13:59 pm Carter County Anti-drug coalition continues to add new members
The Carter County Anti-Drug Coalition is continuing to add new members to its ranks. Following this week’s meeting of the coalition, Elizabethton-Carter County Chamber of Commerce Community Coordinator Steve Burwick reported there are now over 30 individuals who are serving in the group. He said Monday’s meeting featured a discussion of the latest news on the coalition’s efforts to secure the necessary funding for start-up costs.
Burwick commented that the coalition has decided not to pursue a grant from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health. The grant, which was announced last month, is designed to assist community drug coalitions defray part of their initial start-up costs. Burwick said the application for the grant program was due on Wednesday. “The limited amount of time we were given to gather and collect the data for the grant application made it too difficult to meet the deadline,” Burwick said. “It was just too much to get all of the work completed in time.”
Despite being unable to make the application deadline for the grant, Burwick thanked Carter County Tomorrow President Tom Anderson, along with Angie Odom and Sheila Bedford from Abortion Alternatives, for their assistance in data gathering and research for the grant.
Burwick noted, however, “the research we did and the data we gathered was not a wasted effort.” The information the coalition obtained over the last month will be used as a starting point for the group to begin the task of searching for answers to the drug abuse and addiction epidemic in Carter County. “We can also use the data for other grants and programs in the future,” Burwick added.
An important next step for the group is to hire a director. Before they can reach that point, however, Burwick said they will need to find a grant or funding source to pay the director’s salary.
The Carter County Anti-Drug Coalition is also continuing to work with similar organizations throughout the East Tennessee region. Burwick said the assistance of Alice McCaffrey with the Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition has been a tremendous help. “We’re still getting some help from Sullivan County,” he noted. “In addition to her, we’ve gotten some tips and suggestions from Inside Alliance, which is the Washington County Coalition.”
During the meeting, Anderson made a suggestion to split the coalition members into sub-committees. “We have a pretty good representation of people in Carter County and Elizabethton in this group,” said Burwick. “We can break into groups based on the different sectors of the community.”
The anti-drug coalition is presently made up of individuals from both the city and county school systems, along with representation from Milligan College. Burwick said the educators serving on the coalition could focus on education and prevention efforts. Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes and Roan Mountain Park Ranger Jacob Young could represent the criminal justice aspect of drug prevention, while members from the world of healthcare and emergency medical services could use their experience to look at how drug abuse and addiction impact the health of the community.
Burwick said individuals serving from the business world could also be responsible for marketing and fundraising efforts. “Hopefully, all of these committees will be able to get together and meet next month to discuss their findings,” Burwick said.
A date for the next full meeting of the Carter County Anti-Drug Coalition has not been announced. Burwick said he expects the organization to meet again some time during the month of April.
Area residents who are interested in participating in the anti-drug coalition can call Burwick at the Elizabethton-Carter County Chamber of Commerce at 547-3852.
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