Tuesday, July 14, 2015
The Troy Community Coalition had its beginning in January 1990 when a parent support group, organized a community workshop to address the problem of underage drinking. Multiple data sources showed a spike in alcohol use by high school and middle school students in Troy that was above the national average. More than 100 Troy leaders devoted a Saturday morning to the workshop, with 12 of the original attendees forming a permanent group dedicated to alcohol, tobacco and drug- abuse prevention programs.
In 1991, the group of dedicated community leaders, known as the Troy Community Coalition, applied for a federal grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services. In August of 1991, the Coalition was awarded a federal grant to be used over ten years to promote substance abuse prevention and develop a Comprehensive Prevention Plan for Troy. The grant provided a Coalition office, staff, community education and a comprehensive needs assessment. Above all, it gave the community the resources to build a strong Coalition, which includes all sectors of the community working together to meet the challenges of substance abuse prevention.
In 1994, the Troy Community Coalition served as the lead agency in the formation of the Coalition of Healthy Communities (today known as the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities- ACHC), a regional collaboration originally providing a means for four neighboring communities to work together to more effectively address substance abuse issues. In 1999, the CHC was awarded a Drug-Free Communities grant to support its further growth and development. Today, ACHC includes sixteen neighboring communities.
The Troy Community Coalition has worked tirelessly over the past twenty-four years to address substance abuse prevention from multiple vantage points in the community – through the schools, churches, summer camps, community policing, nationally known speakers, special events and fundraisers. Research shows that this comprehensive approach to substance abuse prevention, known to those in the field as “multiple strategies over multiple sectors”, results in the most positive outcomes.
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TroyHistoricVillage. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
