New officers for the Highland County Drug Abuse Prevention Coalition (HCDAPC) were nominated at the coalition’s Wednesday meeting. The term for the officers is two years, starting in October 2021 and ending in October 2023.
The three officers nominated were as follows:
* Gena Bates was nominated to be the president. She is an associate director with the Scioto Paint Valley Mental Health Center.
* Kylena France was nominated for vice president. She is president of the Southern Ohio branch of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI).
* Paige Staggs was nominated for secretary. She is currently the secretary of the HCDAPC.
In other news, Creed Culbreath, the REACH for Tomorrow collaboration director and current president of the HCDAPC, said that because of “the rapidly changing trajectory of the problems we face with substance abuse and are primed to prevent those,” the community becoming a living document might be a good idea. He said another reason for this is so that if someone thinks of an idea or talks about an emerging problem that should be addressed as soon as possible, the coalition would be able to have the capacity to do so.
Jeff Meyer, a representative from the prevention committee, said the organization is working with Hope for Highland County and will have its third annual event in October called Healing Highland. He said it has typically held at Common Ground Community Church, but he was not sure of the site this year.
Meyer said the event usually has organizations set up tables and hand out information. He also said it’s around Halloween usually so there is something like a trick or treat event, with face-painting and other activities.
Bill Showman, manager of prevention and evaluation services at the Paint Valley Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board, said there isn’t anything in the HCDAPC by-laws that would prevent that from happening.
Culbreath also gave an update on the Quick Response Team. He said the organization just received a new shipment of naloxone for the county and is busy providing it to people and its distribution partners throughout the county.
Chandra Culver, a mental health and substance abuse counselor at Family Recovery Services, said the organization started a “few” new groups for adolescents for both substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health. Culver also said beds are available at the Massey House.
The next meeting of the HCDPAC will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
