Joss Clegg believes creating opportunities for young people to connect with each other and their neighbors is one of the best ways to reduce youth substance misuse and mental health distress, especially in rural Vermont.
As a youth intern for Project All Together Now VT, Joss worked with his peers at Mount Mansfield Union High School to survey students and plan programs and events aimed at fostering community and reducing isolation.
Project All Together Now serves youth in the sprawling MMU school district encompassing Bolton, Jericho, Richmond, Underhill, and Huntington. It’s one of 19 prevention partners that received subgrants in 2024 from United Way of Northwest Vermont for substance misuse prevention efforts across our region.
“It can be very isolating to live in a rural area and for many students, school is the only opportunity for connection. When COVID hit and we were all home for a year, people were alone in their own thoughts. I think that led to mental health issues, and a lot of substance use and addiction,” Joss said.
In survey responses, there was a common theme from students around wanting to find ways to connect with peers who share similar interests. The funding Project All Together Now VT received made it possible for youth interns to organize events including a popular community art show.
“A lot of students love to do art in their free time, and they wanted to display it. The show prompted new friendships between people who wouldn’t have connected otherwise but have a mutual love for art,” Joss said.
In addition to the satisfaction of helping people feel more connected, Joss also enjoyed using data, listening to his peers, and “building solutions from the ground up.” This is a skill he plans to expand studying engineering at Columbia University. He hopes to participate in Engineers Without Borders USA, which brings engineers into communities around the world to create local solutions to meet basic human needs.
Joss concludes: “I think the basis of all this work is that you have to find what people want. The most important part of prevention is each situation is unique and it needs slightly different solutions and people to help create them.”
It’s all about local people coming together for local solutions.
