Zumbrota Town Hall Meeting

Wednesday evening, October 8th, 2008, Zumbrota community members met at a town hall meeting to learn about the chemical health issues facing our youth and show support for the development of the Zumbrota Chemical Health Initiative Council.

Underage drinking is a critical health and safety issue, and representatives from the entire community attended, including parents, youth, education professionals, health providers, members of the recovery community, law enforcement, members of the faith communities, civic group representatives, business owners, and concern citizens. It was encouraging to see Zumbrota community members volunteering to join the CHI Council, seeking to provide solutions for our young people, so that they don’t become the next generation of adults who need to deal with the devastating effects of chemical dependency.

Currently Goodhue County has three Local Chemical Health Initiative Councils, Zumbrota will be the fourth Council in the County. Tia Schimek, the Goodhue Council Chair and Tim Sletten, the Red Wing Council Chair shared their experiences working on chemical health issues through their local councils and offered their support to the Zumbrota community members as they begin to develop their Council.

At the meeting, attendees learned the latest information about the scope of underage drinking, and its consequences. Including that, young people who begin drinking before they're 15 are a whopping four times more likely to develop alcohol problems later in life than those who wait until they're 21. The group discussed how alcohol and drug use has affected the community. They also shared ideas on how if all community sectors (parents, schools, law enforcement, faith groups, youth organizations, support groups, civic organizations, and health providers) joined in a common effort and promoted chemical health it could improve the quality of life for individuals, families and the community as a whole.

Currently nominations are begin accepted for serving on the Zumbrota Council, anyone who is interested should contact the Community Coordinator, Jean Balcome-Dicke at 507-263-4594 or via email at jean.balcomedicke@goodhue-chi.org