From left, Pastor Margaret Mills, Jayne Klett and Jim Posey were part of the Two Villages coalition that changed the community’s understanding of and approach to mental health. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

ELMORE – In November, 2009, Jayne Klett stood in the basement of St. John’s United Church of Christ before 24 people from the Elmore and Woodville communities, desperately seeking a way to save the town’s youth. Between March and November of 2009, five young people that lived within five miles of her home lost their lives to what she then termed “risky behaviors.”

That first meeting inspired the founding of Two Villages, a grassroots coalition with a goal to change the culture that glorifies risky behaviors and to connect locals through events that educate and empower the Woodmore community. On Dec. 1, Two Villages was officially dissolved, leaving behind a legacy of support that changed the conversation about addiction and mental health and provided education that changed lives.

On Dec. 5, Klett and Two Villages members, St. John UCC Pastor Margaret Mills and Sandusky County Health Educator Jim Posey, sat in the conference room of Christy’s Corner Café in Elmore and reminisced about the impact the coalition had, an impact that started because Klett was mourning five young locals.

“Two were neighbors. One was a member of my church. My son rode the bus with a younger sibling of two of them, and one was in 4H with my son,” Klett said. “I started asking questions. How is this being taught? How is this being addressed? What are we doing about it?”

Klett and her Two Villages team stepped in and became the voice of education and support. Since 2009, Two Villages hosted 16 community events, 11 school events, and numerous presentations at local religious, government, and civic meetings. The media took notice, and other communities turned to Two Villages for advice.

In the midst of their efforts was Two Villages’ greatest success: getting people to talk about addiction and mental health and helping them understand that it is a universal problem that can affect any family.

A 2016 town hall meeting about heroin that drew over 300 people was a pivotal point in community awareness.

Jayne Klett looks over newspaper stories about Two Villages. The coalition dissolved on Dec. 1. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“One of the speakers was recovering from substance abuse, and her mother was speaking. That made a huge difference. It was a family no one would have guessed was dealing with that,” Klett said. “Ottawa County Judge Bruce Winters was there. He changed the focus. Everyone said we need to get to the kids, but he said he recently had a farmer in his court who asked if he could get his beans off before he went to jail. People realized it’s an adult problem, too.”

Events like the heroin town hall helped break down the stigma of addiction and mental health, opening doors for locals to reach out for help.

“Sixteen years ago, nobody talked about mental health,” Klett said. “We didn’t use the term mental health. We talked about high-risk behavior.”

Encouraging open talks about mental health changed community perception and fostered compassion.

“I think the group’s biggest success was addressing that elephant in the room,” Posey said. “It would have been something that lingered. Maybe some people wouldn’t have been supported if mental health hadn’t been addressed.”

Today, addiction and mental health are a part of everyday conversation, and resources are available that didn’t exist in 2009. In a sense, Two Villages was the bridge that spanned the gulf between an era of misinformation and closed doors and an era of compassion and assistance.

“We provided resources in a variety of ways with a goal for the Woodmore community and its neighbors to raise healthy and resilient children,” Klett said. “We feel like we’ve run the course, but there are more resources and more people are talking about mental health. It’s no longer the elephant in the room.”

Sixteen years of impact began because one woman turned mourning for her neighbors into a quest to prevent more deaths. Two Villages may have dissolved, but its impact is thriving in the Woodmore communities and beyond.

“We couldn’t have done what we did without Jayne. She took it and ran with it,” Mills said. “If it can happen to five local families, it can happen to any of us. It’s not a big-city problem. It’s just a problem. It can happen anywhere.”