Whitehall-Coplay Communities That Care members, during the June 25 meeting, discussed the next step for the group with regard to a coalition checkup.

Months earlier, the CTC members took a survey, resulting in a 148-page feedback report detailing the group’s strengths and weaknesses. The group discussed one of the coalition’s areas of growth revolved around leadership positions.

With assistance from Meghan Lynn Blevins and Melissa Fausey, from Penn State EPISCenter, group members discussed how best to move forward with developing those leadership positions. EPIS stands for Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support.

Denise Continenza, CTC moderator and a Penn State Extension educator, said she believes this is a good priority for the group to work on. She noted they had various committee chairs in the past who would report on the coalition’s focus areas, but due to people coming and going in the group, those positions had been lost.

Coalition members discussed the importance of having those positions, so the responsibility of keeping track of everything does not fall on one person’s shoulders. Shared leadership is needed to ensure the group continues to run efficiently, it was reported.

“Everyone is responsible for keeping this group going,” Continenza agreed.

She has recently reached out to coalition members about joining committees focused on the group’s various priorities. She said not many people have stepped up and offered to chair or co-chair the committees at this point.

Fausey shared some resources with the group about the importance of developing those leadership positions.

“Distinct and clean leadership positions help ensure that responsibilities are distributed to maximize coalition capacity,” the information stated.

Some strategies to develop those positions include clearly stating the responsibilities, expectations and terms for each leadership position; developing a plan or system involving co-chairs to help with time management and continuity if someone leaves a position; and looking for ways to expand the number of distinct leadership roles, such as creating work groups or subcommittees.

Coalition members then discussed what challenges may arise while developing those leadership positions. Some of the challenges include the time commitment or the perception of the time required for those roles, many members spreading their time over a number of committees, group members coming and going, feeling a connection or lack thereof to the local community, clarity of committee objectives and keeping track of the cycles of the work needed for the committees based on what is needed for the specific focus area.

It was mentioned the first strategy for developing these roles is to create clear goals and objectives for the committees and leaders. This will add structure and assist with leadership succession. This work will require an additional time demand, which may pose a challenge for members.

The next concrete steps for this level of action planning will be to assess the committee members’ status and define the goals and expectations of committee leaders. Information will be sent out to coalition members to provide their input by the next meeting.

Continenza noted the next meeting will hopefully be held in person at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3355 MacArthur Road. It is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 16.