Whitehall Community Change Project
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008The problem of drug and alcohol abuse and other associated problems such as binge drinking, drinking and driving, underage drinking, and drug use and trafficking was repeatedly identified throughout the Horizons’ process. Not surprisingly, significant numbers of adult participants pointed to drug and alcohol abuse as a problem. What was a bit surprising was that students and young adults who participated in the Horizons’ process also pointed out that they, too, believed there was a problem.
A Whitehall community leader, who was a participant in the Horizon’s process, put her talents and passion to work in an effort to address the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in our community.
Cindy Larsen, impacted at the age of 17 by a friend’s drinking and driving tragedy that ended an innocent life, has always been passionate about trying to keep kids and adults from making potentially life altering poor decisions with regard to drug or alcohol use and took on the huge challenge of attempting to counter this community crisis.
Larsen discovered there was grant money available to address these challenges and with a deadline that was fast approaching, Larson worked quickly to gather all the material and wade through an arduous grant application in hopes of receiving funding that could help Jefferson County address a major community concern. The grant application was successful and Jefferson County received nearly $700,000 to establish the Whitehall Community Change Project and the Boulder Community Change Project.
While there are seven regions throughout Montana which received funding for Community Change Projects, Jefferson County is the only individual county to have received funding. Ike Jessee, a former deputy county sheriff is the program officer in Whitehall. Randy McGinnis, whose background is in business and statistics, serves the Boulder community as its program director. Larsen is now serving as the project coordinator.
The Whitehall (and Boulder) Community Change Projects are designed to specifically address environmental causes and identify solutions to the problems of binge drinking and drinking and driving. Both Community Change Projects are community driven with solutions that will fit each community’s needs. The grant is for a 3.5 year period, and when the grant funding goes away, the goal is to have committed members of the communities serving on Strategy Teams. These teams will continue on with programs to ensure that Jefferson County, Whitehall and Boulder stay on the right track and that more and more people stay safe by making wise decisions.
While organizations such as the DUI Task Force focus on education, the Community Change Projects are focusing on changing the social norms through policies and other methods that aim to create permanent change. The Whitehall Community Change Project Strategy Team has spent the last several months gathering data that will help the Project analyze what factors in the local environment are contributing to the problem. Once the data is gathered and compiled, the Strategy Team will outline action items. All Montana Community Change Projects are being assisted by the Bozeman branch of the Institute for Public Strategies (IPS). IPS, according to its website, provides leadership and strategies which support changes in public and private policy and community standards and norms.
The Montana Community Change Project materials state the goal is to change public attitudes towards underage drinking and substance abuse from “That’s just the way it is,” to “No, you are too young to do that.” Other material language includes “This is a new kind of prevention approach. It is called environmental prevention and the goal is to change community attitudes and norms in relation to drugs and alcohol use.”
Statistics show that binge drinking does not just result in someone getting drunk or worse, drinking and driving. Binge drinking also increases the likelihood of sexual activity, unplanned pregnancy, violence, child abuse, accidental death and suicide. Montana has the dubious distinction of being among the top five states in the nation in regards to binge drinking — for both youth and older adults, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Nearly half of Montana’s traffic fatalities involve a drunk driver, compared to 32 percent nationally.
Larsen pointed out that once an individual is drunk; it is too late to make a good decision. If we can prevent kids from getting alcohol, we can prevent them from drinking and driving and making other potentially life altering decisions. Alcohol is viewed as a stepping stone to other drugs. While alcohol is legal for adults and is socially acceptable, there must be an awareness and commitment to consume alcohol in a safe and responsible manner according to Larsen. “The overall goal is to create a healthier and safer community, especially for our youth. If we can change community attitudes and implement environmental solutions, we can create prevent tragic outcomes in our community,” said Larsen.
Interested community members are encouraged to volunteer to serve on the Community Strategy Team. For more information, contact Cindy Larsen at 287-7953.
This is another example of how the Horizon’s process is bringing benefit to the community and how intered, committed and motivated community members have the ability to gather addtional resources to make things happen. A big thank you goes out to Cindy Larsen for taking the initiative, demonstrating exceptional leadership and commitment to our community.
