Community Tobacco Prevention Grant
from the Arkansas Department of Health

The Arkansas Department of Health has received a $66,650 tobacco grant for
Madison County for the upcoming year. The Madison County Health Coalition's goals
are to continue building a stronger coalition in Madison County and to reduce the use
of smokeless tobacco and cigarette smoking. Some of the plans are to:

1. Decrease exposure to secondhand smoke

2. Prevent youth initiation

3. Promote cessation among adults & youth

4. Decrease advertising & Promotion of tobacco

Project Coordinator will work with the youth, community and the rural areas of
Madison County to increase the knowledge of tobacco issues and educate the public
about the dangers of tobacco in general.

For more information, contact:

Brenda Patterson

479-738-2612

Minority Tobacco Prevention Grant from the University of Arkansas at
Pine Bluff's Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office

With funding from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office, the
Madison County Health Coalition (MCHC) will implement a tobacco prevention program targeting the growing
Hispanic community. The MCHC will work to build a stronger coalition with the addition of diverse partners to
create tobacco-free environments, reduce youth access to tobacco, promote cessation and pursue initiatives
to decrease tobacco advertising.

Madison County is a very rural county in Northwest Arkansas with a population of less than 16,000. Northwest
Arkansas has the second largest minority population in the state of Arkansas. Although much of this minority
population does not live in Madison County (due to housing shortages), many Hispanics commute to
Huntsville to work and, therefore, are a significant part of the community and the economy. For this reason,
the local health coalition feels led to pursue funding from this minority grant for tobacco prevention efforts with
these minorities.

To increase coalition diversity, MCHC will form a Hispanic Focus Group to assess how the coalition can help
meet Hispanic health needs and be successful with tobacco prevention efforts. This grant plans to hire a
volunteer coordinator who will visit sites throughout the county to inform these minorities about MCHC and
encourage their involvement as new coalition members and/or volunteers. MCHC also plans to offer Adult
English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to the Hispanic community. This service is not currently being
offered through the local Adult Education Center and is a great need. MCHC feels that by providing this
service, it can facilitate a trusting relationship between the Hispanic community and the coalition. The ultimate
goal of these classes is to recruit diverse members to the coalition and, therefore, provide tobacco
prevention information to this group.

Another grant goal for MCHC is to create tobacco-free environments. The volunteer coordinator along with
local middle and high school students from the ESL classes will be promoting “smoke-free home” and
“smoke-free car” campaigns by educating families, parents, and youth about the dangers of secondhand
smoke.

To reduce youth access to tobacco, the MCHC will assess minority tobacco usage rates, train Hispanic youth
to be leaders in tobacco prevention and educate the county through community presentations. To decrease
advertising and promotion of tobacco in Madison County, MCHC plans to first assess promotion of tobacco
in minority owned businesses as well as the local Hispanic paper, Noticias Libres . MCHC will educate these
businesses about tobacco industry tactics and encourage decreased promotion.

MCHC will work with local health care providers and businesses to promote quitting through the usage of
cessation resources including the SOS Quitline. Local health clinics will refer minority patients to bilingual
cessation services. To address disparities in Madison County, MCHC will conduct an employee Health Fair
at the local Butterball Turkey plant. Approximately 80-90% of Butterball workers are Hispanic, non-English
speaking. The goal of this health fair is to link minorities with local health care services. MCHC will also be
providing Spanish Classes to the community with an emphasis on recruiting healthcare workers. By providing
these classes, MCHC hopes to decrease barriers in minorities accessing healthcare.

For more information, contact:

Deven Daehn

479-738-1707