Mindy Grimm took over as Union County's ICare Drug Coalition coordinator in July 2017, and while she's hosted monthly meetings and a couple of tailgates during football season, events haven't been her focus. Instead, she's hard at work gathering data on youth drug and alcohol abuse to build a program targeted at Union County's unique needs.

"We don't know what we don't know," she said. "We're reassessing the whole framework to try to build a foundation for the kind of change that we need."

Grimm grew up in Union County. She was wellness coordinator at the Bob Temple North Side YMCA for 12 years, taught at Union County High School and coached middle school soccer since 2007. Her love of home made the choice of whether to come on board with ICare an easy one.

"I love living here. Just seeing what drugs are doing to everybody around us, I just wanted to put some investment into the kids in this county and give them some incentives and teach them that even though they're in high school they can make a difference right now," she said.

ICare is funded by a state block grant to reduce drinking, smoking and drug use in young people ages 12 to 25, but Grimm's efforts aren't just aimed at that age group. Community change and outreach to parents, as long as it has a youth outcome, is also useful. Some programs are already in place, such as ICare's partnership with Union County Sheriff's Office for the Count It, Lock It, Drop It program, asking adults to keep track of their medications, keep prescriptions under lock and key, and dispose of them safely.

"If adults will lock up their meds, their children will not have easy access to them," Grimm said. "If you need this prescription, fine, but lock this stuff up. Count how many pills you have in your bottle."

And there's no doubt that opioid abuse is a problem in Union County. According to data from TN.gov's data dashboard, Union Countians had more than 30,000 opiate prescriptions in 2016. The county's total population is close to 19,000. Grimm pointed out that the prescriptions weren't necessarily from Union County doctors, but are tied to the recipient's address. In 2015, there were 41 non-fatal opiate overdoses reported in Union County and six overdose deaths.

The highest percentage of opioid users in Union County are in the 45 to 54 age range, Grimm said, "typically the age of parents that have kids in high school."

In addition to drug collection events, Grimm is available to help with prevention training for churches and community groups. Community events are advertised on the ICare Facebook page. She's also visiting the various Union County neighborhood watch groups.

She added that ICare is a coalition, and while many local agencies are active in the group, she's looking to expand the group's diversity and add more community members, particularly parents and people of Hispanic descent, to give new perspectives and bring attention to needs that they see.

"We're assuming there are needs, but we don't know, it might not be a need," she said. "We're here, and we're looking for some positive community change. That's really it, just for this to be a very healthy place to live in.

"Come out and be a part of it and have a voice."

The next Count It, Lock It, Drop It drug takeback day is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at the Union County Sheriff's Office. For more information and events, call Grimm at 865-216-0475 or email her at unioncountyicare@gmail.com, or visit the iCare Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UC.ICAReCoalition/.