Hancock County Arts Receives Grant for Community-Wide Meeting

Hancock County Arts, in partnership with the Tennessee Institute of Public Health at the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, has received a grant from the 2018 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps project to convene a community event to develop an action plan addressing the overall issues surrounding drug abuse in Hancock County. The event will seek to determine the extent of the problem in Hancock County and the economic, medical, criminal justice and social impacts on the community.  

“The goal will be to systematically develop and implement a comprehensive community-wide response to this problem,” said Miranda Russell, Director of Hancock County Arts, who will coordinate the event. “Regional and state partners will be actively recruited to offer the resources required to generate an action plan with the goal of strategically improving the mental health of families, particularly children, in our community.” 

“This new crisis involving high unemployment, substance abuse and the direct impact on the youth of this community is a serious new health and welfare challenge. Hancock County Arts’ commitment to local children and their future serves as the foundation for addressing such problems,” said Tennessee Institute of Public Health Executive Director Ginny Kidwell, a regional partner in this project. 

This project is an opportunity to engage individuals, families, churches, organizations and others from a variety of sectors to develop strategies to improve the overall behavioral health and well-being of the community.  Hancock County is one of the smallest county in Tennessee in terms of population, and is among the poorest counties in the Nation, in terms of median family income.