The Tobacco-Free Coalition of Monroe County is looking for 5 youth between the ages of 13-18 years old who would like to participate in VOICE, a youth advocacy campaign.

​VOICE is Indiana's statewide youth empowerment program, an initiative to engage, educate, and empower teens to celebrate a tobacco-free lifestyle. 

Do you know a teen who might be interested? Contact the coalition's Youth Coordinator, Patricia Colon, at pcolon@iuhealth.org for more information.

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Tobacco-Free Coalition. Click here to learn more about our community's tobacco cessation efforts.

How does our local government set priorities for funding projects? Youth Participatory Budgeting (YPB) is a program that helps young residents learn this process by allocating real dollars for projects they propose.

​The City of Bloomington's 2019 budget includes $15,000 for a new YPB program. Students who attend a Monroe County school and who will be in grades 8-12 at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year are invited to participate. Proposed projects must benefit the general public in one of the following categories: arts/culture, education, environment, recreation, social concerns or "other."

Several communities nationwide have launched some type of participatory budgeting, including Boston, Seattle, New York City and Denver.

​Get more details about Bloomington's effort on the city's YPB website, including a timeline for this process. Ready to apply? Click here. And follow the process on Instagram at YPB Bloomington!

Want more info? Check out this post on CitizenLab: "8 Steps to Effective Participatory Budgeting."