Substance Use Prevention Coalition holds August meeting

[August 11, 2024] 

The Substance Use Prevention Coalition (SUPC) held its monthly meeting at Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Steinfort conference room. Grace Irvin, Prevention Coordinator with Chestnut Health Systems, conducted the meeting.

Prevention

The youth alcohol campaign and vaping campaign will start in September. The alcohol campaign has changed the slogan to “Meaningful Moments”-- focusing on meaningful moments between parents and kids. Prevention specialists are working on a poster with the vaping slogan “Just Breathe” and updating logos.

The Illinois Youth Survey was completed in the spring and Irvin should get a county report this fall, which she will share.

Youth Prevention Education specialists will begin scheduling prevention education with Lincoln Junior High School.

Prevention specialists are printing updated cards for the Resource Directory website www.logancountyresources.org. Information is updated on the website and now the administrator is working on a facelift to make it more searchable.

Harm Reduction

There is no August update on the naloxone and testing strips distribution vending machine at Family Custom Cleaners in Lincoln. There is a question about where to replenish testing strips and a plan to find out where to order them. The Logan County Health Department receives naloxone from the state and puts a new case out for public use every week. Naloxone training is included with CPR training through the Logan County Health Department.

Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) is hosting an Overdose Awareness Day on August 31 at Oxford House. There will be four or five panelists on Facebook Live. Each person will tell their story of being saved by naloxone. There is a recording on the ROSC youtube channel of last year’s panel.

A Recovery Walk is scheduled for September 7 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at Scully Park in Lincoln with speakers, food, and activities for kids.

ROSC is still hosting recovery meetings at the jail. They have made 50 information bags for the jail with support services information for those released from the jail.

A Recovery Walk is also scheduled on August 14 at the riverfront in Havana. ROSC is still working on getting naloxone distributed in Mason County.

Mollie McCain, Community Health Coordinator for LMH, is working on the Community Health Needs Report, which will be finalized to post online in November. McCain will attend the LMH board meeting to present the report before publication. She meets with the Advisory Board in September to discuss strategies for implementation.

The text message campaign for freshmen at Lincoln Community High School has launched with periodic texts regarding mental health, substance use prevention, and relationship advice. One hundred and seven students signed up to receive the text messages at freshman orientation at LCHS on Monday, August 5. Students will receive a couple of messages a month, as well as incentives. The campaign is starting with freshmen at LCHS then expanding to all grades and then other schools based on grant funding availability.

The environmental scan to assess alcohol marketing in Logan County is underway. With the information gathered, the scan will be compiled and presented. Marketing and placement of alcohol is important because it makes it so easy to see and pick up alcohol, especially for people who are struggling with substance use. Liquor laws are community based and decided by cities and municipalities.

Hope of Fifth had a successful fundraiser. They are trying to move forward and have a coalition meeting scheduled for August 23 at noon. Veteran’s support meetings are still happening there, and the veteran’s recovery meetings are moving to Thursday at 6 p.m. They are working on the build-out for Carle with a goal of completion in the next two months.

The next SUPC meeting is online on September 12 at 9:00 a.m.. The next Community Health Collaborative meeting is at the Logan County Health Department on September 5 at 8:30 a.m.

[Stephanie Hall]