HOWELL-Formed in 1989 for the prevention of drug, alcohol and tobacco use among Howell Township youth, the Howell Township Municipal Alliance (HTMA) addressed the township council at Monday nights’ town meeting to tell the council and township of their efforts.
HTMA co-chairs Christa Riddle and Howell Township Police Officer Michael Pavlick were in attendance at the meeting.
The HTMA partners with the township, police department and school district and coordinates a united township effort when it comes to youth prevention related issues in Howell.
“The biggest goal for this year to get out into the community a lot more. Many people don’t know what the alliance is. I wasn’t quite sure until I got involved,” Pavlick said. “We’re going to try to get to as many youth events as we can and try to talk to the kids about the dangers of drugs, alcohol abuse and other topics we have.”
Pavlick said that you can expect to find HTMA volunteers this year at youth sporting events and invited members of the community to join the alliance and volunteer to help or provide ideas on how they can better serve and connect with the community.
“We’re always looking for volunteers,” he said.
“We’re for the prevention of substance abuse, suicide, bullying and anything prevention to protect the youth of our town,” Riddle said. “We do a lot of prevention programs through schools, the town, police and mayor and hope to see you at our events.”
“Over the last couple of years, I have had the pleasure of working with Christa and Mike,” Gotto said. “I wanted to thank them for everything you do.” Gotto said the partnership between the township, the police department and the HTMA has allowed the township to connect to the community and deliver prevention focused public service announcements. He also said the HTMA partnership with the police department and township has allowed the town to find new ways to secure funding and grants for prevention initiatives.
“You’re really making a difference in the lives of our citizens,” Gotto addded. “Thank you.”
The HTMA publishes the Prevention Press newsletter six times annually. Prevention Press updates the community about the activities of the HTMA and offers prevention advice and news. It is distributed through the schools and current and past editions are available online.
“The leadership in this town has always taken an active role in prevention, and recent events have made us more aware that additional work is still needed,” Gotto wrote in the January edition of the Prevention Press. “We work closely with Chief Kudrick and the task force created within the police department so we hear first-hand what is really going on in our community regarding substance abuse. This allows us to collaborate with the Howell Alliance to implement effective prevention strategies specifically aimed at the problems we face as a community. There is no cookie-cutter solution that works in every town. Every municipality has its own dynamic due to location and demographics.”
You can learn more about the HTMA or read the latest edition of Prevention Press online.