To combat the problem more thoroughly, however, takes the involvement of the entire community. To educate people in Blue Ash, Montgomery, Symmes and Sycamore, the Northeast Community Challenge Coalition conducted a Meth Summit: It’s Everybody’s Problem on Monday, May 1, at the Clarion Hotel in Blue Ash.

About 25 members of the community participated, including people who work in pharmacy, real estate, health care and education.

“Meth is very real, and it’s definitely in the area,” said Staff Sgt. Stacey Hambel with the Ohio National Guard Counter-Drug Task and a liaison to Ohio Resource Network. She spoke on drug-endangered children.

Education of community members is essential for detection of meth in our communities, according to Holly Pohler, a certified specialist in Poison Information at the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Citizens need to report suspicious activity, such as:

-             strong smells that might resemble urine, ether ammonia or nail polish remover;

-             areas with little daytime traffic but frequent night traffic;

-             covered windows and doors;

-             residents who burn their own trash;

-             inhabitants who smoke outside due to fumes; and/or

-             sudden activity in formerly abandoned buildings.

Both she and Lt. Matt Johnson, with the Village of Greenhills Police Department, asked participants to be aware of materials used to make meth, such as lantern fuel, propane tanks with blue valve discoloration or attachments, red-stained coffee filters, hose or tubing taped to water jugs or gas cans, glassware or mason jars, lithium batteries, common household chemicals, numerous butane lighters, or soda bottles with tubes coming out of the lids. Lt. Johnson showed visuals of numerous meth-production materials that have been collected in the local area.

If moving into a new piece of property, people are encouraged to check for former use as a meth lab, because for every pound of meth made, six pounds of waste is generated, according to Pohler.

Meth use causes malnutrition, skin infections, lung damage, hallucinations, severe depression, poor coping ability, and violent behavior. Even those who stop using meth continue to have abnormal brain chemistry long after abstaining. The success rate for breaking the meth cycle through treatment currently only is 4 percent, according to Pohler.

Children of meth users are endangered by their parents’ addictions because their living conditions are different, according to Hambel. From Oct. 1, 2004, to Sept. 30, 2005, 120 children in Ohio were affected by meth, she said.  

NECC’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate all community sectors in identifying and implementing programs that promote healthy communities and healthy youth. 

The Meth Summit was a project of NECC, funded by the Drug-Free Action Alliance, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy through a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Drug-free Communities Grant; and in-kind support from the NECC Coalition Community Board.

A national initiative brought the dangers of underage drinking into the classroom at Edwin H. Greene Intermediate School in Sycamore Township.

Greene Intermediate was one of hundreds of schools across the nation participating in the April Reach Out Now Teach-In event as part of Alcohol Awareness Month. The Teach-In was a follow-up to the March 28 Town Hall Meeting, “Start Talking Before They Start Drinking.”

Science teacher Mrs. Rose Schnieders taught her 6^th grade students about the effects of alcohol on the brain and the effects of alcohol marketing on youth.

“I borrowed a (gelatin) brain, along with two other brain models, from our school nurse,” she said. “The kids were able to examine these as we talked about the effects. They were very interested in the topic, and that led to lots of questions and sharing.”

She said the children were quick to point out that they watch a lot more television than most adults, and see more of the commercials. “Our DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program also stresses the effects of alcohol marketing on youth,” she said.

Corroborating the children’s message at school, the NECC Youth Coalition’s annual Super Bowl Survey conducted at Greene Intermediate revealed that the most popular game-time ad featured Budweiser.

Schnieders said the Teach-In program was a great follow-up to the DARE program conducted at the school. “It gave them an opportunity to review what to do in situations when alcohol is offered by their peers,” she said.

Schnieders followed up the class by sending home the parent section of the “Reach Out Now: Start Talking Before They Start Drinking” program packet. It included pages addressing key actions parents can take to prevent childhood alcohol use; facts about alcohol’s effects; communication tips; productive dialogue tips; role-playing ideas; and resources.

By sending the information home, Schnieders assisted families with exerting influence over their children’s decisions about alcohol use. According to SAMHSA administrator Charles G. Curie, “Children say that their parents’ disapproval of underage drinking is the key reason they have chosen not to drink.”

Phillip Hackett, principal of Greene Intermediate, said he liked that the program included extending the lesson into home discussions. “What a worthwhile program,” he added. “I loved the way the lessons were designed and how they met the kids’ needs at this level. And, I sincerely appreciate the support of NECC.”

Research shows that adolescents drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems when their parents talk to them about underage drinking and set clear expectations and boundaries, according to Loretta Novince, Ph.D., grant project director for NECC.

The Teach-In was sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and the Northeast Community Challenge Coalition.

The NECC Coalition’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate all community sectors in identifying and implementing programs that promote healthy communities and healthy youth in the communities of Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sycamore and Symmes. The community sectors include schools, colleges, senior services, service organizations, parents, social services, law enforcement, government, businesses, faith-based organizations, health organizations, youth and media.

Sheila Krogh was really surprised by what she learned some teens are using to alter their states of consciousness.

“Kids use (eye drops),” she said. “They drink it in (some of) their (soft drinks) and it has a very strong effect on their level of consciousness. I was absolutely astonished. That’s the kind of stuff that we heard.”

She and her husband, who have attended the Keys to Successful Youth Conference Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Clarion Hotel in Blue Ash.

The conference was a project of the Northeast Community Challenge Coalition, which serves the municipalities of Blue Ash, Montgomery, Symmes and Sycamore. The conference featured 12 workshops and two keynote speakers on how to unlock the potential in youth through Developmental Assets. Developmental Assets are the healthy building blocks to child and adolescent development identified by Search Institute.

Krogh had attended the “Emerging Trends in Drug Abuse: Spotlight on Youth” workshop led by Jonathan Colvin, manager and senior specialist in poison information at the Drug and Poison Information Center in Cincinnati.

After the conference, Krogh talked with her teenage daughter about teens using Visine. Her daughter surprised her by telling her about another method used by some youth to get high, and then they talked about experimenting with inhalants, said Krogh.

Krogh’s husband, Ross, attended the workshop “Avoiding Cyber Predators: Internet Safety Training,” led by Cathy Deardoff, curriculum specialist with SOITA.

“He is very tech savvy,” Krogh said of her husband. “He works with the internet every day, and he learned so much from the person who did that workshop. He came home with a new understanding.”

Some internet organizations hosting face books require kids to provide full information about themselves and require them to check a box that allows the organization to sell the information, Ross had told Sheila.

“If the kids put photos on their account, those photos become the property of that site manager,” she said. “Yet parents and kids are being led to believe these are a very safe way for kids to be in communication with their friends.

“We enjoyed the conference so much. The speakers were very qualified to speak in the areas they were talking about. I was so impressed.

“What we all have to do is get this information out to people who aren’t going to go out on a Saturday and attend a conference.”

Lee Langston, of Montgomery, found the depth of information at the conference could assist him both as a parent and as youth adviser at Operation Give Back in Blue Ash, a youth center and after-school program he co-founded.

He attended “The Underachievement Syndrome” workshop led by Mark Evans, Psy.D., clinical psychologist with Family Success Consortium in Cincinnati.

“I came out with a couple of nuggets that I really want to implement,” he said, “especially with our kids that are underachievers--to be self-starters and to understand they do have something they can contribute.”

The first idea he wants to implement is to establish a summit that would bring together parents, teens and counselors to increase communication among them.

“People can share their concerns, thoughts and ideas and come up with some solutions--not general, but specifics for those who are at the summit.”

He would like to increase the effectiveness of the students so they can become leaders, self-starters and achievers and thereby reach their full potential.

Langston said the conference was very good. “I wish more people would have been able to come,” he said. “I really believe what the NECC is doing is right-on. I am encouraged by the types of programs and the type of information they are bringing to this area via these workshops and conferences.”

The NECC Coalition’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate all sectors of the community to work collaboratively in identifying and implementing strategies that promote Healthy Communities ~ Healthy Youth.

For more information about NECC, please visit www.necchealthycommunity.org/

CONTACT: Loretta C. Novince, PhD, 310-6261 (cell)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                 Contact:  ONDCP
Tuesday, November 29, 2005                                                                          202-395-6618
Dr. Loretta Novince, NECC
513-489-2587

            (Washington, D.C.) –The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently announced that the Northeast Community Challenge Coalition, located in Blue Ash, Ohio, has been awarded a $500,000, 5-year Drug-Free Communities matching grant.

The grant was one of 176 new grants totaling $17.1 million awarded to community anti-drug coalitions across the country. The goal of the 711 local coalitions is to work together to prevent and reduce drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse among youth. 

Coalitions are comprised of government leaders, senior citizens, parents, youth, schools, clergy, social and service organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and the media.

            This is great news for the anti-drug efforts of Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sycamore Township and Symmes Township, according to Loretta C. Novince, Ph.D., grant project director.

“The Drug-Free Communities Program and other drug prevention efforts are important elements of a balanced national drug control strategy,” she said. “The NECC Coalition is doing crucial drug prevention work in our community, and this additional influx of federal money will help the Coalition expand its efforts in using multiple strategies and multiple sectors to create Healthy Communities ~ Healthy Youth.”

            John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy and U.S. President George W. Bush’s “drug czar,” said, “As a nation, we have made significant progress in protecting our young people from the dangers of substance abuse, with a 17 percent reduction in drug use over the last three years. This grant will help the dedicated citizens of Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sycamore Township and Symmes Township contribute even more to this effort and will help build on the important progress being made to keep our children healthy and drug-free.”

            The Drug-Free Communities Program provides grants of up to $500,000 over five years to community organizations that serve as catalysts for citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. The 176 new grantees were selected from 411 applicants through a competitive peer-review process.  

To qualify for matching grants, all awardees must have at least a six-month history of working together on substance abuse reduction initiatives, develop a long-term plan to reduce substance abuse, and participate in a national evaluation of the Drug-Free Communities Program.

            Created under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, the Drug-Free Communities Program has earned strong bipartisan support from Congress.

More information about the Drug-Free Communities Program is available at:

www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov, and http://drugfreecommunities.samhsa.gov/

For Immediate Release

The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition took a collective stand against under-age use of alcohol and tobacco and all use of illegal drugs, launching its 18^th annual Red Ribbon Campaign on Monday, Oct. 24.
The coalition serves the Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sycamore Township and Symmes Township communities and consists of about 40 organizations.
The need for all 12 sectors of these communities to work together was emphasized during the breakfast at Embassy Suites Hotel in Blue Ash, which drew about 100 participants.
NECC’s local campaign goals are to mobilize every sector of the community into making illegal use of drugs and alcohol socially unacceptable, and to educate the community about the importance of sending clear, consistent messages about the health and legal effects of underage drinking and other drug use.
This year’s campaign emphasizes more fully engaging the health sector in encouraging conversations between teens and parents about the dangers of alcohol..
The NECC Youth Coalition, which includes students from Archbishop Moeller High School, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Sycamore High School, and Ursuline Academy, announced their new Physicians’--Dentists’ Initiative.
This youth coalition project will provide these doctors and teens and their parents with information and talking points about the health effects of under-age drinking, said Brant Osborne, a coalition member and a senior at Sycamore High School.
The initiative grew out of input from parent and student surveys and from focus groups, he said. The youth coalition learned that many pediatricians did not address the health consequences of underage drinking with their patients.
The year-long campaign involves youth meeting with doctors and dentists to encourage them to discuss the health consequences of underage drinking and illegal drug use with their patients. At the offices, the youth will leave posters and brochures they have developed, according to Kristy Barngrover, NECC Youth Coalition member and a senior at Sycamore High School.
Supplied with this information, pediatricians and dentists can increase awareness among teens and their parents about the health and legal consequences of underage drinking.
“Our main goal is to increase the perception of harm of underage drinking,” said Barngrover.
Pediatrician Dr. Richard Heyman, of Montgomery, said this goal ties in perfectly with his goals as head of the adolescent health section of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Ohio.
“One of the things that I think is more important for physicians who take care of young people is to talk about the issue of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs,” he said. “This is the issue we are going to be pushing over the next three years.”
He said the NECC Youth Coalition will take the lead at the state level in promoting their initiative.
“The young people here have done a wonderful job,” he said. “They have really tried to develop some strategies to get health care professionals to talk about the issue.
“It takes us only a couple of minutes to add that message in with that discussion of sore throats and runny noses, but it takes a real commitment on the part of the pediatrician to do that. That commitment is going to come from young people coming into our offices, sitting down with us and telling us that you need to hear this message.”
Later during the campaign kick-off, Dr. Heyman received the Community Asset Award from the NECC Youth Coalition for his contributions to, support of and dedication to healthy youth development.
The Physicians’-Dentists’ Initiative also will be marketed as a community-wide campaign through the 40 NECC coalition members.
Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, 2^nd Congressional District of Ohio, also spoke during the breakfast and applauded the NECC Youth Coalition’s campaign.
“It’s that kind of grass-roots effort that will help us win the war on drugs,” she said.
The grass-roots effort is supported by a new, five-year, $500,000 grant received by the NECC this year, according to Dr. Loretta Novince, grant project director.
The grant, from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will expand the coalition’s efforts to build on progress being made to keep children healthy and drug-free.
After gathering data on underage use of drugs, including alcohol, the coalition developed a 5-year strategic plan. This community-wide plan includes training for all sectors, youth development, mini grants available for the school prevention groups, and in-service training for nurses, educators, and administrators in schools.
“Our goal is to reduce alcohol and drug use,” she said.
NECC is focusing this year on asking all community sectors to set healthy boundaries and expectations for youth. Setting healthy boundaries and expectations is one of the 40 developmental assets, identified by the Search Institute, which protect all children from risk-taking behaviors.
“When all community sectors come together to talk about boundaries and high expectations for healthy behavior, this gives youth support and empowerment, and gives them the skills and competencies they need so that they will be free of the risk factors in their lives,” she said.
Risky behavior involving emerging illegal drug trends was discussed during the breakfast by Lt. Dennis Boone, Blue Ash Police Department. He identified the growing local threat of the illegal drug methamphetamine, known as “meth.”
“It’s here,” he said. “Over the last 2 years in Blue Ash, we’ve already found three of these mobile meth labs. This is bad stuff. Probably worse than crack, and crack is worse than heroine.”
Making methamphetamine involves using highly explosive, corrosive and poisonous chemicals, he explained. “Some of these chemicals even explode when you put water on them.”
One chemical used in meth labs—which can be found in hotel rooms and in car trunks—can kill on contact. The police are teaching people at hotels what to look for to prevent their rooms from being turned into meth labs.
“We are happy to be a part of anything that can stop the spread of this mess,” he said. “We need all of us to stop this trend.”
NECC is implementing methamphetamine-awareness training for area establishments.
Mona Morrow, community affairs director for WCPO, Channel 9 TV, also is concerned about illegal use of drugs and alcohol in the community. She emphasized how each sector of the coalition can provide essential assistance in positive youth development and in protecting youth from risky behavior. She represented parents when she spoke at the event.
“We need each other,” she said. “We can’t afford to quit. On behalf of parents today, I need you to persist without limitation. I need help, 24/7, until our communities, and our children, and our young people are drug-free.”
Resources for assisting the community in fulfilling the NECC Coalition mission of promoting healthy communities and healthy youth are available by contacting the NECC Coalition office.

Contact: Dr. Loretta Novince, 489-2587
www.necchealthycommunity.org

CINCINNATI –June 27, 2002– As part of a continued mission to curb drug and alcohol use in the northeastern area of Hamilton County, The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition (NECC) recently spearheaded an underage drinking campaign targeted at parents of graduating high school seniors from Archbishop Moeller, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Sycamore and Ursuline Academy.

Through mail distribution of a brochure entitled, “A Message to Parents about High Risk Drinking at College,” parents were provided with a guide that furnishes information about the dangerous practice of high risk drinking at colleges.

The brochure purports that 52% of today’s college drinkers drink with the sole intent of getting intoxicated and explores correlations between crime, violence and alcohol, state laws regarding alcohol, tips to prompt communication between parents and their college age students and consequences associated with high risk drinking.

Dissemination of this brochure was made possible through NECC’s partnership with Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth (OPDFY). In the brochure, First Lady of Ohio and founder of OPDFY, Hope Taft, states, “Alcohol can lead to lower grade point averages, life-compromising situations and life-changing events that can rob our children of their dreams and even their lives. It is important that we, as parents, remind our children the choices they make today will affect the rest of their lives.”

Dedicated to promoting healthy communities for healthy youth, NECC is committed to providing all sectors and individuals in the community with the resources they need to make healthy choices and ultimately, lead healthy lifestyles. “It’s disturbing that over one-third of America’s alcoholics are under the age of 21,” states Bill Siegel, president of the NECC. The perception remains that many people still don’t realize that alcohol can be fatal if consumed excessively. Hopefully this initiative will prompt parents to address the issue with their children and ultimately, curb this risky practice among college students.”

For more information on high risk drinking at college, please visit the Higher Education Center at http://www.edc.org/hec/parents/#2.

Developed in 1983, The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition mobilizes all sectors of the community to work collaboratively in promoting healthy lifestyles for a healthy community, positive community values and positive youth development. The NECC includes representation from area schools, colleges, senior services, service organizations, parent/parents organizations, social services, law enforcement, government, business, faith-based organizations, health organizations, youth organizations and media. For more information on the coalition, visit www.necchealthycommunity.org or call the NECC office at 513.489.2587.

CINCINNATI –June 5, 2002– The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition (NECC) was recently awarded the 2001 Red Ribbon “Impact Award” from Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth. The coalition was selected for this honor for coordinating the best Red Ribbon Celebration in Ohio that had the greatest community-wide impact on increasing awareness about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

NECC’s full-blown campaign kicked off with the arrival of 15,000 red ribbons flown to the Blue Ash Airport by the Ohio National Guard for distribution to the community. Middle school students, community leaders and board members were on hand to greet the guard, receive the first ribbons and hear an address on the importance of character and a drug-free lifestyle.

The campaign gained further momentum at the annual NECC Red Ribbon breakfast. Themed “Into the Future Drug Free,” the breakfast featured a keynote address from Robert W. Denniston of The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the showing of a 10 minute infomercial entitled, “Community: Our Anti-Drug, developed by the NECC Youth Coalition and insights from Congressman Rob Portman who spoke on the importance of grass roots coalition building.

“The war on drugs is at an all time high and our message of equipping young people with positive assets such as positive values, expectations and boundaries and support in order to curb those behaviors is vital to our future. We fully support the Red Ribbon initiative and place supreme importance on a community-wide effort. Only then can we build healthy communities and healthy youth,” states Dr. Loretta Novince, co-president of the NECC.

In concert with the kickoff and breakfast events, NECC’s forty-one community board members distributed over 15,000 brochures, ribbons, pencils and magnets to community organizations within its parameters promoting messages of asset building, caring communities and drug and alcohol free lifestyles. Within area schools, teachers were encouraged to speak with students about the effects of alcohol and drug use, and students participated in projects with the campaigns theme “What’s Your Anti-Drug?”

Developed in 1983, The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition mobilizes all sectors of the community to work collaboratively in promoting healthy lifestyles for a healthy community, positive community values and positive youth development. Comprised of forty-one organizations that impact over 50,000 community members, the NECC includes representation from area schools, colleges, senior services, service organizations, parent/parents organizations, social services, law enforcement, government, business, faith-based organizations, health organizations, youth organizations and media. For more information on the coalition, visit www.necchealthycommunity.org.

CINCINNATI, May 31, 2002---The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition (NECC) recently partnered with The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to deliver a seminar on the importance of community-wide coalition involvement at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Designed to fuel community momentum and augment current prevention and reinforcement efforts, the seminar was geared at community members and leaders who have a commitment to building healthy communities and healthy youth through engaging all sectors in the community to work collaboratively.

Gregory L. Dixon of The White House Office of Drug Control Policy addressed an audience of approximately 75 community leaders on the importance of collaboration in community prevention efforts.

Additionally, members of the NECC Youth Coalition, a student based organization, highlighted a doctors’ initiative project designed to educate parents and youth about the adverse health effects of underage drinking and drug use and offer research-based prevention solutions. In concert with the youth presentation, former chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Substance Abuse, Dr. Richard B. Heyman, discussed the role a pediatrician plays in prevention and raising awareness among young patients and parents.

“Community involvement is essential to our success,” states Bill Siegel, co-president of the NECC. “In order to make an impact, messages promoting healthy behaviors must constantly be repeated ---by different people in a variety of ways. When community coalitions such as the NECC provide a framework through which the community at large can work together, change is accelerated and our children are the ultimate winners.”

The program closed with a recognition ceremony honoring board members who have contributed outstanding efforts to the mission of the coalition. Those honored included Archbishop Moeller High School, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, The City of Blue Ash, The Blue Ash-Montgomery Rotary, Blue Ash Revitalization, The Embassy Suites Cincinnati- Northeast, Sycamore Community Schools, The University of Cincinnati/Raymond Walters College and Ursuline High School.

Developed in 1983, The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition mobilizes all sectors of the community to work collaboratively in promoting healthy lifestyles for a healthy community, positive community values and positive youth development. Comprised of forty-one organizations throughout The City of Blue Ash, The City of Montgomery, Sycamore Township and Symmes Township, the NECC includes representation from area schools, colleges, senior services, service organizations, parent/parents organizations, social services, law enforcement, government, business, faith-based organizations, health organizations, youth organizations and media. For more information on the coalition, visit www.necchealthycommunity.org.

CINCINNATI –May 2, 2002– The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition (NECC) is spearheading a collaborative effort with area doctors and dentists to educate the general public about the health consequences of alcohol and drug use among youth and offer a research-based solution to the problem.

Members of NECC’s Youth Coalition will furnish educational brochures to area physician’s offices beginning early May. Students will team up with physicians to urge open discussion with patients regarding drug and alcohol abuse and distribute a brochure entitled, “We have a problem…How can you be a part of the solution?” The brochure will be available in several physician’s offices beginning June 2002.

The brochure offers facts about the dangers associated with drug and alcohol use and proposes a solution based on the concept of developmental assets. Developed by Minneapolis-based Search Institute and implemented locally by the NECC Community Wide Asset Initiative, this solution involves inoculating children and youth from engaging in risky behaviors through developing them with assets such as support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time, commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies and positive identity. These assets are known to promote the prevention of substance abuse, violence and school dropout, the enhancement of outcomes such as school success, the affirmation of diversity and the resiliency, or capacity to rebound in the face of adversity. A supplemental brochure containing comprehensive information about these developmental assets will also be available to patients and parents.

“Research shows that developmental assets help young people make wise decisions, choose positive paths and grow up competent, caring and responsible,” states Dr. Loretta Novince, developmental psychologist. “Providing educational materials and resources to the community at large can proactively set the standard for parents and other adults to provide youth and children with the building blocks they need for healthy development.”

“The general public is unaware of how colossal substance abuse problems are. By distributing these brochures at physician’s offices, we are hoping that children and parents will be concerned about substance abuse from a health, as well as an emotional perspective,” states Patricia Tate, Vice President of the NECC. “Hopefully, we can have a provocative impact on what has become a disturbing crisis.”

The NECC Youth Coalition is comprised of student leaders from Sycamore, Ursuline, Moeller and Cincinnati Hills high schools. The Youth Coalition is dedicated building a healthy community for healthy youth, children and families through asset development.

For more information on the NECC and its community-wide asset initiative, please contact the NECC office at 513.489.2587.

Developed in 1983, The Northeast Community Challenge Coalition mobilizes all sectors of the community to work collaboratively in promoting healthy lifestyles for a healthy community, positive community values and positive youth development. The NECC includes representation from area schools, colleges, senior services, service organizations, parent/parents organizations, social services, law enforcement, government, business, faith-based organizations, health organizations, youth organizations and media. For more information on the coalition, visit www.necchealthycommunity.org.