A coalition meeting was held on March 13 at the Montgomery City Public Library community room to come up with ideas on preventing substance abuse and suicide among youth in Montgomery County.

A total of 12 people from seven different organizations attended the one-hour meeting that focused on creating long-term positive change in the county. Olivia Hunt, who is the prevention coordinator with Compass Health Network for Montgomery County, was the meeting’s coordinator.

The Compass Health prevention department has a grant with the Missouri Department of Mental Health to provide substance use and mental health education to 29 counties, including Montgomery. After Compass Health Network officials found out there was interest in starting a coalition in Montgomery County, a welcome meeting was held on Feb. 13 at MCPL.

The second meeting on March 13 focused on the next steps of building a coalition in the Montgomery County community. Besides Hunt, the other attendees included Laura Ludlow of Compass Health, Casey Henry and Lily Duroy of Youth In Need, Jordan Reichert and Kelsey White of Turning Point, Amy Gilbert of the Warren County Developmental Disabilities Board, Dori Moore of the Department of Social Services, Kimberly Hewlett of the Missouri Children’s Division, Wellsville-Middletown R-I social worker Ashley Owen and John Bax of the Arthur Center.

A coalition is an action between members of a group to work together to reach a common goal. Moore said the Montgomery County Coalition will be successful if the local church groups get involved.

“They can bring a lot to the table,” Moore said. “We could also have where we would come in and do some sort of presentation. We can invite all of the churches to that along with parents to get that education out there.”

For most of the meeting, a student survey — which was given to students grades 6-12 — was discussed. According to the survey, there has been an increase of students in the county using substances such as e-cigarettes, marijuana and methamphetamine and many students have experienced depression.

Ludlow, who is the production manager for the Compass Health, said the key findings in the survey were suicide deaths remain high in the county and many schools and parents lack consistent resources and support.

Hunt said she created a program called Catch My Breath, which targeted middle school students in the Montgomery City area. The program tries to help students avoid substances such as cigarettes and alcohol.

“That’s where I’m going through and explaining the effects of the body and how much the tobacco industry is spending on advertising,” Hunt said. “They actually get to make a social media campaign post in groups. It’s like a four-day program that we do in the schools.”

Owen said in the meeting that her school tried to organize an activity to help children stop using substances. But a lack of transportation and parental engagement was an issue.

“I know the Arthur Center hosted a fishing day for youth to get them out of the house and get them outside,” Owen said.

“They offered to feed them. The people who showed up are the people in the area. It was offered to us, but there weren’t many of our residents who could get there to participate. Even if the kids wanted to participate, parents weren’t willing to take them there.”

Moore said limited cell phone use would help prevent children from suffering depression.

“You can play on that phone for so long,” she said. “Here they are in their bedroom unsupervised with this little gadget that could literally in seconds turn the world upside down. That’s a lot on how trafficking got started. When I was a kid, we didn’t have any of that stuff, so we had to go outside and use your imagination. They don’t have to do that anymore. If they can get away from this and the bullying that goes along with it, I think you’ll see less suicide attempts and less depression.”

The next coalition meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on April 29 at MCPL.