The Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition (GWBCC) was selected from 21 coalitions to receive the 2023 Coalition of the Year Award by the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities (The Alliance) in Oakland County.

Each year, The Alliance hosts an annual Celebration of Impact and Open House, where their network of coalitions, boards, teams, volunteers and partners come together to celebrate the impact of their efforts in Oakland County and award outstanding coalitions.

The Alliance was formed in 1993, when four local coalitions sought to strengthen their reach and collaboration and created an umbrella organization called the Coalition of Healthy Communities (CHC) network.

Ten years later, in partnership with the Oakland County’s Office of Substance Abuse Services, the CHC launched The Alliance to expand their prevention reach across the county.

Now, over 21 coalitions are funded and supported by the Alliance through the Oakland Community Health Network and additional federal funds. The Alliance serves Oakland County with a mission to provide harm reduction, recovery support, wellness and prevention education to community members affected by substance misuse.

The Alliance serves over 55 communities in the area. The network of coalitions’ mission is to provide harm reduction, recovery support, wellness, and prevention education to community members affected by substance misuse.

As a community coalition, the GWBCC is “committed to providing leadership, education, resources, and programming for young people and those who support them.” Each year, the Coalition facilitates several events that impact the entire community and have reached approximately 8,500 people in 2023. They believe that “because prevention is a community-wide responsibility, local organizations, businesses, agencies, concerned citizens, policy makers, educators, students, and parents have an important role to play in this effort.” This year, some sectors represented on GWBCC’s board included members of schools, government, the library, parents, law enforcement, businesses, and health organizations.

Some of the major accomplishments that helped the GWBCC achieve the 2023 Coalition of the Year Award include distributing 450 “Parents Who Host” fact cards to promote underage drinking prevention, collecting almost 600 pounds of prescription drugs on DEA Take Back Day, teaching 2,600 students age-appropriate drug and alcohol prevention education, training over 260 community members on how to use Narcan, educating almost 40 West Bloomfield School District teachers on suicide prevention, providing coping bags to almost 400 students to aid in practicing healthy coping mechanisms, teaching yoga and mindfulness training to over 1,000 students, offering anti-bullying education to students at five elementary schools and summer camp, educating over 2,200 students and adults on the dangers of vaping, and setting up 10 Save a Life boxes throughout West Bloomfield.

In addition to facilitating and providing numerous training and education opportunities for children and adults, the GWBCC also participates in community events like the West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Trick or Treat Trail and the West Bloomfield School District Family Fun Night.

To learn more about the vision and impact of the GWBCC, visit www.gwbcoalition.org. To learn more about The Alliance, visit www.achcmi.org.