SAFE Glen Cove Coalition: The Community has Spoken

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition held their Sustainability Planning meeting on October 17th to discuss the results of their recently designed survey to poll the community regarding the need for reinstatement of alcohol and mental health services, especially for youth ages 5 to 17. This data, combined with data from Coalition sectors the Glen Cove School District, Glen Cove EMS, Glen Cove Police Department, Glen Cove ER and SAFE outreach and clinical services, will provide the foundation for grant writing and other funding opportunities.

The data collected was a statistically significant representative sample for the Coalition to proceed with pursuing a Youth and Family Counseling Center. Overall, the data indicated 49.86% of responses were youth between ages of 14-18. The rest of the data was obtained from ages 19- 65 and over. This is a salient point when applying for funding for a Youth and Family Counseling Center to serve youth between 5 and 17. Alcohol, Depression and Anxiety are the top 3 areas of concern followed by marijuana, tobacco and prescription drugs. Responses indicate that 62.18% want youth services, 53.22% counseling, 53.72% treatment and 49.43% want prevention services. 85.91 % responded yes for the need of a Youth and Family Counseling Center.

Next steps for the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition are to collate all community data and discuss a strategic plan for the implementation of the Center.

The mission of the Coalition is to eliminate alcohol and substance abuse in Glen Cove. The Coalition is overseen by SAFE's Board of Directors and Co-Chaired by Health Teacher Tony Gallo and SAFE Executive Director, Dr. Sharon Harris and led by SAFE Board Chair and Strategic Planner, Georgie Connett.

The Coalition is aware of the community's needs through its ongoing collaborative efforts. It is composed of twelve sectors of the community which are: youth, youth serving organizations, parents, business community, media, school, law enforcement, faith based organizations, civic and volunteer groups, healthcare professionals, state, county and local governmental agencies and other organizations with expertise in substance abuse.

To take the Survey and for more information about SAFE, Inc. and the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition visit the website at http://www.safeglencove.org or our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or call 516-676-2008.