The Anoka Consortium for Healthy Communities Initiative
Q: What has a core leadership group of 17 persons, a partnership with public and private institutions, a rich community history, a Fish Pond, a Halloween Parade and a willingness to blend long-term solutions with new and fresh ideas for healthy communities?
A: The Northwestern Anoka County Community Consortium.
For almost a year the Consortium has met and worked toward developing healthy communities with an emphasis on developing a community-wide vision for positive youth development. Funded largely by the Allina Foundation, the consortium is a joint powers partnership established by Anoka County, Anoka-Hennepin I.S.D.#11, and the cities of Anoka, Andover and Ramsey. The area boasts two fast-growing school districts: Anoka- Hennepin with 38,000 students and Elk River with 8,000 students. Add the fast-growing communities of Andover and Ramsey, and youth emphasis makes great sense. Former Anoka County Attorney R.W. Johnson, who was instrumental in creating the Consortium, likes the uniqueness of this special community effort. "For the first time in the history of Minnesota, five units of government are collaborating for the purpose of encouraging the people in our area to develop core values for the community," said Johnson. Consortium chairperson Jean Kincanon, principal at Washington Elementary School in the City of Anoka said, "My hope is through mobilizing the community, we can start making a real difference in the lives of our children."
The community contracted with the Minnesota Institute of Public Health, who helped facilitate the development of a community action plan designed to address baseline indicator behaviors such as alcohol binge drinking, illicit drug use, depression and suicide, trouble with the law, children spending extensive time home alone, and a lack of in-depth conversation with a non-parent adult. Evaluation of progress toward the baseline indicator behaviors will be provided by a recent Search Institute youth needs assessment survey. A Community Action Plan
The agenda of the community action plan is ambitious, but then again so are the Consortium members, volunteers and existing public and private institutions involved. Over the next 18 months, the Consortium hopes to affect the baseline indicators data listed above by:
strengthening student-centered alcohol use prevention programs, developing alcohol standards and guidelines within community celebrations, conducting parent education, shining the spotlight on those things that have helped make a difference, developing youth centers, after-school activities and other meaningful ways where young people can spend their time productively learning from one another and the adults in their community, and evaluating whether the efforts make a difference.
The focus on positive assets for youth doesn't preclude other youth-oriented projects. For example, a new middle school level youth center opened in Anoka and the Consortium immediately looked for ways to support it.
But creating, strengthening and promoting youth-serving programs is only part of the effort. The bigger picture includes a serious look at ongoing parent education, discussion of a civic center, a new and improved community swimming pool, promotion of healthy values, emphasis on county history, a regional library and the promotion of a county-wide conference on children and youth.
The conference has been scheduled for April 30, 1997 at the Blaine Sports Center with the Search Institute's 40 developmental assets as the theme.
More will be shared in IMPACT on the Anoka County initiatives as they develop.