by Nick Trandahl, 21 Wellness Coalition Partner, Mayor of Upton, WY
It’s with no small amount of serendipity that August is National Wellness Month, and I’m freshly returned from the CADCA Mid-Year Training Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
As a community partner of Weston County, Wyoming’s 21 Wellness Prevention Coalition I attended CADCA’s training opportunity at the end of July with Weston County’s Prevention Specialist and Coalition Coordinator Kristi Lipp, and my wife Brittany Trandahl, who is a partner of 21 Wellness in the tourism sector.
I attended a variety of training sessions throughout the CADCA Conference, everything from bridging political and social fracture in prevention work, to anti-stigma training, to fentanyl and NARCAN informational sessions, and loads of training on advocacy and pursuing public prevention policy.
The most impactful session I attended over the week, however, was a session facilitated by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) about powering prevention through cross-sector integration, partnerships, and effective community engagement. These collaborative processes are the cornerstone of successful community prevention work, especially in this current era of uncertain funding in prevention work. Now is the time to think and plan creatively, and collaboration is an essential ingredient of that. I’m going to share with you some of the insights from the SAMHSA session which stuck to my ribs.
Social connection is a fundamental human need, and a very important determinant of an individual’s or a community’s health. Research has found that communities which are more socially connected prepare, adapt, and recover from disasters better than ones that aren’t connected. Also, statistically, socially connected communities have lower violence, higher economic prosperity, and higher civic engagement, which in turn improves population health. Good prevention is sustainable prevention, and that involves an entire community. As members in a prevention coalition, we must all understand the needs and benefits of collaboration. In fact, this even goes beyond prevention work into all aspects of community growth and health.
These coalition partnerships don’t just happen in a vacuum, however, and they don’t happen spontaneously. A coalition needs a clear purpose and mission to draw fresh strong partnerships from across community sectors. In our own 21 Wellness Coalition, we have undergone a rebranding campaign, including a fresh new mission statement: 21 Wellness Coalition is dedicated to fostering healthy habits, connecting our communities to resources, and providing tools and resources that reduce unhealthy behaviors, encourage mental wellness, and build positive relationships for a better quality of life in Weston County.
Prevention is (or should be) a non-partisan issue which all sectors of a community can get behind. If that’s not the case with your coalition, fracture is an invitation to realign that mission inclusively. Tension is a sign that something is important, and discomfort is a hint that something needs attention. Growth isn’t comfortable. Change is hard. This is true in any aspect, including in a prevention coalition’s growth.
As that important SAMHSA session wrapped, I felt in my bones that our 21 Wellness Coalition was in a very good place. As I listened during the session to some of the struggles other coalitions from around the United States were having in getting collaborative engagement from other community sectors, I was increasingly grateful for the partnerships with 21 Wellness. I also felt so inspired to delve even deeper into prevention work in a bold way.
As other coalitions across the nation struggle getting their school districts to collaborate with prevention work, here in Weston County our school districts are stalwart prevention partners, with Upton’s Weston County School District No. 7 allowing our very active peer-led Sources of Strength program to flourish among Upton youth and WCSD7 even serving as 21 Wellness Coalition’s fiscal agent.
As other coalitions are wary of integrating law enforcement partnerships into their prevention work, the Town of Upton’s recently hired Chief of Police Brian Meals has already attended our quarterly 21 Wellness Partner Meeting and expressed interest in distributing NARCAN in the community and acquiring a “safe drop-off box” at the police department for turning in drugs for disposal. Experienced police officers like Chief Meals can be a peerless source of data and expertise when it comes to prevention work. Additionally, a community active in prevention, makes law enforcement’s job much less dangerous.
As other coalitions view local government as a hurdle to make policy changes, here I am, both a Mayor to my community and a loyal partner of our prevention coalition. As for State of Wyoming leadership in prevention matters, we don’t need to look further than Wyoming Governor
Mark Gordon who has embraced a philosophy of acceptance and resilience, instead of the old “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” adage in terms of mental health, which does nothing but inflame stigma against mental illness and addiction. Paired with Community Behavioral Health Reform, Governor Gordon’s Mental Health Initiative aims to change how we approach mental health and suicide prevention here in Wyoming.
As you can see, our prevention partnerships are the singularity where change happens on a community level. Then community members become prevention advocates, and then wider policy changes on state and federal level can become a reality, when it’s got the backing of all sectors of a passionate community. The SAMHSA session made me so proud of 21 Wellness and our collaborative partnerships. I look forward to strengthening those connections even more.
The 21 Wellness Coalition has gathered wellness resources all in one place. Please visit https://21wellnesscoalition.org. For more information on CADCA and SAMHSA, visit www.cadca.org and www.samhsa.gov respectively.