About Positively Elkhart County
A very short history
In 2010, a group of board members from the Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership traveled to a conference in Washington D.C. At that conference, a prevention program out of Florida was awarded the number one prevention program in the nation. That program used a Social Norming Model that was research-based and was seeing success.
The group was so impressed they decided to establish a similar program in Elkhart County. Positively Elkhart County began in 2012 with a partnership between the Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office. The program launched in the four unincorporated school systems (Baugo, Northridge, Fairfield, and Concord).
In 2019, Elkhart Community Schools and Goshen Community Schools also established PEC in their middle and high schools.
In the beginning, the program centered around using student-created posters in each of the schools, as well as, school visits.
Then the world closed down due to a global pandemic. We began to reimagine our role in students’ lives. This included celebrating the positive choices local teens were making through new ways. We started a Text Club for both Teens and Adults, when school restarted we began sending out weekly school announcements, and we are always showing up to see students at school and in the community.
Your PEC Team
Andee Huxhold
Positively Elkhart County Director
Andee is the public face of PEC. She will be at your school, in the community, and behind the scenes. She comes to PEC with an extensive background in program building, volunteer management, and grant writing.
Jess Koscher
Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership Executive Director
The Drug-Free Partnership is the nonprofit organization that houses PEC. Jess has a background in nonprofit management, is a certified fundraiser, and has worked in prevention for almost 30 years.
Kasey Kirchner
School Announcements
Every week Kasey sends out school announcements to all participating schools. She also creates content for social media and advertising.
Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership
The Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership is the parent nonprofit of Positively Elkhart County. Established as the Local Coordinating Council for Elkhart County in 1989 by then-Governor Evan Bayh. He believed there needed to be a group of dedicated community members who were actively focusing on drug treatment, prevention, and criminal justice.
In 2012, the Partnership established Positively Elkhart County as a teen prevention program. The program receives funding through the Drug-Free Community Fund which is managed by the Partnership, by Elkhart County, and additional grants.
The Partnership offers free Lunch & Learns every 1st Monday of the even months with topics relevant to treatment, prevention, and criminal justice efforts around alcohol and other drugs.
To learn more about the Elkhart County Drug-Free Partnership, visit elkhartdrugfree.org.