The Safe Community Coalition (SCC) is a non-profit organization organized to educate students and parents in order to create “a community where youth learn to make responsible decisions and where they are safe, healthy and free from alcohol and drug use.”
Founded in1995, the SCC supports all schools located in McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church and Vienna. The coalition is driven by four goals:
- Early intervention - even as young as pre-school age
- Law enforcement - specifically being proactive and encouraging enforcement
- Parental responsibility - reaching out to them and holding them accountable
- Coordination and community effort
The coalition is supported by annual grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Drug Free Community Act and individual donations.
Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A few times a year, the SCC connects with Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), principals and guidance counselors in liaison meetings. They discuss issues as they arise and plans for coming efforts and programs.
Nyka Feldman, the Executive Director of the SCC said, “I’m the Executive Director of the SCC. It’s myself and an administrative assistant and a ten-person Board of Directors... We’re volunteers… The Board is the heart and soul of the organization. They run the programs.”
Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Feldman joined the SCC in August of 2010. A longtime resident of McLean and mother of twin 10-year olds who attend the Langley School, she came to the SCC with a background in International Development. She worked with community organizations to tackle local issues. When she heard about the opening at the SCC she was intrigued by the prospect of working at an organization that would benefit her own community.
Feldman is very excited about two of their current projects: the Middle School Forum and the “Race to Nowhere” program.
The middle school program is coordinated by Mimi Weisberg and is a mentorship, pairing trained high schoolers with eighth graders. The high school mentors are members of the SCC’s Youth Advisory Council and are trained to help the rising ninth graders deal with transition issues. In March, the mentors will facilitate a panel discussion with the middle schoolers.
On February 2nd, the “ program tackled the tough issue of teens under pressure to succeed. As a follow-up, on March 22nd at 7PM in the Langley auditorium, there will be a program featuring neuropsychologist, Dr. William Stixrud, entitled “Our Response to “A Race to Nowhere”.”
"The SCC is a wonderful organization. It enables the area schools to come together and address issues and concerns of our community as a whole instead of as individual PTAs. By working together as a community through the SCC, we are able to make a community-wide impact,” said Betsy Shomaker, a former SCC board member and current chair of the Langley High School’s Family Network Committee. She has worked with the SCC to organize programs.
McLean High School PTSA President Jacky Longwell said, “The Safe Community Coalition provides a valuable service in pulling together our community to focus on student health and wellness...Nyka Feldman, SCC Executive Director, has done a wonderful job pulling together the many parts of our community to work toward common goals.
“The McLean High School PTSA is honored to work with the Safe Community Coalition…We are very appreciative of the excellent work of the SCC and look forward to continued future involvement.”
Feldman reflected on some of the highlights of past SCC successes. The organization facilitated the installation of an after school program tutoring program in elementary schools. Middle school students were paired with elementary school children to help them with homework.
Another successful program was Project Hospitality. The SCC coordinated with area hotels and limousine services to make sure that graduation night was drug and alcohol free. The SCC then collaborated with law enforcement to coordinate safe and sober activities and transportation. The students were provided with all-night graduation parties funded by the SCC.
Feldman said, “The SCC has been in the community for the past 15 years working on behalf of our youth to help with programs to teach good decision making practices. So many people in the community help to make it a better community. All the volunteers are what make it so effective.”
