, who has enabled this work to go farther at the city then we could have imagined. Her dedication to the members of her organization is outstanding to witness. It is clear that her care for each individual and team in the organization is what is pushing this work forward.
 
We also extend deep gratitude to the members of the Reimagine Community workgroup who engaged in multiple sessions for both learning and discussion with Pale Blue this year.

 

Weekly e-newsletter

A total of 2,209 individuals and organizations are subscribed to the Coalition’s weekly e-newsletter, which features action items, member updates, events and handy links to a variety of Coalition resources.

The newsletter is highlighted with a weekly CCC&Y Spotlight which have included a variety of useful resources for parents including a 2025 Summer Food security listing; a 2025 Summer Reading Programs listing; a Fall 2025 back-to-school listing, a 2025 summer camps listing and food security resource links during the 2025 government shutdown and the holiday season.

 

Free Learning Webinars having reach, impact

The Coalition provides a variety of educational resources so that community members are informed, energized, and ready to come together to solve problems, impact policy, and create solutions that allow every person to realize their full potential.

Since we launched our Learning Webinars webpage, we have more than 8,000 views on our public webinars on our website with an additional 1,268 views for special conferences, programs, promotions and Reimagine Community City and County work that we perform. This is in addition to all live attendees at events.

 

The Coalition’s monthly Coconino Prevention Council meeting

On the first Thursday of each month, the Coalition presents the Coconino Prevention Council Zoom meeting at 10 a.m. In 2025, the Coalition presented 10 meetings, which featured 12 different organization spotlight presentations. Meetings average about 40 attendees/organizations per month with over 150 individuals/organizations involved. We hosted 15 guest presentation ranging from behavioral health topics, grant support for financial need  to afterschool and collective resources.

(Send an email to CCC&Y Executive Director Virginia Watahomigie at coalition@coconinokids.org​​​​​​​ to be placed on the agenda or to receive a Zoom link to our next meeting).

In addition to our monthly Prevention Council Meeting, the  Coalition has also compiled and updates a listing of Community resource meetings.

 

CCC&Y outreach efforts

The Coalition continued its efforts to reach out to the community by staffing a variety of in-person outreach events in 2025 including:

Some of the comments we have received in 2025 from the event organizers include:

“Thanks to the many organizations that made our first Literacy Fair on February 22nd at Killip Elementary School such an amazing success,” wrote Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Archuleta, executive director of the United Way of Northern Arizona. “The fair brought together families, educators, and numerous community groups to foster a love for reading among young children.” Read more and see photos here.

“… I wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to you all for taking the time to be part of the 3rd Annual One Stop Shop Summer Family Engagement Fair,” wrote Josie Hammond, Coconino County Superintendent of Schools Education Services Agency. “All the families that attended were grateful to have all of you in one place, to see all of the options that are available in our community.”

“Kathy, Alicia, and I thank you for attending the event this past Saturday and celebrating ‘The Week of the Young Child’. What a great day it turned out to be. I hope it was beneficial for your organization,” wrote Theresa. Kulpinski, co-organizer. “I heard from many families and kids about how fun it was and how many great resources there were to learn about. Thanks for making the day memorable for our community.”

“Just a quick note to say thank you for participating at Saturday’s (April 28) STEM Celebration,” wrote Eli Cohen, STEM City Coordinator. “Despite the windy conditions we ended up with over 1,300 attendees plus about 150 exhibitors. The energy seemed great and all the attendees were very excited to participate in the activities and learn all about the STEM opportunities here in Flag.”

” This is just a quick thank you for coming to the Open House last week.  We really appreciate all the groups that come to help connect our families to resources in the community,” wrote Alicia Yaeger-Booth, Family Engagement Coordinator, Killip Elementary School. “We appreciate it so much.”

“I just wanted to give a huge, if delayed, thank you to all those who were able to make this year’s Lights On!” wrote Kyle Christian, FACTS coordinator. “Another fun and successful event. At one point I counted around 160 non-exhibit/non-staff participants this year and received some great feedback from our families and participants. Thank you all for your participation, I look forward to having you all back next fall …”

 

Coalition continues production of annual Page and Tuba City Regional Resource Guides

“The community resource guides provided by Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth (CCC&Y) are a fantastic tool that have really connected individuals with various services, organizations, and supports that would otherwise not be known by the community,” said Jacque Gencarelle, former program coordination specialist with First Things First. “The guides are easy to use, easy to share with individuals and clients, and in some instances, can be translated for individuals. With the guides being updated bi-annually, I know they are the best resource on healthcare, housing, education, food, and other social services in the region. We appreciate all the work that goes into updating these guides and I would consider these guides the most comprehensive community resource available in the region.”

 

Yes, 2025 was a busy year for the Coalition. We know our readers care deeply about the outcomes for children in our community. The easiest and most impactful way you can support this work is by becoming a member of the coalition.  For those who have already added their name to our mission we thank you so much for an amazing 2025. For those who would like to add their name we welcome your membership!

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