Henry County’s substance abuse group, L;ve Coalition, had its first meeting since the beginning of the pandemic on Tuesday.
Henry County Health Department employee Shay Bex explained explained the new way the group spells its name, which is still pronounced “Live” as in “Live your life.”
She said the semicolon in their name represents personal strength.
“The semicolon is used when an author could have chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life,” Bex said.
L;ve Coalition’s mission is to create a community that supports mental health, fights substance misuse, and empowers individuals to be proactive in their wellbeing.
The coalition’s main goal is to receive funding from the CDC Drug-Free Communities Support Program. The program is used to identify and implement responses to unique drug problems in the community.
The CDC states, “More than 700 community coalitions across the country receive funding up to $125,000 per year to strengthen collaboration among local partners and create an infrastructure that reduces youth substance use.”
For a community to qualify for these funds they must create a coalition that has representatives from 12 sectors. These sectors include representation from youth, parents, businesses, media, school, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement, religious or fraternal organizations, civic or volunteer groups, healthcare professional or organizations, state, local, and tribal government agencies, and other local organizations involved in reducing substance use.
The coalition must be in existence and holding meetings for at least six months before applying for funding. They must select two substances to focus on. They can choose from alcohol use, marijuana use, prescription drug misuse, tobacco/nicotine use, heroin and fentanyl use, and methamphetamine use.
Henry County Health Department Administrator Angela Cox said methamphetamine is the drug of choice in Henry County right now.
Indiana Youth Survey
Bex also went over the Indiana Youth Survey that was conducted this Spring. The survey covers students from over 323 schools in Indiana.
More than 30 percent of students in grades 6-12 reported they felt sad or hopeless for over two weeks in a row; students in 11th grade had the highest percentage at 38.8 percent.
The survey also stated that alcohol was the most used substance by teenagers.
Mental Health Fair
The Henry County Health Department, L;ve Coalition and Henry Community Health came together to host the “Live Well Be Strong” Mental Health Fair on July 21. The fair had more than 50 vendors for the 250+ attendees to visit and learn about.
They plan to make this fair an annual event in Henry County.
The L;ve Coalition will start meeting on the third Tuesday each month at 12 p.m.
