Meet Our Members.
Sherrie
Booker
I represent two counties in middle Tennessee that are located west of Nashville. Dickson County has a population of just over 54,000 and Humphreys has over 18,500 in their population.
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My desire to join CAB was to support my communities and be part of efforts towards prevention, education, and treatment of the opioid epidemic.
Dickinson and Humphreys County Tennessee
Alice
McCaffrey
Our universal prevention efforts serve all of the 12 - 25 year olds in our community. Our secondary prevention efforts serve community members with a substance use disorder who: 1) survived an overdose, 2) are justice involved, 3) have a family member with an SUD. Our harm reduction efforts are to: 1) train any person or organization in the region who may need to administer Narcan, 2) help them attain Naloxone or provide it to them, and 3) to create an acute overdose response plan.
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As a CAB member, Interested in learning from the app building aspect of the project and new ways to engage harder-to-reach communities.
Sullivan County, Tennessee
Courtney Midkiff, BSC
Meigs County, OH, is located in the southeast region of the state. Largely rural and lying on the Appalachian Plateau along the northwestern part of the Appalachian Mountains, Meigs County features 433 square miles of green rolling hills and rugged forested terrain interspersed with populated areas of great spirit and strong need. It is bordered on the eastern and southern boundaries by over 56 miles of the Ohio River shoreline, miles that boast scenic stretches of land, farms and a hallowed civil war battlefield memorial. County residents boast of the calming mist that floats over the river on cool mornings, where you are apt to see a coal barge drift peacefully upstream. Featuring five villages, 12 townships, the waterfall at Forked Run, the Fur Peace Concert Hall, small shops, farmer’s markets and a memorial for local fallen soldiers at the stately Meigs County Courthouse, Meigs County is home to welcoming communities, schools and businesses, and several outdoor recreation opportunities. The region is proud to promote the benefits of small-town life - lower cost of living, supportive community spirit, strong self-determination, and geographic splendor. The region is also characterized by a challenged economy, high rates of poverty, chronic illness and mortality, high rates of substance abuse, and need for a greater priority on health and prosperity by residents.
The work of the CAB meets several of the 10 Essential Public Health Services including but not limited to improve and innovate through evaluation, research and quality improvement. I am a member of the Meigs County Community Prevention Coalition. Substance abuse and mental health again were identified as top priority areas in the 2020 Meigs County Community Health Assessment.
Meigs County, Ohio
Nancy
Bell
The heart of the district is suffering extreme substance use disorder issues including high overdose and suicide rates. Leaders are reluctant to embrace needle exchange or drug-assisted recovery programs, but dedicated groups continue to work towards acceptance. Generational poverty, high unemployment rates, and lower school achievement than state averages. Lifestyle health is needed and currently being offered by a number of programs, but uptake is slow. Domestic violence and some violent crimes are higher than state average here. Have lost one community hospital which was unable to sustain itself financially leaving the residents of an extremely mountainous area of the district without access. Lots of grant-funded programs aimed at improving these conditions underway with some early progress being observed.
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I became a member of CAB to enjoy the benefits of thinking from outside the community, insights from others, another tool to serve people in the health district.
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West Piedmont Health District (Franklin, Henry, Patrick county), Virginia
Breanne Forbes Hubbard
Reason for joining CAB: To offer our experiences in rural health and learn best practices from others to improve lives in our community.
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Southwest Virginia is a beautiful part of Appalachia, with a strong cultural heritage of working together, celebrating our strengths, and creatively strategizing to address barriers. Our region has disproportionately poor health outcomes across a variety of metrics, and suffers from the substance use epidemic. Regional strengths include our beautiful outdoors, strong local farming community, rich musical background, and of course, our people.
Bristol, Virginia
Isabel Barajas
Reason for joining CAB: I was excited to find a network where I’d be working alongside other community members who share similar struggles in their rural communities, and together finding solutions.
Our district is located in the North Georgia Mountains. It is unique in that it is made up of 6 counties varying from metro Atlanta area, to suburbs, to rural town. Out of our 6 counties 4 of them are rural counties who have experienced higher rates of substance abuse. It is troubling because these smaller areas are normally the areas with the least amount of resources and funding. Over the last 3 years we have tried to gather data in those counties (Gilmer, Fannin, Murray, and Pickens) and distribute it to our community partners and begin the development of community efforts in opioid use disorder. We want to eliminate stigmas associated with getting help, and increase education to everyone about substance abuse disorders.
Dalton, GA (District 1-2 of Georgia DPH)
Anita
Bertram, BSW
Lewis Countians are strong independent group of people who are proud to serve the fellow man.
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When ask to be CAB member I wanted to be part of a group that wanted to understand Lewis County the strengths as well as the needs.
Lewis County,
Kentucky
Charlene
Rine
Marshall County is a part rural County. Population is around 30,000. Unemployment and poverty are prevalent. Coal and steel industries are no longer large employers. Dealing with mental health and substance abuse disorders among the population.
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I was invited to CAB and thought that the information provided would be useful to the R.I.S.E. Prevention Coalition of which I am co-coordinator.
R resources
I inspiration
S strategies
E education
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Marshall county,
West Virginia