Last spring, Torrey Hill Intermediate School and Lake Fenton Middle School students and staff won the fourth annual Greater Flint Health Coalition Commit to Fit! Active Schools Challenge.

A hospital is a very “adult world,” and it can be a scary place, especially for kids, according to Laura Parcels, Director of Child Life Services at Hurley Medical Center. And Hurley has a program designed to help kids cope with being in a hospital setting. The Child Life program can ease their fears and put a dose of “normal” back into a young life disrupted by an illness, injury or disability.

Alcohol addiction is a deadly disease that can destroy lives, families, take away your health – and kill you. According to Facing Addiction with NCAAD (National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence), alcohol addiction is a chronic, progressive disease, genetically predisposed and fatal if untreated. However, people can and do recover. It is estimated that as many as 20 million individuals and family members are living lives in recovery from alcohol use.

Tom started drinking at a very young age. “When my brother smoked, I would smoke a cigarette and when he drank, I wanted to drink,” he says. Tom was drunk for the first time at 16 years old. “I got drunk with a friend on a bottle of wine,” he remembers. “I had trouble with alcohol from the get-go.”

In the fall issue of My City Wellness, we announced the winners of the inaugural Wellness Awards, recognizing excellence in local health care as chosen by reader votes.