EMPOWER is a youth driven coalition that includes participation from both Scott County school districts. Founded by Scott County youth who have a desire to improve our community’s prevention work, they believe that with the right tools, healthy, safe, drug-free lives can be encouraged. Their mission is to: Align youth with their community to create a powerful impact through prevention, health improvement and positive relationships.
Our youth have represented Scott County’s prevention efforts in front of local, state and national audiences. EMPOWER recently presented at the 2024 National Association of Social Workers annual conference on Empowering Social Workers – What Youth Want YOU to Know! They also represented Indiana youth when they spoke recently at the Indiana Statehouse for the Indiana Drug Free Communities Raising Awareness of Intoxicating Cannabis Products Forum.
All Scott County youth, ages 12-18, are welcome to participate. Meetings are held the third Monday of every month at 5:45 pm at the LifeLong Learning Center, 1092 W. Community Way, Scottsburg. In addition to planning for future opportunities to speak about prevention efforts, our meetings focus on planning pro-social youth activities for our community where EMPOWER members can give back while having fun in a safe environment, collaborating with other youth, and building positive relationships.
Contact Melinda Lowry, Drug Free Communities Youth Coordinator, at melinda.lowry@scottcountypartnership.org or (812) 595-6213 for more information.
By investing in the next generation, we will see positive outcomes in drug prevention in Scott County. EMPOWER is part of the Scott County Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program initiative.
