The Community Coalition
THE COMMUNITY COALITION FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION IN COCKE COUNTY
The Tanner Cultural Center 115 Mulberry St. Newport , TN 37821 423-623-9272 fax: 423-613-0787 coalition@chcinc.org.
THE COALITION'S MISSION : To build a network of supports and venues for youth and families that will provide skills and opportunities for personal and community empowerment, relationship building, conflict resolution and creative expression. To bring youth and families together in creating a community that enjoys a climate of overall health, well-being and inclusiveness for all while blurring the lines that separate one group from another. To provide youth and families with the concept of choice as a possibility, while providing them with skills for making healthy ones. To provide youth with healthy alternatives to behaviors that are harmful to themselves and others.
HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION: The Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention in Cocke County , Tennessee began in the year 2000 as a volunteer organization, involving a broad array of Cocke County citizenry and leadership, led by Ramona Fair, a therapist at Cherokee Health Systems. The group recognized the tremendous impact of alcohol and drug abuse on families in the county and identified the need for increased services for youth and families to combat the problem. In October 2003 the Coalition was awarded a sizable grant ($100,000 annually for five years) from the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Safe and Drug-Free Communities program (with Cherokee Health Systems serving as fiduciary agent). The project design that won the award included the use of various programs (some new, some already in existence) to provide positive alternatives to alcohol and drug use during at-risk times (after school and summers) in safe, drug-free environments with healthy adult role models in Cocke County .
There were six local programs that we included in our original funding request. These were: The Boys and Girls Club of Newport/Cocke County (their start-up year as well), Peer Mediation (conflict resolution and healthy relationship program administered by Kristin Roberts, LCSW) at Cocke County High School, a focus/support group for at-risk youth at the Alternative Learning Center, REAL Enterprises (an entrepreneurial leadership program for older teens and young adults administered by Karen Neef and Community House Cooperative, Inc.), the Just Us Troupe (a performance poetry group of adolescents at CHC), and Parenting Apart (a camp for children from divorcing families administered by Denise Webb and Kim Morton). Also, with the grant, the Coalition was able to hire its first fulltime employee (Janice Mills) and contract with various other specialists and artists in the county to develop and carry out programming.
In the second year of funding, the Coalition developed a Parenting Education Program (administered by Joanne Clontz, PsyD and receiving referrals from the court system, the mental health center and the Department of Children's Services) and a Community Arts/Mini-Scholarship Program (which pays for art, music and dance lessons for at-risk youth during at-risk hours). Along with the Community Arts Program, a collaborative Community Beautification Program was initiated. The Peer Mediation Program was expanded to Cosby High School , and the REAL program was delivered to eighth grade students at Cosby Middle School (under the guidance of Dianne Levy, who completed training along with Karen Neef).
The Coalition has just entered its fourth year of federal funding. The program (Safe and Drug Free Communities) has moved from the OJJDP of the Department of Justice to the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the Department of Education. With this and other changes in the current administration, the funding stream has been altered considerably. In October 2005, the Coalition became a division of Community House Cooperative, Inc. (CHC) who serves as the fiscal agent for the federal grant and for all other endeavors.
THE COMMUNITY ARTS MINI-SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM - a program in which teachers of art, music, dance, and karate (among other specialties) are paired up with at-risk youth desiring to take lessons. Lessons occur during at-risk times (after school, weekends and summer) and provide youth with alternatives to substance use in safe, drug-free environments with healthy adult role models. We know that learning new skills provides youth with a focus other than substance use and works to bolster self-esteem, increasing the likelihood of good decision-making. Additionally, youth are given the opportunity to explore their own unique gifts and talents while developing relationships with adults and peers. Parents of the youth are given the opportunity to connect with other parents and families who are involved with their children's activities, creating a natural web of supports for them and increasing the likelihood that the families will remain engaged long-term.
This program has been tremendously successful, in terms of meeting the needs of youth and families, in terms of sparking community interest, in terms of bringing people together, and in terms of uniting community members in focusing on the single goal of providing opportunities for youth. Within three months of its inception, 75 children and youth were enrolled in lessons paid for with scholarships from the Coalition (paid out of grant money). The program was so successful that the money utilized was five times what was budgeted. It has branched out from the Coalition, forming its own steering committee and conducting its own fundraising activities to ensure the program's survival despite the changes in federal funding that affect this project. Scholarship interviews are conducted at the Tanner Cultural Center
CONSTITUENCY: The Coalition and CHC serve our Cocke County constituency by actively involving a diverse cross-section of the citizenry and by being involved with other grassroots organizations such as the local Health Council, The Tanner Committee, CEDNET, North Carolina*s Kindness Campaign, projects of the Appalachian Community Fund, MLK III's Realizing the Dream project, the SODI project of the Babcock Foundation, and Harry Belafonte's Gatherings. Additionally, we cooperate and engage in joint ventures when appropriate with the Newport/Cocke County Partnership (the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism, and Economic Development), law enforcement, the local Boys and Girls Club, Head Start, the Regional Health Office, the University of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University. We receive referrals to our programs from (and therefore have a working relationship with) the local judiciary, the Department of Children*s Services, the Department of Human Services, probation officers, and the schools. Our goal is to empower citizens to take an active part in creating their desired community -- locally, regionally, nationally and ultimately globally. We actively encourage attendance at our monthly meetings from faith communities, the recovery community, youth, parents, business owners, the judiciary, law enforcement, the media, youth-serving organizations, civic/volunteer agencies and local/state government agencies.
