Advocates for Better Communities
ABC has a county-wide, multi-tiered project that looks at prevention, intervention and treatment of opioid
misuse/abuse. This funding will be used for the prevention component of the coalition’s action plans. We will conduct a community-wide awareness campaign; train schools, worksites and churches about opioid misuse/abuse science & appropriate prescription drug disposal; and collaborate with physician to identify at risk individuals then provide alternative treatments for pain. The Opioid Prevention Mini-grant will be implemented throughout all of Polk County.
Alliance for Healthy Communities
The context of successful partnership with PSD Safe and Drug-Free leadership team, AHC has recognized the opportunity for continued capacity building specific to youth involvement in community prevention. The data cited above reflect a large challenge in the reduction of incidence rates of underage drinking. To impact the scale of this challenge, AHC will grow the scope of youth involvement by developing their voice in community messaging and social norms strategies. Further, AHC will increase its capacities to empower youth voice by providing necessary technical support for transforming youth project visions into effective messaging tools.
Anne Marie Project
The Anne Marie Project was founded as a way to provide information and education in the areas of underage drinking, illegal drugs, mental health and faith to youth in the Jefferson City community. This education has been presented in schools to teachers,social workers and parents to better inform as well as to assist adolescents who may be at risk as they grow into adulthood. The Anne Marie Project also manages its website www.annemarieproject.org as a vehicle to educate young people as well.
As a follow up to Helping Students with a Traumatic History it is our desire to present Part 2: Intervention methods to help students with PTSD and how adults/teachers can work with these students in the classroom and home. This 2 hour program will be presented to Cole county schools, state agencies, and United Way agencies in the 2018-2019 calendar year. The objectives are to learn how to understand how to identify a child that has been affected with trauma; to build relationships with resistant students; learn classroom techniques to help students affected by trauma and identify burnout and secondary trauma and understand self care strategies. We will supply a folder containing 4 key fact cards and bio dots to all participants.
Belton CARES
Education- The Key to Prevention will support the Belton CARES mission to direct, support and actively
coordinate efforts of the community to significantly reduce substance use, promote youth safety, reduce
bullying, support mental health, issues, and thereby improve the health and well-being of the community.
This project will educate the community on the risk involved with the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and will promote safe decision-making. Education-The Key to Prevention will also clarify the misconceptions about the safety of electronic cigarette use as well as driving while under the influence of ANY substance.
Breathe Easy Kirksville
Breathe Easy Kirksville will collaborate with the county afterschool program to implement the research-based Second Step Elementary: Bullying Prevention Unit. The intervention includes comprehensive, interactive lessons supplemented with engaging videos and hands-on activities as well as take-home materials (Committee for Children, 2018) to reduce early initiation of substances (especially tobacco), reduce bullying (including cyberbullying), and improve pro-social behaviors. Because youth bullying and substance abuse are risk factors for poor health outcomes in the future, there is a need for early developmental interventions to address the underlying causes of these behaviors that lead to poor future health outcomes. The earlier interventions are implemented, the earlier disruptive behavior problems and aggression can be addressed before they develop into more serious emotional, health, and academic concerns.
Butler County We Can Be Drug Free Coalition
The Coalition will develop “Drug Free Rally Kits” that include messaging for youth for mini rallies to be hosted by community partners in the months building up to a Community Wide Drug Free Youth Rally will be held targeting ages 10-24 at the Black River Coliseum. The community Drug Free Rally will feature games, food, music and speakers. Youth will have the opportunity to sign pledge cards, pledging to remain drug, alcohol and tobacco free. The speaker will focus on prescription drug misuse using the Generation Rx Teen curriculum. To build excitement about the rally, the video of the 2018 Drug Free Rally will be distributed and advertised throughout the community in addition to Substance Use messaging will be displayed using electronic billboards and sponsored social media in order to reinforce the message and to advertise the community wide rally.
Carthage Caring Communities Coalition
The Carthage Caring Communities Coalition seeks to work with Carthage area youth in order to develop a peer-to-peer media campaign to encourage area youth to postpone the age of first use of substances through education and positive peer pressure.
Charleston C2000
The Project will implement a alcohol and drug prevention program for 60 at risk Charleston Youth ages 10 -14 and their parents, resulting in increasing youth, parent, and community awareness and decreasing the risk of youth alcohol and drug use. There will be a structured on-going educational component utilizing prevention videos, presenters from local, state law enforcement Departments, FCC professionals, Mississippi County Health Department and volunteer adult mentors as resources. Also, after school tutoring will expand to include remediation in math, science and reading; and a 7 week parenting class will be offered. There will also be a recreational activities component for the Youth and parents.
Council for Drug Free Youth
Council for Drug Free Youth (CDFY) plans to implement a multiple county facilitated drug prevention education program for at-risk youth, to include all 7th grade students. The Communication Offers Positive Enrichment (COPE) youth prevention program addresses, alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and tobacco related products. The at-risk youth program will be combined with an adult and community education component. This multifaceted educational campaign will include all seven prevention strategies in the implementation to provide lasting environmental impact in the communities served. The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) was used to develop this plan and is at the foundation of the work of CDFY
CRUSH St. Louis
The purpose of this mini grant is to achieve community level change by increasing awareness and disseminating information on the dangers of opioids, current trends of substance use among youth (including prescription drug misuse), medication safety and drop box locations, current overdose rates, advocacy opportunities, harm reduction strategies, and treatment and recovery resources. CRUSH St. Louis will educate on the efforts of the coalition, provide resources, and have helpful links to important information regarding current opioid information on a newly developed website and social media platform.
Dallas County Live Well Alliance
Dallas County Live Well Alliance (DCLWA) would utilize requested funds to “refocus”, “regroup” and “regenerate” its newly sprouted foundation. DCLWA was formed in December of 2015 and was officially recognized as a coalition in March 2016. DCLWA is the county’s only “formal” coalition. While the coalition has a firm foundation of core members, including a doctor specializing in addiction recovery, local school staff, youth, health department, domestic violence advocates and youth and family advocates; the coalition has promoted tobacco prevention and policy enforcement efforts and substance use prevention efforts; it is time to “refocus” efforts. Although DCLWA has a mission and objectives, it is time to “re-evaluate”. The coalition needs to recruit more active members, determine specific substance use prevention efforts, and put action behind those efforts. DCLWA needs less talk and more action. Any effort is simplified with funding; so DCLWA is requesting this funding to recruit members and initiate action behind substance use prevention efforts in the community. DCLWA believes it has a firm foundation, but tools are needed to help the coalition “regenerate” and build upon the foundation that has been laid in the community.
DeSoto D.A.R.E., Inc.
De Soto DARE’s projects for FY2019 include Community Educational and Engagement events, implementing a prevention education program with community elements called De Soto ATI, and supporting the prevention work on the high school prevention group TREND.
Douglas County Community Health Assessment Resource Team (CHART) & Interagency Council
Alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug use prevention education based on results of the 2018 Missouri Student Survey indicate progress in the education of our youth regarding the risks of substance use. However, continued published reports by law enforcement of arrests among the population are indicative of the need to address substance use within the community that surrounds our youth and children. A community-wide prevention campaign is necessary to educate the adult population who interact with the youth in our community.
Douglas County CHART proposes to use this grant funding in five initiatives: 1) to cooperate with the Douglas County Health Department to complete a community survey to ascertain the perception of substance use in our community; 2) to host Legislative Report meetings to allow conversation between our representatives and our
local leadership; 3) to educate our local government about the value of participation in a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP); 4) to continue efforts to facilitate proper disposal of unused prescription opioids community-wide; 5) to promote substance use prevention education through social media campaign
ForReal
The goal of the 2019 ForReal Youth Advocacy Engagement Project is to unite the voices of the youth of the Eastern Region of Missouri and empower them to advocate about substance use issues at the local, state and federal levels.
Franklin County Youth Coalition
This grant will provide the opportunity for seven area middle schools to participate in student-led prevention activities throughout the 2018-2019 school year. Students will coordinate a county-wide program that allows students to learn specific prevention information and skills at a Prevention Education Mini-Conference. They will also increase community connections with local retailers and other supporters by implementing the Sticker Shock alcohol awareness campaign, and highlight these young leaders within their own communities as hosts of a family-focused holiday activity.
Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition
The Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition will collaborate with the five Dent County school districts to implement a nicotine prevention project with a focus on reaching parents of all fourth and fifth grade students. Teen tobacco use in the county is 13% higher than the state average. E-cigarette use is also higher than the state average. Parents will be educated through a series of three, mailed postcards, public displays at multiple local events, and through local radio advertising. Classroom presentations with all 4th and 5th grade students will be conducted by coalition members and Prevention Resource Center staff.
Healthy Minds, Health Lives of Pike County
The purpose of this project will be to continue efforts to increase knowledge in the community regarding
substance use and mental health concerns within Pike County. Through this project we hope to initiate
behavioral changes in our county regarding reducing stigmas associated with substance abuse and mental illness, as well as increasing knowledge about how to support those experiencing substance abuse or mental illness, and increase awareness of available resources within the community.
The project will address the need for prevention efforts surrounding substance use and mental illness by using consistent and persistent messaging through evidence-based strategies such as media campaigns, educational presentations, focus groups, school presentations, and community outreach. Grant funds would allow HMHL to work in conjunction with HMHLY, our local youth coalition in Bowling Green, to secure speaker Joe Fingerhut to present his messaging regarding substance abuse prevention, healthy choice decisions, obstacle overcoming, and goal setting for the Bowling Green community and the other schools of Pike County (Clopton and Louisiana).
HMHL will continue working with existing partners, such as local youth, community members, and community leaders to develop and implement a new, innovative county wide campaign that delivers positive messaging aimed to reduce the effects the county experiences related to substance use and mental illness. HMHL will also focus on outreach services by conducting educational presentations throughout the county, presenting at health fairs and community events, providing representation from the coalition in community partnerships, and maintaining a positive presence in the local schools.
Heartland Task Force
Heartland Task Force will: collaborate with the district afterschool program to implement the research-based On Applebee Pond prosocial skills and drug prevention curriculum. On Applebee Pond (Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission, 2017) , an early prevention intervention for elementary-aged children, focuses on strengthening children’s resiliency and developing positive social-emotional or pro-social skills. Through a life skills-based curriculum that uses puppets to link learning to play, this interactivity in a relaxed climate allows children the opportunity to immediately apply and demonstrate the prevention concepts they have learned. The intervention features realistic scenarios portrayed through puppets that teach students about the topics of: Identifying feelings, Events that produce good feeling and bad feelings, Peer pressure, Facts about drugs, Reinforcement of say no/go/tell skills, medicine safety, Asking for help, Alcohol and other drug addiction, and Importance of sharing your feelings. In addition, hands-on activities and discussion reinforce lesson objectives.
Risk factors addressed will be: favorable attitudes/ toward the problem behavior and early initiation of the problem behavior.
HOPE for Franklin County
This grant will provide opportunities to raise awareness among adults in Franklin County about the importance of a caring adult as a substance use prevention intervention. Funds will reach the general population with the message that talking to kids about drugs cuts their chance of drug use in half. The programs will also reach out to adults who may have considered extending their role into the foster parent arena, but have lacked information about the foster parent program and how they might fit into it.
Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council
This project will bring together a community of local artists, neighborhood residents, youth and elders to interpret the effects that alcohol, tobacco, drugs, violence and other risky behaviors have had on neighborhoods and/or how those things have impacted them personally. Opportunities will be provided that will allow them to transfer their experience and interpret those experiences through the use of various art forms. Children who enroll in the Ivanhoe after-school, summer and special experiential programs will engage in multi-disciplinary art forms. Adults will have art opportunities that will be taken directly to blocks, block clubs, neighborhood meetings and activities.
Art, photography, music and dance will provide a foundation for the participants to think creatively about the subject matter. We anticipate that for some participants, memories of traumatic experiences might surface while engaging in the project and may require additional supports. Through our partnership with First Call Alcohol/Drug Prevention and Recovery, Alive and Well Communities Kansas City, and student interns from UMKC and KU we will be able to address those needs. In collaboration with our partners, we will sponsor at least two workshops that will help participants learn strategies to deal with community level trauma. The services and resources our partners provide will help participants deal with lingering adverse childhood or adverse community experiences. Finally, participating community members will be able to celebrate their completed art forms by putting the art on display at neighborhood events and activities.
Jefferson County Drug Prevention Coalition
This grant project will be used to enhance the Talk About It campaign in Jefferson County. This campaign encourages parents to talk to their youth about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and what the boundaries and expectations are.
Joplin Area Coalition
The Joplin Area Safe Teens Coalition will partner with the Joplin High School to increase resiliency skills in youth to resist substance use.
Kearney-Holt CAN
Being a student today can be really tough and Kearney-Holt CAN, a coalition working to reduce youth substance use, is concerned that area youth are attempting to solve their problems by coping with alcohol and other drugs. Kearney youth engage in substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use) as a solution to their problems because they lack resilience skills. In order to address this need, Kearney-Holt CAN members plan to build protective factors and resilience skills among youth through a multiple prong approach that involves education presentations and a media campaign.
Laclede County Drug Council
Our project will help continue drug awareness and education programming in Laclede County, MO. The Choices Unlimited Program targets students in fourth and fifth grades, keeping youth drug awareness education alive in our communities. An additional effort to participate in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s semi-annual Drug Take Back Days allows us to keep the public at-large aware of the need to eliminate unused prescription drugs from our streets.
Ladue Coalition Against Underage Drinking
The purpose of this project is to address underage drinking in the Ladue School District. This will be done by expanding the TNT (Thursday Night Talks) program to the Ladue middle school population. This program focuses on engaging parents and students with a communications campaign through the TNT texting program and the coalition website. TNT is a thought-provoking approach for parents to stimulate regular conversation with teens in their household related to underage drinking and overall health-risk behaviors. The project will provide education to parents, students and educators with the goal to help parents become more aware of the problem of underage drinking and the risks to their children, and to change the cultural tolerance and acceptance for underage drinking among the members of the community. And finally, to work with local governments to strengthen local social hosting laws and engage in other community-level interventions to prevent underage drinking at parties/events in the Ladue area.
Lawrence County Prevention Team
The Lawrence County Prevention Team (LCPT) believes Drugs or Alcohol + Kids = Risk. The team’s purpose and goal is to increase community awareness of the harmful effects of marijuana use and prescription/over-the-counter abuse (RX/OTC), and reduce the use and misuse of these substances by children and young adults age 10-24. Through our “Mission Possible”, focus we ensure the youth and young adults who avoid these problems and those who have yet to cease these harmful behaviors are given the information and tools needed to make healthy choices.
Lee's Summit CARES
Established in 1985, it is the mission of Lee’s Summit CARES (LSC) to prevent youth substance use and violence, empower positive parenting and promote exemplary character. Programming helps create a positive community climate that supports protective factors and reduces risky behaviors. The goal of LSC’s youth prevention program is to increase assets that promote resilience and reduce risk factors. Developing the ability to refuse alcohol and drug use builds resilience, protects adolescent brain development and encourages positive, healthy and responsible decisions during school years and beyond.
Logan-Rogersville Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community
We plan to use the Stanford Medicine Tobacco Tool Kit to educate the students at the Logan-Rogersville High School, Middle School and the 6th grade students at the L/R Upper Elementary School on the long term harmful effects of Vaping. Additionally, the Coalition plans to host the 9th Annual 2019 After Prom, to provide students with an alternative activity after the annual Jr-Sr Prom, to provide a safe alcohol, tobacco, and other drug, free event that will aid in the prevention of underage drinking and illegal substance use
MAAG - Mid-MO Addiction Awareness Group
The goal of this grant application is to reduce the stigma associated with addiction and substance use disorder in Franklin County, in order to reach residents with effective Prevention information. Through a media campaign created by NCADA, billboards and print ads will educate readers that talking with kids about drugs cuts their chance of use in half. By enhancing community awareness walks currently conducted by MAAG, these community gatherings will recruit additional participation and reach more residents, who will be surveyed about opinions and beliefs about SUD. Prescription drug locking devices and drug disposal bags will be distributed at these events as well.
McDonald County Community Coalition
The McDonald County Coalition will partner with the community DARE program to implement evidence-based programming in 5th grade classrooms and share community substance abuse prevention messages with parents, teachers, and community members.
Missouri S & T Alcohol Prevention Coalition
The purpose of the Student Health 101 online magazine subscription is to educate and promote health and wellness to students on the Missouri S&T campus. It aids in addressing misperceptions of high-risk behavior and educating students using evidence-based prevention practices. The online magazine allows for customization of articles using data that is collected each year through the Missouri Assessment of College Health Behaviors survey. Each month, the student population of Missouri S&T will receive an email with a link to the online magazine. The printed content from the magazine is also posted in bathroom stalls at the student center and Norwood Hall. Professors also have the opportunity to use pre-written messaging in their classes.
Morgan County C.L.E.A.R. (Community Leaders Educating About Resistance)
Morgan County CLEAR will raise awareness about the risks of substance use, reduce substance use, and build a commitment to change the social norms that encourage substance use and favor attitudes of low perceived risk of harm with substance use through a variety of activities with the targeted population of 10 to 18 year olds and their parents. A media campaign; educational presentations; collaboration with parent and youth groups; public forums, town hall meetings and partnerships as well as others will be a part of the actions. Substances to be targeted are alcohol (including binge), marijuana, prescription drugs, and tobacco including e-cigarettes, vapor products, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (chew).
Newton County Community Coalition
The Newton County Coalition seeks to work with Newton County area youth in order to develop a peer-to-peer media campaign to encourage area youth to postpone the age of first use of substances through education and positive peer pressure.
Northland Coalition
N.C. members are excited to address youth substance use by increasing resiliency, reducing self-medication, and building coping skills. To address ATOD use by youth, we will spend the next fiscal year implementing a comprehensive education and skill building campaign. Activities include: 1) Resiliency Resource Packets, 2) Education Presentations, 3) Prevention Conference, and 4) Media Campaign.
Park Hill Community Alliance for Youth
In order to reduce youth substance use among youth in the Park Hill area, Park Hill Community Alliance for Youth will work this next year to grow the capacity and reach of the coalition and expand the Nurturing Resilient Kids education campaign. This funding will enable us to enhance our community mobilization efforts, increase diversity within our coalition, develop a sound strategic plan, and educate and encourage the community to build resilience within area youth.
Perry County Community Task Force
The LifeSkills Prevention Program is one that utilizes the Botvin LifeSkills Training curriculum, which is an evidence-based program. This curriculum is taken directly into the classrooms and taught to the students during the school day. This program works with several different age/grade levels. The Perry County Community Task Force will be working with grades 7 – 10 during this program. This curriculum focuses on the life skills needed in everyday life for success. These topics include knowledge about substances and how they effect the body, resistance skills, communication skills, how to handle peer pressure, how to cope with anxiety and anger, and how to recognize media influences, especially relating to substance use. The Signs of Suicide Program is also worked into the curriculum. This program talks about the recognizing the signs of depression and to talk to a trusted adult. This program is offered to all schools in Perry County. The seventh graders will have four sessions, the eighth graders will have a twelve week program, the ninth graders will have a seven week program, and the tenth graders will have four sessions. The sessions are one hour long each.
Phelps County Child Advocacy Network (PCCAN)
Phelps County Child Advocacy Network will work with the Rolla and St. James Schools to implement a one-year e-cigarette use awareness and prevention project with a primary focus on reaching parents of all ninth-grade students with professionally produced over-sized postcards and local radio advertising. Information will be shared with teens through educational posters and social norming messaging placed in the school hallways and classrooms. Teen use of e-cigarettes is higher than the state average and has increased by 5% over the last two years in Phelps County. According to school officials and the current data, many false perceptions exist by both students and parents about the risks of using e-cigarettes.
Platte County Prevention Coalition
Platte County Prevention Coalition (PC2) members are concerned with students using alcohol and marijuana as well as misusing prescription drugs. In an effort to understand why youth are using, coalition members conducted youth focus groups, with students who had attended the Sept. 2017 Northland Youth Leadership Summit. Youth identified a lack of coping and stress management skills as well as a lack of general resiliency skills. As such this proposal includes a social marketing campaign to focus on those specific risk factors while encouraging positive, healthy choices through a Safe and Sober Program, Trading Card Program, and other education on resiliency and healthy coping skills.
Risco C2000
Risco C2000 would first and foremost like to educate students on making good choices in their daily lives. We would like to increase protective factors of students in our extremely rural area. We will do this by using evidence based prevention education strategies. We would also like to provide evidence based alternative strategies including a safe environment for students high risk events.
S.A.Y.V. (Standing Against Youth Violence)
The Springfield community has a need to lower the number of students feeling unsafe at school, being physically and emotional bullied, having thoughts of suicide. Since substance misuse and youth violence have many of the same risk and protective factors, we will implement a curriculum to address these issues to Springfield Public students. This evidence based program will equip youth in our community with the tools and skills to resolve conflicts non-violently, make educated decisions regarding substance misuse, and lead to fewer instances of violence in our community.
Smithville Community In Action (CIA)
In order to reduce youth marijuana use, Smithville Community In Action will implement a Community Marijuana Education Campaign and continue their drug-free Activity Mentor Program. The combination of these efforts will reduce youth use of marijuana by targeting the primary risk factors of perception of harm and acceptability. The Community Marijuana Education Campaign will be a social marketing strategy developed and implemented by Smithville CIA’s Education Committee and will increase the perception of harm that marijuana has on the developing adolescent brain, mind, and body through several coordinated key messages. The Activity Mentor Program will help reduce the perception of peer acceptability in Smithville schools by creating positive peer pressure among high school youth not to use marijuana (or alcohol or other drugs), and the perception that “everyone in high school uses to be cool or fit in.” The program will also mentor younger students to help them realize that they can “fit in” and be successful by making healthy choices and by being drug-free. Marijuana education will also be included in the discussion with the younger students
St. Francois County Community Partnership
St. Francois County Community Partnership will work with five schools in the County to implement a one-year e-cigarette use awareness and prevention project with a primary focus on reaching parents of all ninth-grade students with professionally produced over-sized postcards and local radio advertising. Prevention information will reach teens through educational posters and social norming messages placed in the schools. E-cigarette use has significantly increased and is well above the state average use in the county over the last two years. In addition, perception of harm from use has decreased significantly over the same period.
Staley Teaching & Reaching Youth - T.R.Y.
The Staley TRY coalition will implement both a youth-focused social marketing campaign and a community focused education campaign in order to reduce youth use of marijuana through targeting the primary risk factors of harm and acceptability. Both these campaigns will be developed by the Staley TRY coalition alongside the expertise of both Tri-County Mental Health Prevention Specialists and the “expertise” of our youth and adult focus groups.
The campaigns will target Staley-area community members and youth with education on the harms of youth marijuana use, especially on the developing adolescent brain, mind, and body. These campaigns will also provide appropriate resources, current information, and research about youth marijuana use and promote conversations among parents and children.
Step Up of St. Louis
Data from the 2018 Missouri Student Survey (492 respondents) indicates a continued high use of alcohol and marijuana among our 9th through 12th graders with 43.1% (an increase from 2016) indicating a low perception of harm for alcohol use with 26.1% (a decrease from 2016) reporting to have used alcohol in the past 30 days. 53.1% (a decrease from 2016) reported low perception of harm regarding marijuana with a 21.2% past 30 days usage rate. Additionally, 73.6% (a decrease from 2016) of 9th-12th graders indicated that it was “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to obtain alcohol. In regards to marijuana, 62.6% (a decrease from 2016) reported that it was “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to obtain. This information undoubtedly determines that despite the efforts of our school programming to educate and employ zero-tolerance disciplinary actions, there is indeed a need to continue to address the high rate of alcohol and marijuana use among our area teens. There is a need in our community for a unified, dedicated pro-active initiative such as Step Up of St. Louis and it is equally necessary to direct this effort toward area youth through effective social media communication, ongoing community outreach,
education and youth engagement opportunities.
Stone County Community Health Coalition
Stone County Community Health Coalition’s (SCCHC) initiative, Healthy, Responsible, Caring Youth (HRCY) will use the framework of 40 Developmental Assets to assess the relationships between youth (ages 10-18) and our Stone County communities. SCCHC recognizes that building these relationships is critical to the healthy development and prevention of risky behaviors in young people’s lives. This initiative will help support efforts that are already present in our communities on positive youth development, and fill gaps where cultivating developmental relationships are needed. SCCHC will develop a media campaign to focus on building developmental relationships within our communities, conduct a Developmental Asset Assessment, and implement programs to engage youth in prevention efforts.
Taney County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team (ADAPT)
The Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) Support Program will assist local alcohol retailers with increasing the number of RBS practices they implement, and provide positive community awareness to those reaching the highest level of RBS practices, thus decreasing availability of alcohol to minors from retail establishments.
The One-Eighty Prevention Coalition
This grant will provide classroom and community based prevention programs to the students who attend Null Elementary and Jefferson Intermediate schools, located in the 63301 zip code area of St. Charles. Enrollment at these schools includes many children from families where adults are reentering the community after incarceration. The grant will provide research-based prevention and resiliency programming at one elementary and one intermediate school where these programs are not currently available. It will also provide two organized early-release day pro-social activities in the community for these students. The activities will include a prevention focused message for all students, transportation to the event and participation in the event.
Tobacco Free St. Louis
The purpose of this project is to achieve community level change by increasing awareness and disseminating information on current tobacco legislation, local tobacco ordinances, and the benefit of strengthening our local tobacco ordinances. We will achieve this purpose through the use of educational and compelling billboard advertisements and social media advertising and posts.
Tri-C (C2000 Conception)
During the 2018-2019 grant cycle, The Tri-C Community Coalition plans to enhance the Tri-C Mentoring Program. This entity pairs at-risk, school-aged youth within the Clyde, Conception, and Conception Junction communities of Nodaway County with trained, positive adult role models. The goal at hand is reducing the “high-risk environment” in our community that contributes to underage drinking, tobacco addiction, and illegal and other drug use leading to violent acts and other risky behaviors. By providing not only alternative activities but also prevention-based community forums, the at-risk youth will have an opportunity to participate in new experiences and in turn promote bonding between the mentors, the families of the at-risk youth, and the community as a whole.
The proposed project of enhancing the Tri-C Mentoring Program has numerous facets. The first task is training volunteers how to be mentors. We have partnerships with seminarians at the Conception Abbey, elderly within the community, and staff at Jefferson C-123 Schools that assist with recruiting. The Tri-C Community Coalition brings nationally-known speakers to facilitate the yearly training session. We also provide a mentoring handbook containing valuable contact information as well as suggestions for enhancing relationships with mentees. The second facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is coordinating locations, times, and alternative activities in which the mentors and their assigned youth can participate. The administration of Jefferson C-123 Schools allows our adult mentors (local seminarians, elderly within the Tri-C Area, and staff from Jefferson Schools) to visit students during their lunch time once a week. In addition to the weekly visits, the Tri-C Community Coalition provides monthly activities outside of school in which the mentors and their assigned youth may bond (bowling, movies, theatrical productions, pool parties, gaming tournaments, rental of the Teen Beat, etc.) In addition, the Teen Beat/Mentoring Halloween Party, Santa’s Workshop (arts & crafts event – all ages), Tri-C Mentoring Easter Egg Hunt, Tri-C Cleanup Day, The Lollipop Parade, St. Columba Parish Carnival, and Prescription Drug Take-Backs are just a few of the community-wide prevention activities fostering improved mentor/mentee, parental, and community networking. This step combats our individual risk factors of lack of positive role models as well as poor decision-making and problem-solving skills.
The final facet of the Tri-C Mentoring Program is securing adult volunteers to assist with supervising mentoring events as well as providing transportation to and from the alternative activities. The 8 members of the Tri-C Community Coalition as well as concerned parents of the school-aged children of Jefferson C-123 Schools donate countless hours of their time as well as mileage to and from events to assure that this valuable program continues to positively influence our at-risk youth in the community. These wonderful adults truly understand the adage, “It takes a community to raise a child” and are always willing to lend a helping hand to families struggling with substance abuse of some kind.
Wayne Inter-Agency Network (W.I.N.) Coalition
We are seeking grant funding in order to maximize the WhyTry experience for at-risk students and their families. We are trying to stretch what remains of our existing funds, while adding the mini grant to prevent shortfalls and to expand the program in other areas.
Youth With Vision
Youth With Vision (YWV) members continue to be concerned with the rate their peers misuse Rx drugs. With their focus on the misuse of Rx drugs in the past year, YWV was disappointed to see an increase in Rx misuse (MSS data – 7.8% in 2016 to 8.45% in 2018). Therefore, YWV believes it must continue to prioritize Rx drug misuse, educating their peers and the community about the harmful effects of misusing Rx drugs. To address this ongoing problem, YWV will continue to implement a three-prong approach: develop a social marketing campaign, targeting their peers, to educate them on the harmful effects of misusing Rx drugs; develop and conduct presentations for peer and community-based venues (i.e. the Northland Youth Leadership Summit, health classes, civic group in-services, parent meetings, etc.); and expand their Lock Your Meds campaign, to an additional 30 pharmacies across Clay, Platte and Ray counties. YWV goal with the last of the 3 prong approach is to partner with community Rx retailers and educate the public on safeguarding current medications and the proper disposal of unwanted medications
