It Has Been an Honor

I would like to thank everyone for the opportunities I’ve had in working with and supporting this coalition. I thought I would outline the highlights of my duties in attempt to show coalition and community members that they can get involved doing the same such “jobs” that I have. I hope this give everyone a better understanding of our goals and activities. Community involvement is so important to bringing about change over a whole population. A few persons doing these activities can not make a large impact, but many persons can make an enormous impact. If I can do it, anyone can!

I started this journey as prevention educator. I went to schools, implemented programs and coordinated activities with Ohio County Schools. It was a great chance to get involved with area youth, learn what’s “going on out there” and work first hand to educate youth on substance abuse and most importantly hopefully affect their decision making process when faced with alcohol or drug use.

Then my title and job description evolved into Community Educator. I began supporting the coalition members in working with key community leaders, mobilizing 12 community sectors, community meetings, social marketing and media advocacy. We began working with Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) one on one discussions. This helped us to assess the community and find out the direction of our activities. We found that most community members feel youth gain access to alcohol through friends, family, and parents. This prompted us to focus on parents in our activities. We are implementing CMCA again and I hope that our members really get out there and talk to people!! We can’t help if we don’t know what the problem is and what the community sees as a solution.

I’ve enjoyed supporting our Social Marketing Taskforce. We apply marketing principles used to sell products to the public to changing social norms of the public, such as raising the low perception of harm around alcohol and drugs held by youth and parents in Ohio County. If a parent doesn’t perceive alcohol use as harmful, it is doubtful that the child will perceive it as harmful. Our Underage Prevention Subgroup had a Parent Town Hall meeting and a spin off parent meeting. We have also had various media messages geared towards parents. Our parents may begin canvassing local restaurants and placing alcohol reduction messages for parents on table tents. It’s a great environmental strategy to address social norms.

Our youth are also bombarded with ads they portray alcohol as cool, sexy, and fun (also found in CMCA). We use media to try and reach the public just as large beer companies would (with a lot less money, of course). This gave area youth good reason to carry out a “Sticker Shock” event just prior to Super Bowl Sunday. See above pictures of Linsly and We Are The Future youth. We Are the Future youth helped us create and produce numerous public service announcements and bill boards. Wow was that fun!! Cody and Jordan rock as actors! Keith, Steve and Doree are awesome leaders as well!!!!

Getting news stories out to the public has been great fun. Writing press releases and ALERTING THE MEDIA to our activities really helped me to understand the who, what, when, where, why, and how of what we do!! Writing letters to the editor and getting my face on the news was exciting, but it’s not about me, it’s about our community wanting to make change and making our youth and families safer. I urge you all to get involved in this taskforce and speak up for prevention! It’s so much more powerful if YOU carry this message. Banded together we can do so much.

I then worked as SPF SIG Project Director and Program Director to Drug Free Communities Support Programs grant. Training new employees and organizing a new grant proved very challenging, however with your help we are in a great position to proceed onward. I also began writing all meeting agendas & minutes and facilitating all meetings! These jobs would be great for able bodied community members who want to help out. It’s your coalition. In the past our coalition relied heavily on paid staff for these “jobs,” however we are now asking coalition members to take FULL ownership of this coalition and its direction. Come to the next quarterly meeting and vote for the next chairperson. Each subgroup has been working to gain leadership from non paid members. Our Leadership Board will begin meeting to steer our activities. Not only does this make our coalition community driven, it can help sustain our activities with much less funding or no funding if that time ever came. That’s called sustainability!

Our job as paid staff is to empower you (the people in the community) to change Ohio County. Reduction of substance abuse is possible! Focus on access, social norms, and policy is the way to do it. If youth don’t drink until after their 21 birthday they are 4 times less likely to suffer from alcohol problems!!! You can literally lower alcohol problems. Something can be done, but your personal help and conviction is needed!

I love you all! Go forth and kick butt!