OUR VISION & MISSION

Vision

A community where all youth are empowered to make healthy choices.

Mission

The Lodi Community Action Team empowers our school and community to prevent youth substance use through education, environmental prevention strategies, and connections with caring adults.

 

Main Values

Building Community

We believe that for teens to choose a healthy lifestyle, they must live in an environment that emphasizes the positives of healthy choices.  In addition, the community at large is a major influence on creating healthy habits.  LCAT will work to create environmental change by creating and supporting legislation, policy change, and educational programs that can ultimately influence behavior and create an environment for healthy choices.

Education

We believe that knowledge is the first line of defense in leading a healthy lifestyle.  LCAT will strive to educate both youth and adults on healthy living and the dangers and signs of risky behaviors.

Empowering Youth

We believe that when youth are empowered, they are more likely to choose to live a healthy lifestyle.  Youth feel empowered when they are valued and surrounded by caring adults who allow them opportunities to grow. LCAT will work to empower youth by providing opportunities to connect youth and the community to grow together.

Support

We understand that risky behavior has impacts on not just the individual, but also families and the community.  LCAT will be a clearing house for where to turn in the event of a personal or community crisis involving risky behavior and work to connect individual needs with community resources.  We know and understand that it is the nature of being young to take risks. Our desire is to support youth in choosing healthy risks.

 

Our Story

The current form of the Lodi Community Action Team coalition (LCAT) was started in 2007, as a way to address alcohol use by teens in the Lodi area.  Speared on by the passion and drive of a few of the founding members, the group rallied around a growing problem in the area with teens abusing prescription drugs.  At this point, LCAT partnering with Columbia County Connects, took a serious look at the data collected in the area as well as actual events and started to educate the community on the dangers of risky behaviors and how we can, as a community, create an environment that is safe for our kids.

In 2011, LCAT received a grant from the White House Office of Drug Free Communities to further the work already being done in the area.  This grant was awarded mainly due to the fact that the Lodi area had a problem with teens using drugs, including alcohol, and that we also had an engaged community that was already working to fix the problem.

LCAT works with local municipalities, law enforcement, the school district, and other organizations in the area to educate the community, empower our youth and work together to create a healthy environment for our kids to thrive in.