OUR HISTORY

The Steele County Coalition for Healthy Youth was originally founded as the the Steele County Safe & Drug Free coalition in March 2009 when community members came together in response to concerns about the high numbers for student use, as reported on the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey.

Currently, our coalition is funded by a Drug Free Communities Grant through SAMHSA. The United Way of Steele County assisted in writing the original grant application and continues to serve as fiscal agent for the Coalition. The Coalition maintains its’ office within the United Way building at 1850 Austin Road suite 103 in Owatonna, MN. We are grateful for our close relationship and partnership with the United Way of Steele County.

The governing body of the coalition is the Steering Committee, which is comprised of a minimum of 12 community members representing each required sector and meet monthly. The full community coalition meets quarterly. All project and budgeting decisions are voted upon by a simple majority of members present with a goal of consensus-based decision making.

The Steele County Coalition for Healthy Youth is a community-based partnership that has mobilized a county-wide effort to develop and implement strategies to prevent youth alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drug abuse relying largely on volunteers and in-kind goods and services. Together we can create a safer community by empowering our youth to choose a chemical-free lifestyle.