History

In the fall of 2005…….two local social workers were discussing how they could better serve their substance using youth clients. Some measure of success had been evident in youth that had few prior problems and could be matched with known prevention services but it had become clear that the majority of clients/families were in need of a more comprehensive system of services. The available resources appeared to be limited and neither was sure if the known services were representative of the greater community. Working together with a local drug and alcohol counselor to list available resources it became clear that all had resources unknown to the others and the idea for a community-wide collaborative effort was born to provide a prevention, intervention and treatment-based approach to providing substance abuse services to the youth and families in the community.

The first meeting of The Rochester Community Alcohol and Drug Prevention Coalition took place in December of 2005, at the Rochester Police Department, with approximately 20 people attending. The first few months were spent recruiting a core group of hard-working individuals to take up the cause, defining our mission and long-term goals, educating ourselves on the existing resources and formulating a needs list. Many members of the community participated in various aspects of the process and a blueprint for future goals was mapped as well as what could be done in the short-term through coordination and collaboration efforts.

In the first 3 years, the Coalition was instrumental in the implementation of several key pieces needed to provide better immediate services to youth and families, namely:

• The hiring of a high school drug counselor
• The implementation of a Parent Education series, coordinated by the School Resource Officers, and offered at both the Middle School and High School.
• The recommitment to the Dare Program, by the Rochester Police Department, with education being provided at several elementary schools; and the addition of the middle school and high school level Dare Programs.
• The refocusing of the SADD Club at SHS to be actively involved in the recruitment and organizing of a Youth Coalition and providing a voice to causes that affect youth in our community.
• Increased merchant education and compliance checks efforts by the Rochester Police Department to reduce underage liquor sales

In early 2008, a group of coalition members researched ways to expand the work of the coalition as it became clear more was needed and that managing the coalition was becoming a fulltime job for members. The Drug Free Communities Grant Program became an avenue for funding, however the coalition was not a recognized non-profit organization. So the coalition partnered with the Northern Stafford Health and Safety Council as their goals were similar around the health and safety of the community to apply for the grant.

Through the process of writing the grant, the group decided to change the name of the coalition to better reflect its goal and start to create a recognizable entity in the community. The new name became Bridging the Gaps: The Rochester Community Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Prevention (Bridging the Gaps for short).

In August 2008, Bridging the Gaps received notice that is was a new recipient of the DFC Grant and would be receiving $125,000 a year for 5-10 years. With this wonderful news the group set out to search for a full time coordinator and start to expand the work of the coalition.