Coalitions
Coalitions at Missoula Public Health
Click below to learn more about our community coalitions, their current projects, and how to get involved!
5-2-1-0 Let’s Move! Missoula Steering Committee
5-2-1-0 Let’s Move! Missoula believe that every child, family, and person should have the opportunity to live a healthier life.
They help make sure that everyone has access to places and things that promote good habits for staying healthy. If your business or agency wants to work with us, please send us an email. We’d love to collaborate! The steering committee meets every other month on the Second Friday of the month from 12:00pm to 1:30pm.
Get Involved
Current Projects
- Let’s Move! is currently looking for volunteers for the Midday Move active recess program. Learm more about volunteering for Midday Move.
- 5210 Let’s Move! Missoula Affiliate Program
Emergency Preparedness – Access and Functional Needs Subcommittee
The Access and Functional Needs (AFN) Subcommittee wants everyone in Missoula County to be ready for and able to recover from emergencies and disasters.
We meet every three months with different groups like local government, businesses, tribes, and non-profits to make sure that everyone, including those with special needs, is included in Missoula Public Health’s emergency plans.
Get Involved
Current Projects
Drive Safe Missoula
The Missoula Buckle Up Montana Coalition and DUI Task Force work together to keep our community safe.
Drive Safe Missoula
Drive Safe Missoula in building a safer community on our roads! As the proud home of the Missoula County DUI Task Force and the Missoula County Buckle Up Montana Coalition, we’re dedicated to creating a future where everyone arrives home safely. Aligned with Montana’s Vision Zero initiative, we’re working towards zero serious injuries and deaths on our roadways. Through education, supporting law enforcement, and raising awareness, we’re tackling impaired driving and promoting the proper use of seat belts and child safety seats. Together, we can make Missoula County’s roads safer for everyone. Drive Safe Missoula is supported by funding provided by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT).
We meet quarterly virtually. To get involved, please email us!
Drive Safe Missoula and Vision Zero
To accomplish Vision Zero, we need you!
Your family, friends, other drivers, pedestrians, bikers, construction workers, and first responder need you!
We all need you to get where you are going safely.
We need you to drive “In Control” and buckled up, 100% sober, and free from distractions.
Drive Safe Missoula, We Need You!
Get Involved
Current Projects
Fetal, Infant, Child Maternal Mortality Review
The Fetal, Infant, Child, Maternal Mortality Review Program (FICMMR) is a statewide-effort to reduce preventable fetal, infant, child, and maternal deaths.
The FICMMR review teams identify gaps, barriers, and risk factors, and works in partnership to strengthen systems. The FICMMR teams form alliances and mobilize resources to educate communities to reduce preventable deaths. The goal of the FICMMR program is to reduce risk factors and decrease the number of preventable deaths through educational outreach, and evidence-based and best-practice prevention initiatives.
For more information: National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention
Frenchtown Community Coalition
The Frenchtown Community Coalition (FCC) is a group in Frenchtown, MT that wants to prevent young people from using harmful substances, like drugs and alcohol.
They started in 2008 and have two main goals:
- To unite the community around helping young people.
- To decrease the amount of young people who use drugs and alcohol.
The FCC achieves this by including young people and getting different parts of the community to work together. We want to make sure things that might make young people use drugs happen less, and we want to make sure things that help young people make good choices happen more. By working together, we can help young people grow up to be healthy and able to handle tough situations.
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Healthy Missoula Youth
Healthy Missoula Youth is a group led by Missoula Public Health, along with many community partners. Together, we work to protect young people from the harms of substance use.
Our goal is to lower the rates of alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and other harmful substance use among youth. We want a vibrant community where both individuals and families receive community support and are able to make healthy choices around substances. By working together and using effective methods, we create safe and positive environments for local youth, helping them make informed decisions and lead successful lives.
Get Involved
Healthy Start Missoula
Healthy Start Missoula is a community coalition working to connect families with young children to parenting support.
We believe every child should grow up in a safe, supportive, and caring environment where they can reach their full potential. Healthy Start Missoula works to improve the things that help or hurt a child’s early development. Our mission is to support strong family relationships, positive social connections, and safe, stable homes for children. We do this through advocacy, education, and working with the community. Our goal is to help families and communities give children the best chance to grow, be resilient, and be happy.
You’ve probably heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That’s what we believe, and thanks to our many community partners, we’ve built a team that helps make this happen. These groups work together to connect families with the support and services they need. These partners include, but are not limited to, the following: All Nations Health Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, CASA of Missoula, Drive Safe Missoula, Families First Learning Lab, Family Outreach, Friends of the Children, Head Start Inc. Child Start, Healthy Missoula Youth, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies: The Montana Coalition, Kaleidoscope Kids, Missoula Early Head Start, Missoula Firefighters Benevolent Association, Missoula Public Health – Home Visiting, Missoula Public Health – WIC, Missoula Public Library, Mountain Health Gives, The Parenting Place, Parks & Rec, Project Tomorrow, Safe Kids Missoula, Watson’s Children’s Shelter, YMCA, Zero to Five Missoula County, and 5210 Let’s Move! Missoula.
We also offer fun and helpful activities for families, like Roll & Read, where parents and kids can play, learn, and connect with others in the community. Want to stay in the loop? We offer a free texting service called Lantern that sends you info about your child’s development and local events that are free or low cost and perfect for your child’s age.
Get Involved
Healthy Start Missoula meets every other month on the third Tuesday from 9:00 to 10:30 AM at Missoula Public Health (during even-numbered months). You’re welcome to stop by a meeting or reach out to learn more and join in!
Make Your Move! Missoula
The Make Your Move! Missoula coalition partners with different organizations and agencies to create strategies and programs that prevent relationship violence.
Their goal is to make sure that everyone in our community feels safe and respected in their relationships. We believe in building a community where love and kindness flourish, and violence has no place. Make Your Move! currently meets virtually on the fourth Monday of the month at 10:00am. Contact us to get involved!
Get Involved
Current Projects
Missoula Drug Safety Coalition
Missoula Drug Safety Coalition is led by Missoula Public Health, along with many community partners.
We want a community where every life is valued and where fatal overdoses are prevented. Our goal is to impact culture, policies and programs in Missoula County to save lives, reduce risk, and remove barriers to care for all.
Get Involved
Current Projects
Perinatal Substance Use Network
The Missoula Perinatal Substance Use Network is a group of community members and organizations working together to reduce the number of children removed from their families because of substance use during and after pregnancy.
The Missoula Perinatal Substance Use Network is a group of community members and organizations working together to reduce the number of children removed from their families because of substance use during and after pregnancy.
We focus on helping families affected by substance use during the perinatal period (which means pregnancy through age 3). Our goal is to create a community where families feel safe asking for help, can get the care they need, and can stay together in a healthy, lasting way. We also believe it’s very important to listen to and include parents who have gone through these experiences, and we work to involve them in ways that make them feel supported and heard.
The Network is currently focused on two main projects:
1. Trauma-Informed Organizations
This project looks at how we can make it easier for parents to talk about substance use and ask for help. We’re working with hospitals, health care providers, and parents with lived experience to make systems more supportive and understanding. The goal is to identify and strengthen pathways for disclosing perinatal substance use & seeking support.
2. Family Treatment and Recovery Residences
This project is about learning more about treatment and recovery homes in Montana for parents and families. We’re working with different treatment centers to understand how many spots are available and how many families still need support. You can read about this work in the 2023 Montana Parent/Child Treatment and Recovery Housing Landscape Scan and the 2024 Montana Family SUD Treatment and Recovery Residences Landscape Scan.
Get Involved
The Missoula Perinatal Substance Use Network meets once a month on the second Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM. Reach out to us to find out where the meetings are held or how to join virtually.
Want to learn more about how this group got started? Check out the 2021 PSU Network Report.
Project Tomorrow Montana
Project Tomorrow Montana is a coalition that works to make sure fewer people die by suicide.
We do this by working with community partners on projects that increase awareness, promote prevention, and support intervention. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 1pm. Contact us to get involved!
Get Involved
Current Projects
SPACECAT Network
The purpose of the Missoula SPACECAT Network is to create a culture of teamwork amongst our partners in the service of our community by aligning groups working on Suicide, Overdose, and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) prevention.
Suicide, overdose, and ACEs share many risk and protective factors. When our community comes together to work on these shared risk and protective factors, we can increase our collective impact on multiple issues facing our community and use limited resources wisely.
The SPACECAT Network formed in 2023 when Missoula Public Health received its first grant from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to increase our capacity to work at the intersection of suicide, overdose, and ACEs. Using the Suicide, Overdose, and Adverse Childhood Experiences Toolkit from NACCHO, the SPACECAT Network developed a strategic plan. Missoula Public Health received a second round of funding from NACCHO to begin implementing this plan in 2024.
While these grants have ended, Missoula Public Health has sustained this work by including it in the 2025-2030 Community Health Improvement Plan. The SPACECAT Network meets bi-monthly on the 4th Thursday of the month, 8:30-10:30am.
