Reducing youth alcohol & drug use through community collaboration
The Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition (RCCMHC) advocates for improving the chemical and mental health care systems in Rice County. Using a public health approach, the Coalition is committed to building and improving prevention, intervention including evidence-based harm reduction strategies, and treatment efforts countywide.
With backbone support from Healthy Community Initiative
Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) is a dynamic nonprofit organization that facilitates health & racial equity alongside people & partners and invests in community-driven programming that empowers youth & their families. HCI serves as the backbone for the Coalition, providing staff, infrastructure, and operations support. HCI leverages resources and seeks additional funding opportunities.
Meet the Team
Ashley Ga
rdner
Network Impact Coordinator, Healthy Community Initiative
ashley@
Gardner is a longtime Rice County resident and a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with both education and lived experience with mental health and substance use disorders (SUD). She brings a unique perspective to living with SUD and mental health issues and maintaining success, and she’s dedicated to educating and empowering community members on how to best support those affected.
Gardner is pursuing a social work degree and is seeking to become a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor. Before taking on the role of Network Impact Coordinator, she served as a member of numerous RCCMHC action teams and spent several years directly serving clients, most recently as a recovery advocate at the Community Action Center. She is dedicated to the success of the many programs of the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition.
Molly Titchenal
Network Impact Coordinator, Healthy Community Initiative
molly@healthycommunityinitiative.org
Molly Titchenal started at HCI in July 2024 as the Network Impact Coordinator for the Substance Misuse and Suicide Prevention Grant. Molly received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Augsburg College. She has worked extensively with young adults transitioning to adulthood, providing services around obtaining a high school diploma and postsecondary education, job placement and retention, substance abuse prevention, and preventive health activities. Prior to coming to HCI, Molly worked for the Faribault Public School District and Workforce Development, Inc. She is dedicated to empowering individuals to be the best version of themselves.
Meleah Follen
Network Impact Director, Healthy Community Initiative
meleah@healthycommunityinitiative.org
Meleah Follen has been with HCI since 2014 but is new to the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition Team. She attended the University of Notre Dame, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and returned to school to pursue a career in nursing, receiving her bachelor’s of science in nursing from Loyola University Chicago. Meleah brings this unique background to the Coalition and her work as the staff support for the Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (N-ASAP).
Working with N-ASAP is a natural extension on her primary work with HCI as the Network Impact Director. Her work in this role is centered on ensuring youth voice is represented throughout the community and that all who want to pursue higher education have the resources to do so. The primary programs she works with are Youth on Boards, YouthBank, and the Northfield Community College Collaborative.
Joy Riggs
HCI Communications Manager
joy@healthycommunityinitiative.org
Joy Riggs started working for Healthy Community Initiative in March 2020 as a Communications Coordinator. Her responsibilities with the RCCMHC include writing and editing content for the bi-monthly e-newsletter and supporting a variety of Coalition communications projects.
Joy has a degree in news editorial journalism from Drake University, and she worked as a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis, Natchez (Miss.), Des Moines, and Northfield. Before taking the job with HCI, she worked as a freelance writer and editor for 25 years. She is the author of a nonfiction book, Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters: The Story of a Minnesota Music Man (Nodin Press 2019).