Featured Community Coalition of the Month!

Scroll down to previous:January 2012: VOICES Coalition (Lubbock ,TX) and Zero Tolerance (ZT) Youth Coalition (Robertson County, TX)

February 2012: TAP: Taylor Alliance for Prevention (Abilene, TX)

1. What is the main focus of your coalition? 

The TAP (Taylor Alliance for Prevention) coalition is designed to reduce youth access to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by:

• Increasing community awareness of the legal and health consequences of substance abuse
• Mobilizing Taylor County citizens to make institutional and policy changes
• Working with law enforcement and local businesses
• Improving the overall health of the community
• Serving in a support/advisory role with the Teen Recovery Group
• Seeking to encourage development of adolescent substance abuse prevention and treatment services for the Abilene area.

2. What makes your coalition great? What makes you proud of your coalition? 

Our coalition is sustainable! Our members are PASSIONATE about who we are and what we support. Several years ago, our group identified that there were limited services when it came down to addiction for adolescents. TAP stepped in and started a Teen Recovery Group that meets every Thursday. It is free of charge and has an average of 12 kids that attend on a weekly basis. We have a Recovery Chair position that coordinates specific topics during the week and facilitates volunteers and group meetings.  We are so very proud that we were able to meet this community need and the success of it! We have also worked with several area schools to implement policies aimed at reducing underage drinking.  One school district implemented a “clear container” policy that prohibits students from bringing beverages in anything other than a clear container.  Another school district implemented a policy to use a Breathalyzer at school events in order to insure that students do not attend school functions under the influence of alcohol. 

3. What does your coalition do well to achieve its goals? Are there any special services your coalition/agency offers? 

We set specific goals each year and work towards those goals. We strive to continually update our needs assessment and strategic plan in order to build on the successes we achieve each year.  We want to make sure that everything we do has a purpose and is well communicated to each member of the group. As stated above, we serve in a support/advisory role for a local Teen Recovery Group that meets on a weekly basis.

4. What special projects or initiatives is your coalition working on or has completed that you feel will benefit your target population/the efforts of preventionists in Texas? 

We are currently working to expand the Teen Recovery Group to more than one location and time. Currently, the meeting is on the North side of town. We desire to have several more locations in Abilene to make it more convenient for students.  We have also recently worked with TABC to implement retailer alcohol compliance checks within Taylor County.  Every summer, we sponsor youth coalition members to attend the “Extreme Youth Leadership” camp.  The campers learn leadership skills and develop their own plan to address substance abuse issues within their own school or community.

5. What activities or services will your coalition be focusing on during the time period that it is featured on www.coalitionstexas.org ?Are there any timely messages that should be communicated? 

We would like to use media to spread the message about our Teen Recovery Group and let our community know to a greater extent what this group as to offer our students.

6. How do interested individuals join your coalition? Who should interested individuals contact?

Contact information: Melanie Seals- at ARCADA melanie.seals@arcadatx.org or Kendra Tapie (Chair) Kendra@serenitytexas.com
www.savingtaylor.org

January 2012: VOICES Coalition (Lubbock ,TX) and Zero Tolerance (ZT) Youth Coalition (Robertson County, TX)

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Robertson County, Texas: Zero Tolerance (ZT) Youth Coalition

1. What is the main focus of your coalition? 
Our mission is to reduce the use and acceptance of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in our school and community.  We focus on youth.
2. What makes your coalition great? What makes you proud of your coalition? 
It’s comprised of and led by high school students!  Robertson County has an adult coalition that provides support, but Zero Tolerance (ZT) is an independently functioning group of students from Hearne High School who can address the problem of underage drinking and drug use in their own affective and creative ways.  What are we most proud of?  That our youth coalition has nearly doubled in every year of its existence!  We had so many students apply to be in the coalition this year that we had to add an essay assignment to the application process.
3. What does your coalition do well to achieve its goals? Are there any special services your coalition/agency offers? 
One of the things our coalition does the best is provide community pride.  In Hearne, TX, where our coalition is currently centered, there are so many barriers to success for young people.  The city offers few activities for youth, has suffered through unrelenting economic hardship, and lacks the funds to repair roads and dilapidated buildings.  Many of the high school students are ashamed of their environment, but the kids who participate in ZT are given opportunities to improve their community and participate in events that promote community bonding.  In addition to all the social norms campaigns and policy changing that ZT is involved in, members are asked to provide services to their community such as volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club or assisting in food delivery to the elderly.  Each time they are called they continually respond, and with such positive attitudes!
4. What special projects or initiatives is your coalition working on or has completed that you feel will benefit your target population/the efforts of preventionists in Texas? 
We’ve been very successful in organizing two Rx Pill Takebacks in collaboration with the DEA and have removed approximately 90 lbs of unused or expired medications from the population.  Youth in ZT will also be helping to schedule, advertise, and implement two Town Hall Meetings.  In addition, our coalition members will also be working with Texans Standing Tall to raise support on a countywide initiative to enact a social host ordinance and alcohol excise tax in the coming year.
5. What activities or services will your coalition be focusing on during the time period that it is featured on www.coalitionstexas.org? Are there any timely messages that should be communicated? 
Our main focus right now is the production of public service announcements.  Using film and video equipment provided by the county’s adult coalition, the youth in ZT will be shooting a series of short films that they wrote.  The first one, in response to Texas’ new 911 Lifeline Law, will highlight the dangers of alcohol poisoning and urge teenagers to call for help if a friend is passed out.  The youth are extremely excited about this project and its potential for dissemination all around the country.
One of our other focuses during this time is to enforce accountability at community venues where alcohol is provided.  There are very few bars or nightclubs in our rural county, but whenever community centers rent out their space for receptions or celebrations, too often alcohol is free flowing and unsupervised.  Our goal is have coalition members approach the management at each of these venues and persuade them to include a responsibility contract in their rental agreements.
6. How do interested individuals join your coalition? Who should interested individuals contact?
Anyone interested in partnering in our efforts can email me, Michael Chism, at mchism@bvcasa.org, or call BVCASA at (979) 846-3560 and ask to speak with someone about our community coalition program.  We will fax or email an agreement letter to you.  I’d love to know what strategies have worked with young people in your community and how we can help you to make drugs and alcohol inconsequential in the lives of youth.

Lubbock, TX: VOICES Coalition

1. What is the main focus of your coalition?
Our main focus is to empower communities to create positive changes in attitudes, behaviors and policies to prevent and reduce at-risk behavior in youth with a unified focus on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.  Through education and awareness we strive to unite community members to help create a safe environment for families to nurture and protect children and youth.
2. What makes your coalition great?  What makes you proud of your coalition?
VOICES Coalition is great due to the nature of the volunteers that come together in the communities in which we serve to ensure we continue with our mission.  The coalition continues to host Back-To-School Kickoffs each year to help parents with the burden of buying school supplies and we also partner with the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy to host Medication Cleanouts every six months.  We are currently had our first taskforce meeting for the Social Host Ordinance.  We are proud of each volunteer’s talent and time, which helps the coalition succeed.
3. What does your coalition do well to achieve its goals?  Are there any special services your coalition/agency offers?
We have monthly meetings to allow everyone to have input in the goals we have set for the coalition. We have the coalition members complete a survey to evaluate their interest and talents. We will also begin implementing an evaluation form at the end of each meeting to help our meetings become more productive.  We offer training for our coalition members, so that our coalition efforts are reached.  VOICES is part of Managed Care Center, Inc.  Managed Care Center for Addictive/Other Disorders, Inc. offers many other programs for the community.  Managed Care Center offers Adult detoxification, residential treatment, Outpatient Treatment for youths and Adults.  We have Adolescent Prevention and Intervention programs.  We work closely with the Tobacco Prevention Community Coalition and our Prevention Resource Center in order to educate the community.
4. What special projects or initiatives is your coalition working on or has completed that you feel will benefit your target population/the efforts of preventionists in Texas?
One special project we completed this year was the Medication Cleanout that we did in October.  We collected 339 pounds of prescription medication.  We believe that if we continue to implement this event in our community it will help to lower the prescription drug abuse in this area.  We are also working closely with Texans Standing Tall in the Social Host Campaign.  We believe this will help to educate the community about the dangers of social hosting.  We continue to work on building relationships within the community to help with the sustainability of the coalition.
5. What activities or services will your coalition focus on during the time period that it is featured on www.coalitionstexas.org?  Are there any timely messages that should be communicated?
We are currently focusing on the Social Host Ordinance.  We will concentrate on the early stages of creating a plan on how to proceed with getting the Social Host Ordinance passed.   We will also be providing training for our coalition members. 

6. How do interested individuals join your coalition?  Who should interested individuals contact?
Many of our coalition members have joined by invitation through current coalition members and some have joined through media announcements.  We also direct everyone to our Facebook page at mccvoices@facebook.com and our webpage at www.voicescoalition.org.  Interested individuals can also contact us directly by calling 806-780-8300 or emailing VOICES Community Coalition Coordinator Teresa Alvarado at teresa.alvarado@mccaod.com.