Promoting BETTER HEALTH through PREVENTION, EDUCATION & POLICY CHANGE
ABOUT the Coalition
OUR MISSION
Prevent tobacco use, protect residents from secondhand smoke, shift cultural attitudes, support quit efforts, prevent youth initiation, and uphold laws that reduce public harm from tobacco and e-cigarettes.
OUR VISION
Significantly improve the health of Hoosiers in Wabash County by being free from nicotine addiction and the exposure from any tobacco products.
OUR PURPOSE
-
Prevent and reduce the use of all tobacco products in Wabash County.
-
Protect all Hoosiers from the exposure of tobacco smoke through education about the dangers of secondhand and thirdhand smoke and reducing its exposure to the public.
-
Change the cultural perception and social acceptability of tobacco use.
-
Provide easy access, resources and information on the Indiana Quit Line.
-
End the initiation of tobacco use to Wabash County youth.
-
Assist tobacco & e-cigarette users with nicotine dependance treatment.
-
Support the enforcement of tobacco laws concerning the sale to youth, youth using any form of tobacco product, and public exposure to secondhand smoke.
OUR PRIORITY AREAS
Decrease youth smoking rates by:
-
offering resources to school sponsored programs
-
provide instruction about the dangers of tobacco to teens that are caught with tobacco at school or by law enforcement
-
offer cessation to those that have already acquired an addiction to tobacco
-
provide prevention programs for all 2nd & 5th graders, Middle and High School students
Increase the proportion of Wabash County residents not exposed to secondhand smoke by:
-
educating the County of the benefit of having a more comprehensive smoke- free law to protect all residents
-
assisting all businesses, medical and health care facilities, and organizations to comply with the state smoke-free law
Decrease Wabash County adult smoking rate by:
-
offering cessation services
-
contacting businesses, organizations and health care providers to become “Indiana Quit Now Champion”
-
providing information that clearly reveals the dangers of tobacco use
Maintain an infrastructure necessary to achieve health equity by lowering tobacco use and exposure by:
-
building a board-based Coalition that is involved in fulfilling the vision and mission of the Coalition
-
acquiring partners that support the vision, mission, and work of the Coalition
Coalition STAFF
COALITION DIRECTOR: Megan Henderson
Megan is a life-long Wabash resident. She has been a dental hygienist since 2000, evaluating and treating her patient’s oral health, educating them about the connection to oral health and overall health. She has performed thousands of oral cancer screenings and provided support and resources for her patients to quit smoking, chewing, or vaping. Megan joined the Wabash County Tobacco Free Coalition in 2022 as a member. She loves the organization’s mission of helping all ages understand the dangerous effects of tobacco and addiction. She is looking forward to presenting programs at local schools and working alongside other organizations in making Wabash healthier.
Megan enjoys scrapbooking, traveling, and singing along to boy band songs. She has been married to her husband, Dan, since 2004 and together they have two amazing children, Avery and Blake. Together they love to spend time by the water, going on golf cart rides around their neighborhood with their loveable labradoodle, or serving at their local church.