Community conversations about a healthy community 

The Substance Abuse Council Task Force and United Way of Jackson County will host a community conversation focused on substance use Feb. 19, in the library at Salem High School from 6 - 8 p.m. 

Each community conversation like this one is a chance for everyone to better understand people’s hopes, concerns and what they believe might make a difference in strengthening the community in regards to substance use. While the Substance Abuse Council Task Force can’t promise that any new initiatives or programs will emerge from these conversations; we do promise to share all documents that are produced by these conversations. There will be a summary of the collective conversations from the county and from the collective defined region; which at this time includes Jackson, Lawrence, Orange and Washington Counties. 

There will also be a landscape scan and an asset map to be shared. The plan is that this information could be used to drive new efforts, while also helping to make the Grass Roots and Agency efforts already in place in the community more effective. 

The group is looking for honest comments regarding the depth of the issue in the community, how residents can help make a change, and the possible solutions to make progress in the approach to substance use. They want to better understand from the community what can be done in regards to incarceration, harm reduction, prevention, mental health and addiction treatment, and supporting recovery. 

They also want to understand how the county can work across county lines to engage in regional approaches to take action. 

Dinner will be served during the event by Country Cookin’ at no cost to participants thanks to sponsorships from the Washington County Substance Abuse Council and the Washington County Family YMCA. The community is invited to particpate and asked to encourage others you might know to attend. The event will be limited to 10-20 people. 

To register, please RSVP to Jennifer Martin at jmartin@salemschools.com. For further information or follow up questions, please contact Chelsey Miller at chelsey@wcfymca.org or (812) 883-9622.

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