Blind Brook Community Coalition Invites Parents to Join

The Blind Brook Community Coalition unites all parts of the community to strengthen our culture that promotes safe and healthy lifestyles for our children.  Our goal is to increase awareness, advocate for our youth, and provide resources to support alcohol and drug free youth.

At the end of last year, the Blind Brook Community Coalition comprised of youth, parents, representatives from faith based, education, civic groups, business, law enforcement and government organizations discussed the following possible directions for the 2013-14 school year:

• Utilize the newly created Community Coalition website to increase communication among all constituents and to provide parental resources to support alcohol and drug free youth
• Re-administer the New York State Drug and Alcohol Survey and analyze the data
• Launch a parent education campaign (previous campaigns have been organized around the following themes:  What You Permit You Promote and Be a Parent; Not a Friend)
• Create and present another successful  “Family University”
• Develop preventative drug and alcohol student educational and recreational programs
• Utilize coalition sectors and resources to develop community awareness and initiatives to promote safe and healthy lifestyles

We would like to extend an invitation to our Blind Brook K-12 parents to join the Community Coalition.

Congresswoman Nina Lowey will attend this year’s first meeting of the Blind Brook Community Coalition to announce a FY 2013 Drug Free Communities Support Program grant awarded to the Blind Brook Community Coalition by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in cooperation with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  The grant award is $125,000 per year, renewable for five years, for a total of $625,000 for the Coalition.  The Coalition will use the funds to strengthen efforts to prevent and reduce youth alcohol and other drug use in the Blind Brook Community.

Please plan to join us this Friday, October 25th at 1:00 pm in the Village Hall Board Room.

The remaining coalition meetings for the 2013-14 school year will take place at 8:00 am in the Blind Brook Middle School cafeteria on the following dates:

November 7, 2013           

December 10, 2013         

March 4, 2014                   

 May 22, 2014

Subcommittees may meet on other mutually agreeable dates to accomplish subcommittee work.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the coalition, please send Mary Mediate an email before Monday, October 28, 2013.  Thank you.  Together we can make a difference.