The Minnesota Institute of Public Health was awarded an $840,000 four-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to develop a statewide coalition (Minnesota Join Together Coalition) that will raise public awareness of the benefits of reducing underage drinking. This grant is part of a national initiative to reduce underage drinking. Minnesota is one of 11 states to receive a grant, as announced on January 21, 1997 by RWJF and the American Medical Association.

Jean Funk, Program Manager of the grant, shared details of what the next four years might hold for this project. At a press conference at the Asian American Press, Funk first shared glimpses of how very personal and vital this type of initiative is for the future of our youth. She relayed the following experience, "I recently attended the Project DARE graduation at Phalen Lake Elementary school in St. Paul. There were over 130 excited and motivated fifth graders pledging that they will not use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. They were so sincere and so sure of themselves in their resolve not to use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.

The guest speaker asked the youngsters what they wanted to be when they grew up. Many of course wanted to be basketball players or baseball players. And some wanted to be lawyers. He told them that they needed to keep their eyes on the prize and to make decisions today that will get them to their dreams in the future. What the Minnesota Join Together Coalition will be about, is helping to make sure, as a community, that these young people will be able to realize those dreams; that alcohol abuse and all the problems related to it, will not steal those dreams from them."

How do we protect young people's dreams?
The Coalition plans to aggressively work toward changing policies and practices to reduce underage alcohol access and to create an environment that discourages its use. The Coalition pledges to:
• Work at changing the context of our community to support the norm that alcohol use by underage youth is not acceptable.
• Focus on reducing the accessibility of alcohol for underage youth.
• Include youth in the planning and implementation of the strategies.
• Build an action plan around research-based strategies focusing on solutions to the problem of youth drinking.

The future is one of promise. The Coalition is ready to face obstacles and/or opportunities along the way and is convinced that youth do not promote, provide or profit from alcohol. This is an adult and community responsibility. Rather than focusing on each individual youth and his or her decision to drink or not to drink, the approach will be to change the community environment that either looks the other way, does not enforce laws already in place, or makes it all too easy for young people to get alcohol and to drink it. The Coalition will do that through raising public awareness of the problem of youth alcohol use and mobilizing community support for change that will help ensure a safer and healthier environment for our youth. "As a Coalition we will work hard so that young people in our communities, like those fifth graders at Phalen Lake, will have less access to alcohol, and real access to their dreams," concluded Funk.