RCCMHC formed in 2018 to address the overlap between chemical and mental health among community members. The coalition merged the efforts of the former Rice County Chemical Health Coalition (established in 2004) and the Rice County Mental Health Collective (established in 2011). The resulting coalition welcomes representatives from all sectors of the community.
Several action teams made up of professionals and/or community members work closely with the Coalition. Learn more about them here:
Provides advice, support, and guidance as the Coalition implements strategies to meet its mission goals. The group meets quarterly.
Contact: rccmhc@healthycommunityinitiative.org
Current Advisory Board Members:
- Dante Hummel-Langerfeld, Rice County Behavioral Health Services, dhummellangerfeld@co.rice.mn.us
- Dawn Steffan, Allina Medical Faribault, dawn.steffen@allina.com
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Deb Purfeerst, Rice County Public Health, dpurfeerst@co.rice.mn.us
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Janet Lewis Muth, Faribault Public Schools, jlewismuth@faribault.k12.mn.us
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Kelli Nowak, HealthFinders Collaborative, nowak.kelli@healthfindersmn.org
- Kelli Podracky, Northfield Union of Youth – The Key, kelli@unionofyouth.org
- Heather Stanton-Ims, Northfield Public Schools, hstantonims@
northfieldschools.org
Raises community awareness about local youth substance use and makes recommendations for community interventions to reduce youth use. The group meets monthly.
Partners: High School Youth, Parents, Law Enforcement, and Community Members
Staff Contact: Meleah Follen, meleah@healthycommunityinitiative.org
Works to identify and address gaps in opioid use prevention, harm reduction strategies, treatment, and crisis services. This group meets quarterly.
Harm reduction strategies are evidence-based interventions that serve to reduce overdose deaths and infectious disease transmission. Learn more here.
Partners: Law Enforcement, Health Care, Behavioral Health, Emergency Response, Corrections, Human Services, Youth Services, Judicial
Staff contact: rccmhc@healthycommunityinitiative.org
The purpose of an OFR is to effectively identify system gaps and innovative community-specific overdose prevention and intervention strategies. In practice, OFRs involve a series of confidential individual death reviews by a multidisciplinary team. This group meets quarterly.
Prevention Partnerships for Healthy Youth (PPHY) is an action team of the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition who work to empower youth and families of color to drive, inspire, and own community efforts to prevent and reduce substance use. This partnership is a made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Learn more here.
Partners: Faribault Public Schools, Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition
Grant Coordinator: Angie Ramirez Saucedo
aramirez@faribault.k12.mn.us
Works to determine gaps and increase access to mental and chemical health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for all populations in Rice County. The Provider Team meets quarterly.
Partners: Mental Health, Chemical Health, Health Care, Human Services, Transitional Housing, Youth Services
Staff Contact: rccmhc@healthycommunityinitiative.org