Cortland County Health Department Awarded $325,00 Grant for Tobacco Control

Funds to Support Prevention and Reduction of Tobacco Use through Youth Action and Community Engagement

The Cortland County Health Department has been awarded a five-year grant at annual funding of $325,000 to engage community stakeholders and youth to change policies and norms about tobacco and tobacco use in Cortland, Chenango and Tompkins Counties.  The Advancing Tobacco Free Communities grant builds on previous tobacco control work conducted by Tobacco Free Cortland, Tobacco Free Tompkins and Tobacco Free Chenango programs.  As part of this grant, all counties of New York State will have access to the resources of a community engagement program and the youth action efforts known as Reality Check.  The grant was awarded by the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Control.

The grant work consists of engaging local stakeholders, educating community leaders and the public, and mobilizing community members and organizations to strengthen tobacco-related policies that prevent and reduce tobacco use.  Efforts will also focus on reducing youth exposure to harmful tobacco marketing in retail settings, limiting exposure to secondhand smoke in outdoor areas and inside multi-unit housing, and reducing smoking imagery through the media.  As part of this grant, all counties of New York State will now engage a youth action component known as Reality Check.

“Tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of death and disease locally so this is extremely important work,” said Catherine Feuerherm, Public Health Director of the Cortland County Health Department.  “We are proud to be part of a statewide effort to prevent youth smoking and create tobacco-free communities where New Yorkers live, work and play.”

The primary goals of this grant are to:

• Reduce the impact of retail tobacco marketing on youth
• Establish tobacco-free community norms through tobacco-free outdoor air policies
• Reduce secondhand smoke exposure through smoke free housing policies
• Reduce tobacco imagery in youth-rated movies
• Reduce tobacco industry presence on social media.

There were 25 grants awarded to organizations across New York State totaling $9.4 million annually.  These grants are intended to create change at the population level and maximize the state’s tobacco control efforts to have the greatest effect on the most people.  Funding began July 1 and ends March 31, 2019.

For more information, contact Program Coordinators Jennifer Hamilton (607) 758-5501; jhamilton@cortland-co.org or Kimberly Priest (607) 756-3416; kpriest@cortland-co.org.