With a little more than three years left in a five-year grant,
members of the San Benito Prevention Coalition are battling for
sustainability and community involvement.
At the Coalition’s quarterly Board of Directors meeting Thursday
night, members spoke about the need to look at financial stability
without a grant and getting new people involved in its
activities.
With a little more than three years left in a five-year grant, members of the San Benito Prevention Coalition are battling for sustainability and community involvement.
At the Coalition’s quarterly Board of Directors meeting Thursday night, members spoke about the need to look at financial stability without a grant and getting new people involved in its activities.
Vice President Lynn Mello, also with the county Health and Human Services Agency, resigned from the Coalition because she has taken a job in Watsonville. Also, President Shelley Donati is working in Stockton and Treasurer Lupe Maldonado is now working in Gilroy. They may be looking at reducing their involvement on the Board due to their change in working outside the community.
“We need to look at recruitment,” Maldonado said. “We need to find people working in town. … Jobs are not readily available in Hollister.”
Donati and Maldonado said they feel it’s better for people serving on the executive board to be in town and flexible when it comes to filling in at the Coalition. Karla Thomas, also with the county Health and Human Services Agency, was appointed to replace Mello.
The Coalition’s mission is “to reduce substance abuse among youth.”
To promote the Coalition’s sustainability, Donati reviewed some brainstorming ideas from the executive board retreat. The group discussed forming separate committees for youth development, funds development and membership development.
“We need more than a few people involved,” Donati said.
“This is so (the Coalition) doesn’t go by the wayside after two years (the rest of the grant),” Maldonado added.
But others at the meeting agreed that people shouldn’t be put on committees without guidance. The Board decided to discuss the committees further at the next Board meeting.
During her Community Liaison report, Lucia Aguilar-Navarro talked about the Coalition’s Green House/Communities That Care effort to develop a community-based framework for keeping children and youth safe and on positive paths. Two day-long workshops involving policy makers, educators and students were held in October.
In December, the Green House group looked at data involving youth in the community.
“What we found is something we already knew – that drinking is the greatest drug problem in the county,” Aguilar-Navarro said.
Data also showed the teen pregnancy and run-away rates to be high. One disappointment was that the most recent data analyzed is from 1999, already four years old.
Board member Tom Breen asked for support for Gavilan Community College’s Bond on March’s ballot. The bond will pay for repairs at the college’s Hollister, Morgan Hill and Gilroy sites.
“All the money stays local,” Breen said. “The state budget is forcing kids to go to community college.”
Also, the Coalition’s Youth Council discussed their trip to San Francisco on Monday to participate in a march honoring Martin Luther King Jr. President Lisa Martinez reported that the Council wants to plan similar trips more often.
The next Coalition meeting is April 21 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Dunne Park Clubhouse at the corner of Sixth and West streets.
The Youth Council meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 3 p.m.
