top of page
Search

LCTFC Coalition Meeting Minutes | March 2025

  • Lake County Tobacco Free Coalition
  • Mar 18
  • 5 min read

10 in Attendance

[MEMBER NAMES REDACTED]


Welcome & Introductions

Thank you to Lake County Health Department for hosting the meeting.


Mental Moment

Everyone shared something they will give themselves permission to do for selfcare.


Narcan Presentation/Training

Kristina and Kelly presented information on addiction awareness, synthetic drugs, and experimentation trends. Meeting attendees were given Narcan Overdose Reversal Kits and were trained on how to administer the dose in an emergency and if an overdose is suspected.


Coalition Building Review

Quick review of Collective Power Framework, components of community competence, and how we sustain our work through collaborations. Showed a 60 second video on the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 20 Year Celebration.


2023-2025 Grant Updates

QNI

We were able to establish 2 new referral sources that utilize the IN Quitline Portal. We track the referrals to the portal monthly. We celebrate those that are consistent referrers, and we contact those we notice have stopped referring to find out if there was an internal change in process or try to determine the reason for the decline in referrals. Kirsten does outreach to providers, employers, and organizations monthly to give QNI presentations and promote use of the referral portal. She also provides QN resources that can be placed in waiting rooms, offices, etc. that promote the IN Quitline.


Employers

We would like the opportunity to present to employers the impact of a tobacco-free policy for their organization and the benefits to their team. We have conducted 1 employer presentation in Lake County and would like to build on this. If you know a business owner or someone in management at any Lake County business, please do a brief intro for us and connect us and we can take it from there. It is not a sales pitch. They do not have to buy anything. And we never take up more than 1 hour of their time, and that includes the Q&A portion of the presentation. Any employer that is thinking of adopting a smoke-free policy does get FREE assistance from us with the writing, adopting, and implementation phases of the process and we provide cessation resources.


MUH

We are still struggling to get tobacco grounds policies for multi-unit (MUH) properties. If you know someone that works for a MUH property in Lake County, please reach out to them to introduce us and we will do the heavy lifting. We just need them to know we do need them to share their tobacco policy with us and we would like the opportunity to discuss the benefits of a tobacco-free grounds policy. But as a success story we do have 1 property that is in the process of writing a tobacco-free grounds policy with our help. We conducted a presentation to property management and then went back to conduct a presentation to their residents on smoke-free living. We would like to build on this experience.


Schools

All assigned schools have been completed for IYTS


All IYTS assigned schools received a tobacco policy analysis that included what it will take for them to achieve a gold standard policy


100% of Lake County Public School Systems have been recognized by TPC as having a tobacco-free grounds policy. We are still working with each school system to achieve the gold standard which includes nonpunitive measures and alternatives to suspension for those found with tobacco products.


Some charter schools and private schools have reached out to LCTFC for presentations and resources regarding Vaping prevention and quitting resources for their students. To date all schools that have reached out have been responded to.


I send all school contacts that I have IHSAA resource materials that they can use for school announcements, announcements at sporting events, and even resources they can share on the school's website and social media regarding vaping.


Point-of-Sale (POS)

Irene and Nicole recently spoke on a Webinar hosted by TPC to local health departments regarding their participation in next year's STARS data collection. We discussed how we have used the POS results in the past to shape our efforts or work plans. We also discussed how we incorporate the data into presentations to schools, employers, lawmakers, etc.


Coalition

Our coalition has grown in this grant cycle to include 3 new organizations. We are working towards increasing our participating organizations, as well as improving consistency in in-person involvement. We are asking and hoping that all coalition members take on the responsibility of recruiting for the coalition by having conversations about our work, goals, and mission and seeing who we can invite to join us in this worthy endeavor. So please have those conversations and invite them to join our next meeting. All are welcome and there's no need to ask if it's okay to invite someone. Sometimes it is best to come see for themselves before making a commitment to join.


LTE - we are consistent with our Letter to the Editor monthly submissions at 100% compliance. However, we are struggling to get them published. I am asking if someone else would like to write/submit the letter on behalf of the coalition in hopes that it will get published because it is from a new source.

I would like to thank all the partners that invited us to their events and especially those that invited us to collaborate on projects. This helps to increase the community's awareness of the coalition and our services, which is a huge help to us making an impact in the community.


Upcoming Event

Youth Wellness Forum: American Teens in Crisis

April 15, 2025 at Valparaiso University - Register today.

Tobacco-free Lake County will cover the registration fee for 4 coalition members – first come, first served. Contact Irene directly if you are interested in attending and can use assistance with the registration fee – Irene.BoonePhillips@franciscanalliance.org


Action Items-

  • Register for Youth Wellness Forum – April 15th in Valparaiso

  • Recruit for the Coalition – Have relational conversations and share Nicole’s contact info. We are looking to reach the following sectors for the coalition…civic/faith, educators, and business owners. In addition, we would like to increase male presence on the coalition.

  • Submit ideas for Smoke-free Communities Supporter Card messaging, asks, and images

  • Bring ideas for venues/activities researched for end-of-year event

  • Bring ideas for sponsors, games, etc. needed for Field Day in Hobart


Notes: Social media & website information


Please remember to Like and Share our posts and follow our pages!

Thank you for joining us and we look forward to working with you!

Next meeting will be Wednesday, April 16th @ 10am CST

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page