Vision

Our vision is an environment where all citizens of the Bennington area have chosen a tobacco free lifestyle.

Mission

Our mission is to prevent first time tobacco use among youth and reduce its use across all ages in the Bennington area.

History

Tobacco-Free Community Partners originated in 1997 as a task force at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and has evolved significantly since then. The hospital initiated the task force to explore programs that would reduce smoking prevalence among youth and offer effective cessation services for youth and adults. The hospital expanded the project and supported it for three years along with numerous community partners.

In 1999, SVMC applied for and was awarded Bennington's first state tobacco control grant. In 2000, the Partners' independently applied for and was awarded the grant, and selected the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union (SVSU) as their fiscal agent. In March 2007, the Center for Restorative Justice (CRJ) became the fiscal agent for Tobacco-Free Community Partners, shifting the focus of the coalition to community-based prevention and intervention. The SVSU still manages a separate school-based grant from the Department of Education to implement youth tobacco prevention activities in the schools.

Tobacco-Free Community Partners now employs a full-time Community Coordinator, who is located at CRJ's office at 439 Main Street. CRJ is a private, non-profit court diversion program that benefits both the victim and the community through a confidential, community based and common sense approach. CRJ works with offenders and assists in finding healthier alternatives to delinquency, court records, arrests and convictions. CRJ also offers substance abuse education, life skills training, job placement, and social activities. This new partnership between Tobacco-Free Community Partners and the Center for Restorative Justice should increase the public's awareness of the Partners' work, facilitate recruitment of new members, and promote participation in local tobacco control activities.

Statewide Tobacco Control Program

Vermont's Tobacco Control Program includes 19 community-based coalitions, school prevention curricula and policies, quit smoking services, statewide training, mass media and public education, and enforcement of youth access laws. The program's three statewide goals are:

1. Prevent youth smoking.
2. Reduce adult smoking.
3. Reduce exposure to second-hand-smoke.

Master Settlement Agreement

Vermont's tobacco control grants are funded primarily through the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The MSA is the landmark agreement reached in November 1998 between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories, and the tobacco industry. The agreement resolved lawsuits filed by the attorneys general against the tobacco industry and provided funds to the states to compensate them for taxpayer money that was spent on patients and family members with tobacco-related diseases. Among many other provisions, the agreement required that tobacco billboard advertising be taken down, that tobacco companies stop using cartoon characters to sell cigarettes, and that tobacco companies make many of their internal documents available to the public. The tobacco companies also agreed not to target youth in the advertising, marketing and promotion of their products. The MSA also called for the creation of a foundation -- the American Legacy Foundation -- to counter the use of tobacco.