Director's Message

George M. Coates, Director

2008 – And the Struggle Continues…

As we begin 2008, Guilford County is facing challenges from many directions.  Recently, there has been an apparent rise in gang violence, even though the weather is relatively warm our homeless shelters are filled to overflowing as are our jails, food pantry supplies are scarce and many in our community still have problems with physical and mental health issues.  One additional problem cuts across all of these issues, and that is Substance Abuse. Regardless of the problem, if we look, and sometimes we don’t need to look too closely, there are likely to be substance abuse issues involved.

As an organization, the Guilford County Substance Abuse Coalition had a good year in 2007.  The recommendation we put forward for Jail-Community Liaisons was implemented and people leaving our jails that want help dealing substance abuse issues can get it; we published and distributed over 900 copies of our Resource Guide of substance abuse services available to Guilford County residents; we revised our web-site to include the Resource Guide and an alcohol self-assessment; we have continued to sponsor LifeSkills training in ten (10) ACES afterschool locations, sponsored our 5th Annual Symposium, offered training classes to our members and the community and have collaborated and offered to collaborate with other organizations in the community.  But it’s not enough!

Too many of our brothers and sisters are still dealing with issues that they cannot handle alone, too many cannot find the longer term help that they need, too many still do not have the means to get or get to the help they need.

As we look toward 2008, we must focus our struggle against substance abuse, determine what vital areas we need to concentrate on and then increase our efforts in those areas.  The problem is so pervasive that it cuts across social, economic, geographic and political boundaries.  We must identify targets and do the same.  We must rid ourselves of the boundaries that keep us from working together, combine our strengths and begin to destroy this disease, this evil infestation in our community. 

Our Choices Make the Difference!