We Help with Substance Abuse

Columbia & Greene County, NY

The mission of the Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition is to address addiction in our community by ensuring our residents have access to Information, Education, Treatment Options, and Recovery Supports.

A dual county initiative, the coalition is a multi-stakeholder 501(c)3 organization jointly chaired by

Jason Fredenberg, PsyD, Director of Community Services in Greene County, and
Dan Almasi, Director of Community Services in Columbia County.

Our goal is to build and maintain healthy, safe, and drug free communities by ongoing collaboration with the following 12 community sectors:

Youth​, Parents, Business, Media, School, Youth serving Organizations, Law enforcement, Religious or Fraternal Organizations, Civic or volunteer groups, Healthcare, State, Local, and Tribal Government Agencies, and Other local organizations involved in reducing substance abuse.

If you are interested in getting involved with CGAC please reach out!

Hannah Calhoun, Executive Director
(518) 303- 3665

The CGAC Aims to:

  • Icon for Raise Awareness
    Raise Awareness
    about the risks associated with drug and alcohol use
  • Icon for Educate the Community
    Educate the Community
    about prescription and illicit drug abuse and its impacts
  • Icon for Plan and Deliver
    Plan and Deliver
    prevention and harm reduction programs and activities
  • Icon for Promote and Use Best Practices
    Promote and Use Best Practices
    for treating pain and addiction
  • Icon for Ensure There are Adequate Supports
    Ensure There are Adequate Supports
    for treatment and recovery

How CGAC Will Accomplish These:

  • Icon for Stimulating
    Stimulating
    information exchange and partnerships
  • Icon for Collecting, Analyzing and Reporting Data
    Collecting, Analyzing and Reporting Data
    about prescription and illicit drug abuse and its impact
  • Icon for Conducting Outreach and Educational Events
    Conducting Outreach and Educational Events
    for the general public
  • Icon for Delivering
    Delivering
    prevention programs to school-age children
  • Icon for Identifying and Supporting
    Identifying and Supporting
    policies that support access to treatment

Current Members of the CGAC Include:

  • Icon for Primary &<span>Specialty Healthcare</span>Providers
    Primary &Specialty HealthcareProviders
  • Icon for Mental Health<span>Service Providers</span>
    Mental HealthService Providers
  • Icon for Alcohol/Substance<span>Abuse Treatment</span>Providers
    Alcohol/SubstanceAbuse TreatmentProviders
  • Icon for Pharmacies
    Pharmacies
  • Icon for Dentists
    Dentists
  • Icon for Public Health/<span>Prevention</span>Representatives
    Public Health/PreventionRepresentatives
  • Icon for Higher<span>Education</span>
    HigherEducation
  • Icon for Law<span>Enforcement</span>Agencies
    LawEnforcementAgencies
  • Icon for Criminal<span>Justice</span>Organizations
    CriminalJusticeOrganizations
  • Icon for Individuals<span>Affected by</span>Addiction
    IndividualsAffected byAddiction

We aim to recruit and enlist new members by conducting targeted, often one-on-one outreach to key stakeholders, organizing public education events and creating a “speakers bureau” to present to civic organizations such as rotary clubs, firehouses, etc.

The Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition wants to engage all sectors of our communities, and that’s where you come in!

Contact Us today, to see how your community organization can help.

CGAC is Committed to Providing Education in a Multitude of Forums.

Would you like us to provide a presentation in your community?

Contact Us

Our History

Our organization was formed in the summer of 2013 as the “Columbia-Greene Controlled Substance Awareness Task Force”.

Initiated by Columbia Memorial Hospital, our members included Columbia and Greene County Directors of Community Services, Columbia and Greene County Health Departments, Columbia and Greene County Sheriff’s Departments, NYS Police, District Attorneys for Columbia and Greene Counties, Twin County Recovery Services, Healthcare Providers, and Educators.

In June of 2018, the task force was renamed the “Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition”.

Past activities of the coalition include:

  • Two education and outreach dinners.
  • In-classroom prevention programming coupled with a poster contest in multiple schools, in both Columbia and Greene Counties.
  • Safe disposal boxes for prescription medications at multiple locations in Columbia and Greene Counties.
  • Improved guidelines and processes for substance use contracts, urine drug screening, scales of functional pain assessments, opioid risk tools, and protocols for treating narcotics patients system-wide.
  • Forging positive working relationships between the health system and outside providers to ensure seamless transitions of care for shared clientele.