SALISBURY — Members of the recently-formed Rowan County chapter of Down Home North Carolina appeared before the board of commissioners on Monday and asked for the county to commit funding from the opioid settlement to start a youth action agency. 

“If we don’t invest, if we don’t put our hope and our hearts into the youth, then who are we to sit back and complain when they go by the wayside?” said Down Home member DaQuan Coleman.

The agency would work to bring together and coordinate efforts to provide youth with outlets and resources that aim to promote healthy youth development and prevent problem behaviors.

“A deeply- and widely-felt issue that Rowan County is struggling with is that of widespread youth disengagement and the resulting negative outcomes arising from that in drug use, misconduct, violence, unwanted pregnancy and mental health challenges,” Down Home NC Fellowship Manager Grace Hemsley, referring to a survey conducted by Rowan Public Health Department on the usage of the funds.

The Down Home representatives specifically asked the commissioners to contribute $500,000 from the opioid settlement. That money would be used to create the agency and create a full-time coordinator as well as stipends for youth positions, which would pay for student internships.

“When Rowan citizens were asked what the money should be used for, they emphasized root-cause solutions. They wanted to see the money invested into recovery, housing and programs for the youth. These initiatives help prevent and reduce negative outcomes and save tax dollars in the long run,” said Hemsley.

Down Home is a statewide 501(c)(4) organization aimed at promoting and organizing for initiatives that benefit small town, rural, working-class people at the local and state levels. The Rowan County chapter is new, having been formed within the past year.

“We love to bring the community together, and we do it based on our values, what we like to see happen in our community. Small and local, we work on the local and state levels only, we don’t work on a federal level,” said member Elijah Lawson

Down Home member Brandy Gardner-Berg said that the $500,000 number and related plan came from studying a similar program that has been in place in Franklin County, Massachusetts, the self-described most rural area in the state, for over 20 years. The program is a coalition of municipalities, nonprofits, school districts, recreational organizations and health departments that all work to improve the health of young people.

“What it would involve would be to identify a lead agency in the county, and we have had talks with several and we do have some interest, and create a position so that the coalition could be brought together. What it would do was it would allow for all of the things that are being done in the community for our children to come together at one table. It would also survey the community to make sure the specific needs of this county are met, because (there is) not a one-size-fits-all method,” said Gardner-Berg.

The coalition would also continue to work with the wider Communities That Care initiative to evaluate the community needs and identify programs that could be successful in fulfilling the needs. Down Home member Jaxon Berg said that the coalition would help promote synergy while also attempting to lessen duplication of effort and member Mark Ortiz said that they hoped to prevent siloing.

“Prevention is key, being proactive in prevention (with) our youth is key and it’s critical to being able to give them access to a greater future. There are a lot of programs, Elijah and I, in May, we went and spoke with (Director) Keisha (Coxe), (Assistant Director) Rakeem (Brawley) and (Recreation Program Supervisor) Delondo (Clowney) at (Salisbury) Parks and Rec, and they gave us the understanding that there were a lot of programs available of youth diversion. But, they’re all disconnected and the communities not aware, so that’s why the community’s not aware. That’s why we came up with the idea of advocating for having a coalition and having that coalition brought under the umbrella of the position that we’re proposing,” said Down Home member Michael Pope.

According to the state’s accounting website for the opioid settlement funding, CORE-NC, Rowan County will receive a total of approximately $28 million between fiscal years 2022 and 2028.

After the meeting, Down Home NC spoke with county representatives including County Manager Aaron Church and Commissioner Judy Klusman, who serves as the liaison to the Board of Health, and plan to continue conversations about the youth action agency.