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Everyone who is 16 years or older now qualifies to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. You can find your local vaccination site as well as schedule an appointment on the Washington State Department of Health Vaccine Locator. On Tuesday, Governor Inslee issued a pause on counties in their current phase, a follow-up assessment of vaccinations and cases will be conducted in two weeks. For Snohomish County, that means we will continue to remain in Phase 3, for more information you can visit the following link. As of April 27th, Snohomish County has administered over 550,000 vaccine doses throughout the county. If you’d like more information regarding the vaccine you can visit the Snohomish Health District Vaccine Information page. I am excited to return back to our new normal as we continue to vaccinate our community, in the meantime please continue to stay healthy and safe.
Recently, myself and CM Nate Nehring (District 1) have been virtually touring classrooms around the county to discuss civil discourse in our community. We’ve been using this time to talk to youth around our county about how to have meaningful and respectful conversations with people who might have different political, religious, or other differing viewpoints. In addition to classroom visits, we’ve also been involved in a Town Hall event, with more planned for the near future. The Town Hall events are more of a public space where everyone can come participate in a respectful conversation around civil discourse and how to have healthy and meaningful conversations with others. These conversations are hosted and moderated by youth from advocacy programs from various school districts around the county. I’ve included a link to our most recent Town Hall event with students from Marysville School District.
I believe that now is a more important time than ever to engage our youth in meaningful and impactful conversations around political and civic engagement. I’ve found through these last few events that our youth are hungry for more positive change in our communities and through our political engagement in general. If you’re interested in hosting a similar event or if you have any feedback, please feel free to reach out to my office using the contact information listed at the bottom of the newsletter.
 Screen Capture of Town Hall Event with CM Jared Mead, CM Nate Nehring, and Marysville Getchell Students (students faces are blocked for privacy)
As mentioned in previous updates, we are currently working with students from around the county to establish a Steering Committee for the Snohomish County Youth Advisory Board. Students participating on the Steering Committee will help to establish roles, mission, and other administrative details relating to the Youth Advisory Board. Once the Steering Committee has ironed out the details of how the Advisory Board administratively operates, we will start to establish and recruit for board positions in August/September. If you or someone you know is interested in participating in the Youth Advisory Board, please reach out to my office with the subject title: "Interested in Youth Advisory Board”.
In a partnership between Snohomish County, the Volunteers of America Western Washington, and various other partner organizations, applications are now being accepted for Snohomish County’s new Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program. Residents of Snohomish County can submit an application over the phone by dialing 2-1-1.
The ERA is directing assistance to those in greatest need who have been impacted due to loss of income or other factors affecting housing stability in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To be eligible, households must have an income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income, have experienced a financial hardship directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted their ability to pay rent and are at risk of experiencing homelessness or face current housing instability. Please share this resource with individuals and families who may require rental assistance.
As we enter into May, we enter in a month where we focus and bring awareness to two hugely important issues, mental health awareness and celebrating and recognizing Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. This month, I encourage you to learn and explore ways and activities to help support your mental health as well as support loved ones with their mental health. I’ve included a link to the National Alliance for Mental Illness of Washington page where you can find more resources and general information about mental illness, as well as a link to Mental Health America’s list of tips to boost your mental health. Additionally, I also encourage some of the following activities to try in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month;
A reminder that many of our neighbors continue to face challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s make a better effort to care for and celebrate each other whenever possible. Thank you for your support and remember that we are in this together!
Contact Councilmember Jared Mead
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Snohomish County Council
3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609
Everett, Washington 98201
8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building
Phone: 425-388-3494
E-Mail: Jared.Mead@SnoCo.org
Legislative Aide: Angela Ewert
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