Hello!

I just wanted to make a post to introduce myself and explain a bit about what I do with Hamilton County Public Health and Colerain Township.

My name is Rachael Acra. I work for Hamilton County Public Health as a Health Counselor, but I spend most of my time (4 out of 5 days a week) working in Colerain Township as the Community Health Coordinator. There are a lot of different aspects to my job as Community Health Coordinator. I have worked with the Fire/EMS team in Colerain to implement a referral program for residents they come in contact with on calls that may need extra support, resources, etc. I make contact with each referral sent to me and work with the client on any needs and/or concerns they may have and work to improve their daily lives and ensure they are safe. I receive referrals for things like addiction, mental health issues, homelessness, domestic violence, etc. I am also working with the Colerain Police Department and the LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) Program on implementing a very similar referral program.

We have a program in Colerain that I also am the forefront on called Safe Stations. Every fire station in Colerain is labeled a "safe station." This means that anyone can come to any fire station seeking assistance with addiction or substance use and the EMS/Fire crews will call me to come to the station and assist the individual. The paramedics at the station will also complete a health assessment on the individual and give Narcan if wanted/needed.

I also do QRT (Quick Response Team) once a week on Thursdays. If you aren't familiar with QRT, it is a team that goes out in the community to follow up with individuals that have had an overdose incident and offer them support, treatment resources, Narcan, etc. In Colerain, the team consists of an addiction specialist (me), a police officer, and a paramedic.

I am working with the Northwest Local School District as well to provide prevention/intervention to youth with first time drug/alcohol offences and am working on partnering with the Chamber of Commerce in Colerain to provide education on SUD/addiction and individual assistance to employees of businesses.

If you ever need anything, do not hesitate to reach out! My email is rachaeldotacraathamilton-codotorg . If you ever have any questions or need assistance with anything in Colerain, please feel free to email me!