About Us

• Reduce underage and high-risk drinking rates 

• Reduce youth prescription drug misuse rates 

• Reduce tobacco use rates 

• Reduce youth cannabis use rates 

• Increase opportunities for youth participation and leadership in community prevention strategies and activities

These Four Principles Support Us in Executing Our Mission 

• Education and Public Awareness: We will inform our community of the dangers associated with the use or misuse of alcohol and other drugs and promote the effectiveness of prevention strategies.

• Collaboration: Every member of our community can be an effective part of prevention efforts. We will provide opportunities for individuals and organizations to work together to achieve mutual outcomes. 

• Advocacy: We will be a voice for prevention in Burlington. We will educate our communities and policymakers to make informed decisions to improve local and state practices, policies, and laws. 

• Service and Support: We will implement evidence-based programs in collaboration with our partners that support community-wide improvements to health and wellness in Burlington. 

Justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to achieving the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community’s mission and vision for Burlington. We recognize that systematically marginalized communities in Burlington are impacted disproportionately by the accessibility and promotion of substance use and by equity gaps in the healthcare and public health systems contributing to the causes and consequences of substance use disorders. This leads to disproportionate negative outcomes for many marginalized populations, including higher rates of disease and death. 

We believe that all Burlington residents, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives with equitable access to health. BPHC recognizes a moral responsibility to support diversity, equity and inclusion in our organizational culture and as part of the strategies we implement in the community. We will join with community partners to eradicate systems of discrimination, oppression, and injustice within the systems we work in and create an inclusive environment that respects and celebrates all identities.

We will seek to listen to and amplify diverse voices, ideas, and approaches that help us build a community in which all people can thrive. We will hold ourselves accountable to specific JDEI commitments and actions while understanding that these will continue to evolve as we learn and grow. 

Some of the specific steps we are taking in 2024 and 2025 are: 

• Using affirming language that is people-centered, reduces stigma, and promotes the application of evidence-informed and culturally-informed practices in our written and oral communications. 

• Ensuring meetings or events our organization hosts, or that we partner with others to host, are accessible to all types of abilities and language needs, as needed. Including, but not limited to, providing interpretation support and using wheelchair accessible locations. 

• We updated our website to ensure it is ADA compliant and will continue to review materials we develop for ADA compliance. 

• Including land acknowledgements in materials and at events when appropriate.

• Building an equity-centered internal culture by: 

  • Providing funding for staff, advisory board members, and partners to be able to participate in training and learning opportunities that supports their continued growth in relevant JDEI issues. 

  • Expanding our board membership to include representation and connection to additional sectors of the Burlington community. 

  • Working with our fiscal agent to support equitable hiring, compensation, and employment practices. This includes, but is not limited to providing equitable professional support for professional development.

• Intentionally seeking out, and listening to and learning from, community voices that have been systematically silenced, ignored, or unheard through: 

  • Meetings with individuals, as well as organizations working with these community members

  • Attending community groups 

  • Focus groups of people not at the table

  • Inviting people to be a part of coalition workgroups and strategies

• Advocate for policy improvements in Burlington that reduce disproportionate negative outcomes caused by disparities in accessibility and promotion of substance use, such as higher density of alcohol and tobacco outlets in low income areas. 

• Using our resources and professional knowledge to work alongside systematically marginalized communities to support prevention improvements they want to see.

The Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community (BPHC) evolved from the strong foundation built by the Chittenden County Substance Abuse Coalition (CCSAC) that began in 1999. In 2005, the Vermont Department of Health approached CCSAC to develop a coalition to impact substance misuse prevention specific to the needs of the city of Burlington. In the fall of 2006, the decision was made by the CCSAC Board to focus their efforts on Burlington and the county coalition reformed as BPHC.

BPHC maintained many of the same board and coalition members as we developed a new mission and vision and secured funding. The group made the decision that our work together would focus on strategies that change factors in the community environment that affect substance use rates. Environmental factors refer to the conditions in which each individual lives - their household, their neighborhood or town, and the larger community. These may include aspects of the social environment, including the norms and behaviors of families, friends, and others in the community. In 2007, BPHC hired our first staff person. They helped identify and engage people and organizations to join the coalition’s mission. That same year, BPHC was awarded our first grant funding from the Vermont Department of Health to build capacity and complete a community needs assessment for Burlington. The information in the assessment helped us develop our first strategic plan that focused on increasing community awareness of substance use issues and looking at local policies and practices that were contributing to high rates of misuse.

Over the years BPHC has evaluated and revised our community interventions and grown in staff, partners, and capacity to expand our reach and impact. In the last decade we began programs that support families in Burlington, including ParentIN for parents of Burlington middle and high schoolers, and the One Voice Youth Empowerment Program where we partner with Burlington School District to provide afterschool youth groups at the middle and high schools to empower youth to be leaders for health in our community. We are committed to continuing to assess the community needs and evaluate our work so that we can support the best outcomes for all of Burlington.