La Plata County Step-it-Up Coalition to help connect neighbors for a healthier community

DURANGO, Colo. – La Plata County witnessed the power of neighborhood “connectedness” in 2002, when the Missionary Ridge and Falls Creek fires brought the community together to combat and ultimately recover from the disaster. Neighbors helped neighbors.

Such is a quintessential example of the purpose behind National Neighborhood Day, this year set for September 20. Locally it’s spearheaded by the La Plata County Step-it-Up Coalition, under the direction of its new – and enthusiastic – coordinator Mary Jo Rakowski.

“As a society we’ve become so insular,” said Rakowski, who was most recently in the news “starring” as a co-host and “accidental comedienne” for the Community Concert Hall’s Spotlight to Stardom. “We all work so hard all day, and want to go home and not be bothered by anything. But when I grew up, my parents had friends up and down the block… there would be a lot of interaction in our neighborhood, and that has died. So here is this campaign designed to bring it back.”

The agenda for National Neighborhood Day is to simply bring people together. Disasters and emergencies force interaction, but, as Rakowski notes, isn’t it that much better to have the network established before an emergency strikes?

Plus, for families with children, it helps to have extra sets of eyes watching out for the kids’ safety and well-being. Rakowski relates the story of the winter afternoon her children were accidentally locked out of their home near Downtown Durango. While the kids were content to wait on the front porch for their parents, the next door neighbor, seeing the kids sitting outside in the snow, would have nothing of it. It was hot chocolate in the neighboring kitchen.

“That’s what is so great, that there’s just somebody watching out for them,” said Rakowski. “Not spying. It’s just, when you all know each other, you care. We don’t want people to go to a big expense; keep it simple. The focus is getting to know your neighbors, and doing it in a setting where everybody feels comfortable.”

Ideas for National Neighborhood Day range from a block party barbecue or potluck, to a neighborhood yard sale, to a charity fund-raiser or beautification project. Planned games and “ice-breakers also assist in eliminating barriers.  Rakowski suggests community members visit www.neighborhoodday.org for inspiration, materials and additional information on planning a neighborhood gathering.

“Eventually it would be nice to have so much going on throughout the county – every nook and cranny of the county participating,” she said, adding that businesses in close proximity are “neighborhoods” and can participate as well. “They don’t necessarily know each other or know what resources are there. I’d also love to see the Rotarys and Kiwanis clubs – all the civic organizations – do something.”

Rakowski will be coordinating activities for Ignacio, where the Step-it-Up Coalition is based, under the auspices of SUCAP (Southern Ute Community Action Programs). SUCAP has long been dedicated to promoting the well-being of families and neighbors through social, educational and economic growth.

Step-it-Up’s core mission is to strengthen the health of La Plata County’s communities through promoting alternatives to substance use and abuse with area youth. To accomplish this necessitates a continuum of prevention services and youth development activities.

“We need to expand,” said Rakowski. “I’ve found it interesting, now that I have this position, I run into people who I think should be aware of this coalition, and they’re not. So one of my primary efforts is going to be to bring awareness to the communities that need us.”

Rakowski isn’t, however, about didactic or shame-filled programs, rather establishing events and activities in which La Plata County’s young people (and their families and friends) can participate instead of “recreating.”

This doesn’t mean the coalition avoids diagnosing the problems to affect a cure, and is working with the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which (anonymously) details “drugs of choice” in middle and high schools, and how many kids are actually engaging in risky behavior on a regular basis. Rakowski is gratified to know that the majority of La Plata County’s kids aren’t involved on a regular basis.

“It’s been quite an educational process for me,” said Rakowski, noting that youth often opt for the drug of “convenience” – whatever they can get their hands on easily and cheaply. “As of the last survey, in Durango it’s alcohol. Bayfield it’s prescription medication. Ignacio it happens to be marijuana. And that will shift. We’re trying to do this every two years to get a good, broad view and see why it shifts.”

Currently the coalition is promoting its “It’s a Drug” educational campaign, targeting adults, as adults don’t always understand how their behaviors influence and reflect on the community’s youth. The campaign is also designed to help parents understand where their kids are acquiring illegal substances.

“It’s just one example about being aware,” said Rakowski, acknowledging that substance abuse isn’t a “happy” topic and often overwhelming when a clear path to a solution isn’t evident. “If we can lower the risk and raise the assets, then our kids are going to thrive.”

To learn more about the Step-it-Up Coalition and its programs, visit www.sucap.org and click on Youth Services.