LCSAP: Ten Years Strong

A ten-year anniversary is an important milestone. If you’re married or run a business, ten years means you’ve weathered good times and bad, grown through change, and are ready for the road ahead.

The same is true for organizations. This year we’re celebrating the Lawrence County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, which was founded in 2016 and becomes a more integral part of our community each year.

You’re invited to celebrate with the Coalition this Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. at The Vaughan Venue, 219 North Military Avenue in Lawrenceburg. This town hall-style event will allow LCSAP staff and others to tell us where the Coalition has been, where it is, and where it’s going.

I can provide a bit of a preview. Ten years ago, the opioid epidemic was fueling drug-related crime, broken families, drug-dependent newborns, and lost productivity. Tennesseans were the second-highest consumers of opioids in the nation, and Lawrence County’s numbers mirrored statewide statistics.

On September 15, 2015, State Representative Barry Doss and County Executive T.R. Williams hosted a town hall meeting as a first step to create a local substance abuse coalition. A group of volunteers set up a board and a plan, and with a grant from the Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, hired Jenny Golden in June 2016 as Director of the Lawrence County Substance Abuse Coalition.

The appropriate word “Prevention” was added three years later. Its mission was (and is) to create positive cultural change and grow a safe, healthy, and drug-free Lawrence County, working with representatives of every sector of this community, including health care, education, government, media, churches, and parents.

Since 2016, state and national efforts have ended the indiscriminate prescribing of opioids. A national class-action lawsuit won many millions from opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, and those funds are being distributed to states, counties, and organizations doing grassroots, hands-on work.

The Lawrence County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is one of them. Because even though the worst of the opioid crisis is behind us, its effects are still here, along with threats from other substances, old and new. We will always have the need for all LCSAP provides: prevention education, resources and community connections, efforts to reduce stigma connected to substance use disorder, and advocacy for policy changes.

LCSAP staff and programs are funded through donations and grants: the White House Drug Free Communities Grant, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services Block Grant, another state grant that targets marijuana use, the SOR (Stimulants and Opioids Grant), Hybrid Lifeline Grant, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Drug Endangered Children’s Grant, and grants from the local Opioid Abatement Council. Lawrence County provides LCSAP office space and acts as its fiscal agent, meaning that our Budget office manages its funds.

Today’s LCSAP staff includes Director Trea Dunnavant; Assistant Director and Drug Endangered Children’s Coordinator Nicole Miller; Hybrid Lifeline Coordinator Ginger Wells-Smith; and Office Manager Sarah Hamilton. Board members are Dr. John Beasley, chair; Tiffany Cope, vice chair; Devin Ezell, treasurer; Lisa Ambrose, secretary; Jeff Jacobs, Sally Darnell, and Jodi Springer.

Dunnavant has served as Director since 2022, but was hired by Jenny Golden as LCSAP’s second employee in November 2018. Miller works to meet the needs of children living in or removed from drug-endangered situations. A tremendous outgrowth of that work is Grace House, an LCSAP project and now separate 501c3 that provides temporary housing to foster children who do not have immediate placement. Wells-Smith finds treatment options and often personally delivers people to recovery centers throughout the region.

Each staff member has a separate focus, but they work as a team on most projects. A sampling includes Positivity Day, when staff and volunteers greet students as they arrive at schools across the county, handing out cards with positive quotes and resources. Drug Take-Back events allow residents to safely dispose of unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Lock Boxes are also distributed so residents can keep medications safe in their homes. Project Blessing Bag provides necessities to people entering treatment.

Camp Thrive is another LCSAP project that includes day camp programs for select students and evening activities that include their families. Cops & Bobbers (the best name ever) pairs kids with Student Resource Officer fishing buddies for a day at a local pond. A Back-to-School Resource Day provides school supplies, shoes, haircut certificates, and a shopping trip to Walmart. About 200 children, grades pre-K to 12, were blessed by this event last year. Playing its own role in the coalition, LCSAP participates community projects like Spook Around Downtown, A Cora Christmas, and Bo’s Blessings.

LCSAP’s 2025 Achievement Data helps tell the story:

244 citizens were connected to treatment/recovery services by the Hybrid Lifeline Program;4,790 families were served by the Drug Endangered Children’s program;35,600 prevention education and resource connection materials were distributed;3,200 citizens interacted with LCSAP regarding prevention or resource connections; andStaff and volunteers hosted or participated in 63 events.

I encourage you to attend Tuesday’s event to learn more. You can also help the Coalition and its projects with your time and resources. LCSAP is a 501c3 nonprofit that accepts tax-deductible donations through its Venmo account, @LCSAP, or at 202 Deller Street, Lawrenceburg.

For more information, you can contact the Coalition through its website, LCSAP.org, or call 931-766-4175.