Our History

The Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana was created by an executive order of Governor Evan Bayh in 1989 as a new and innovative strategy for furthering Indiana’s fight against alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.  The Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana serves to mobilize a collaborative local effort by forming a local coordinating council in each county of the state. Local coordinating councils have been established throughout all of Indiana’s 92 counties.

In 1990, the St. Joseph County Local Coordinating Committee (LCC) began as The St. Joseph County Coalition Against Drugs (SJCCAD).  They were a grassroots movement; a community committee that continued as an independent group until late 1992.  In 1993 the Healthy Communities Initiative (HCI) was also a growing volunteer organization in St. Joseph County.  Its vision of holistic community health led to the creation of councils designed to broadly address issues of collaboration, families, governance, health and neighborhoods.  Although implied in their efforts, HCI did not specifically have a council to address issues of alcohol and other drugs.  In 1995 plans to pursue a merger between the SJCCAD and HCI began.  This merger took place in the summer of 1996 and resulted in the creation of the Drug Free Community Council (DFCC), with the SJCCAD essentially bringing its committee structure and membership into HCI.  The Drug-Free Community Council of HCI was designated as the LCC for the St. Joseph County by the Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana and continues to serve in this role.