The Municipal Alliance: Montgomery’s Lifeline

 

     Inspiring. A Lifeline. These are the words Committeewoman Shelly Bell and Municipal Alliance coordinator Devangi Patel used to summarize the Municipal Alliance. Undoubtedly, these words drive every aspect of the Municipal Alliance, and define the goals that this committee seeks to achieve. The Municipal Alliance is a nonprofit organization focused on improving mental health and preventing substance abuse for all citizens in Montgomery and neighboring communities. Ms. Patel described the Municipal Alliance’s mission statement as “sustaining the public health and wellness of all citizens”.

     The Municipal Allliance’s goals are centered around prevention and education, which directly assist in preserving the mental wellness of adults and youth alike. Some of the projects that the Municipal Alliance has worked on include guest speakers for drug abuse in our schools, providing ample resources for both adults and youth in need, and actively barring the accessibility of vapes to the public. As many people know, vapes are more harmful than cigarettes and are plaguing the youth of America. To my surprise, the Municipal Alliance has advocated for and succeeded in placing ordinances for vendors that sold vapes, and used that money for prevention efforts. Ms. Patel emphasized the importance that all the money the Municipal Alliance collected was funneled back into community betterment. Along with these ordinances, the Municipal Alliance is funded by the state council on alcoholism and drug abuse. All fines and court fees for drug and alcohol-related charges go to municipal alliances across NJ for prevention and projects. This contributes to the Municipal Alliance’s larger goal to eliminate drug abuse through punitive fines and using these fines to further prevention efforts. These efforts are executed through the Municipal Alliance’s numerous events and awareness campaigns and through its Youth Services Commission (YSC), which focuses solely on bettering and educating the youth. The YSC has created programs like Girls on the Run, mindfulness/yoga curriculum, and numerous assemblies. For adults, the Municipal Alliance has accomplished efforts in dealing in trauma, improving parenting skills, and providing resources for domestic abuse survivors. The Municipal Alliance relies on its Community Leaders Group (CLG), which is made up of professionals from public health, police, behavioral health, and other various groups. Ms. Patel emphasized how professional perspective prevents their campaigns from seeming “heavy handed”. In addition to these programs, the Municipal Alliance plays a key role in the community help needs assessment that takes place every three years.
     If this year had been a continuation of its past projects, the Municipal Alliance would have spent its time connecting more with the youth and providing more outreaches through events like the Wellness Fair. However, this year was far from normal, which has resulted in new problems and more demand for mental wellness preservation than ever. Usually, the Municipal Alliance meets every other month at 7 PM in the Otto Kaufman center. But now, the Municipal Alliance hasn’t held one meeting since I was aware of it through the YLC, and plans to hold the first meeting on March 8th, 2021. I was very lucky to be able to coordinate this one-on-one meeting with Ms. Patel and Committeewoman Bell. According to Ms. Patel, the Municipal Alliance saw an 85% decrease in funding, due to less drivers on the road and the cancellation of almost all in-person events that the Municipal Alliance hosts. The decreased communication among the youth has resulted in a need for youth feedback more than ever. This has led the Municipal Alliance to reach out to the community in different ways. One thing I was surprised to learn was that the Municipal Alliance has been partnering with other NJ Municipal Alliances as well as Indieflix to produce documentaries about cyberbullying, social media, and anxiety. They’ve aired one called Upstanders, which was live streamed on premiere night and was available for rewatch for one week afterwards. They plan to air two more documentaries called Liked and Angst soon, but have a hard time finding a way to advertise these invaluable events. This difficulty in communication has led the Municipal Alliance chair, Lori Huff, to explore the possibility of social media as a vessel of communication.
     I zeroed in youth community problems and how we could work together to solve these issues. I talked about the absence of guidance counselors and the lack of interaction with peers that contributed to some frustration among teens. Ms. Patel and Ms. Bell then revealed to me that the Municipal Alliance had actually received a grant to kickstart their new Youth Advisory Planning, which was focused solely on the betterment of the mental health of children in Montgomery through a committee of teens that would gather information. I was delighted to hear the receptiveness of the Municipal Alliance to the youth of Montgomery even after they’d faced such adversity. I probed deeper about this committee, and Ms. Patel said how the grant would be used to hire an overseer for the youth group, and that applications for teens to participate would be going out in April. This tied in nicely with Committeewoman Bell’s new focus on mental health awareness within Montgomery through training and outreaches. Both women acknowledged the difficult situations teens found themselves in throughout quarantine, and noted the proactiveness of many to improve the situation. Ms. Patel recalled how whenever students asked her how they could become more involved in the community, she’d always respond with “data collection”. Along with their CLG, the Municipal Alliance needs youth feedback in the form of insight and hard data. Ms. Patel pointed out that teens were often more receptive to other teens, and that the driving force behind the Youth Advisory Planning will be the youth voice. 
     Even before the applications for the Youth Advisory Planning open, there are so many ways for the youth of Montgomery to contribute to the Municipal Alliance. I have two detailed plans to bring the Municipal Alliance to the forefront of the Montgomery youth culture. Firstly, I will work with Ms. Patel and Committeewoman Bell to establish an appropriate social media presence for the YSC portion of the Municipal Alliance. I can take advantage of the existing YLC social media as well as working to start a YSC-focused social media. Second, I will be encouraging both YLC members and various student groups in Montgomery to conduct their own surveys on mental health. I will personally work with Ms. Patel and optimally some members of the CLG to formulate appropriate questions that will produce useful data. For now, before I execute my personal plans, the most crucial way for the Montgomery youth to support the Municipal Alliance is by attending all the meetings. Ms. Patel emphasized the need for youth voices in the committee meetings. The next meeting date is March 8 at 7 PM. Mark your calendars, and contribute your voice to the betterment of Montgomery.