About
Why was the Arlington Coalition for Healthy and Resilient Youth formed?
The Arlington Coalition for Healthy and Resilient Youth was formed on October 3rd, 2024, when Stilly Valley Health Connections invited a group of local community members to meet and discuss the growing concern of substance misuse and abuse among young people in the community of Arlington. Representatives from Arlington Public Schools, the City of Arlington, the Arlington Police Department, Sno-Isle Libraries, Arlington Boys & Girl’s Club, and parents participated. The group reviewed the 2023 Healthy Youth Survey results, which showed an alarming trend that our youth are vaping and experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts at a higher rate than their peers throughout the county and our state. This information helped confirm the need for action and the Coalition was formed, with Stilly Valley Health Connections acting as the supporting backbone for the Coalition.
Since then, the Coalition has grown to involve middle and high school students from Arlington Public Schools and other caring community members and is meeting on a scheduled basis. A vision and mission statement have been created and the focus areas going into 2025 are: Youth Empowerment, Support Systems, and Education for All.
Our mission is to to work collaboratively on youth substance misuse prevention and intervention by:
- Enhancing the current work of member organizations.
- Identifying and filling the gaps.
- Expanding our reach to all community members.
Our vision is a community where our youth are healthy, resilient, and informed of the impacts of substance abuse.
Our focus areas, strategies, and activities for 2025 are:
Youth empowerment
- Empowering youth to have a voice in substance use prevention and intervention.
- Youth inspired and led messaging.
Support Systems
- Providing support to reduce youth substance use.
- Fund a school-based prevention/intervention specialist to work with students and create a student recovery group.
Education for all
- Providing information and resources about the harmful effects of substance use in our community, and prevention tips to miitigate misuse.
- Go to where people are to share and gather information from community members.
