County United Way hosting round of community conversations on addiction

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Jackson County United Way is planning another round of community conversations to get a sense of what is on the minds of residents in Jackson County.

The organization hosted 25 conversations in 2016 to gauge what residents wanted to improve about the community.

This time, the topic has been narrowed to substance abuse, as many shared concerns on that topic in the course of the conversations last year.

“Just like the community conversations from 2016, these conversations really listen to what the community thinks about what’s going on and what they want to see happen,” said Tonja Couch, executive director of Jackson County United Way, adding the conversations provide the agency with what needs to be done. “They provide us with what the action steps are.”

The conversations are scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 28, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 12 at the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.

Registration is limited to 20 participants per meeting. To reserve a spot, call Kimberly Buck at 812-522-5450 or email [email protected].

Couch said United Way already has met with groups, such as law enforcement, clergy, representatives from teen drug prevention programs and inmates at the Jackson County Jail. Those conversations will provide a basis for the conversations they have planned, she said.

All data from the conversations will be collected by Buck, one of United Way’s AmeriCorps members focused on substance abuse in the county.

Couch said Jackson County United Way has a role in the issue since the organization focuses on health, financial stability and education. The conversations at this point are simply to find out more about the problem in the community and don’t mean the organization will be able to fund new programs focused to help curb the issue. A conversation is a starting point, Couch said.

“We’re not making any promises from the United Way side that this will create any new programs or services. We’re just listening to what the community thinks,” she said.

Couch said she hopes the conversations will give the agency some answers on the problem, which has affected communities across the country.

“How big is the problem really? What does it look like? How many people are affected by this? And then what are the concerns around that and who is affected the most?” she said.

After getting an idea on the answers to those questions, Couch said Jackson County United Way wants to get an idea of what residents want to see happen to curb the issue.

“We need to know what the community wants us to do for that,” she said.

The conversations can connect the community in a variety of ways. One example was a teenager in 4-H who suggested the community celebrate Red Ribbon Week, a national drug use prevention campaign conducted in October, Couch said.

“She said they celebrate Red Ribbon Week in the schools but never saw it out in the community,” Couch said.

That led to students decorating downtown storefronts raising awareness.

“Those are the opportunities we are looking forward to in the conversations,” Couch said.

What may seem like a small step leads to relationship building and is one piece of improving the situation, she said.

“The challenge is overwhelming and takes up so many resources that people don’t know how to make it better,” she said. “So we’re listening to what the small wins are and see that collaborations can form and people that can come together and individuals can do something, too.”

Couch said she looks forward to learning more from the community conversations and hopes people will begin to become more comfortable discussing the topic in the future.

“People are sharing their raw experience, and they’re being honest with the information they’re giving us because they know we’re here to listen and take action and are really going to make a difference,” she said.

“We know this is a sensitive topic with different viewpoints on different things, and we’re not here to take a stand as an organization on anything to make things better from some people’s perspective or worse,” Couch said. “But we need to start the conversation so people are comfortable talking about it and it becomes a social norm of that we’re not going to bury our head in the sand.”

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What: Jackson County United Way community conversations focusing on substance abuse issues

When: 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 28, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 12

Where: Jackson County Public Library, 303 W. Second St., Seymour

Who: Conversations are limited to 20 participants per event. To reserve a spot, call Kimberly Buck at 812-522-5450 or email [email protected].

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