Prevention Emeritus Award: Gary Hillebrand

Gary Hillebrand was employed at Preferred Family Healthcare for nearly 26 years as a Prevention Specialist.  Primarily serving the nine counties in Northwest Missouri, Gary provided specific technical assistance and training to various community coalitions.  Gary has over 20 years of experience in community prevention and educational coordination, and he served as a consultant and trainer for anger management, peer assistance education, motivational interviewing, and public speaking.

It’s safe to say that Gary has been a tremendous asset to PFH and the statewide prevention network.  He is the passion and heart behind what we do.  Gary is compassionate, caring, nurturing, encouraging, thoughtful, and a great communicator. He is the ultimate team player, hardworking, and committed to everything he does, and he can be counted on by anything that is asked of him.  As wonderful as he has been as an employee, he is an even better human being.  His heart is genuine.  Gary has had to overcome a lot of obstacles in his life, but he’s done so with a lot of perseverance and a sense of humor to go along with it.  We want to thank you for everything you’ve done for PFH, the prevention world in Missouri, and as a friend.  Thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us.

Prevention Emeritus Award: Linda Frost

Linda Frost, MACSAPP, worked at Family Counseling Center, later Compass Prevention, for nearly 15 years.  She started as a Prevention Specialist and soon became Program Director, then later Prevention Development Director.  At the time of her retirement, she oversaw a service area of 29 counties.  Her career also included 14 years doing prevention work in the public health and education sectors.  Linda was honored in 2014 by the University of Missouri-Columbia for outstanding prevention service, which was one of the highlights of her career.  Linda’s greatest privilege was being able to work with fellow staff members, other preventionists, coalition members, and community members to help make the world a better place.

Advocacy in Prevention: Representative Holly Rehder

Rep. Holly Rehder, represents parts of Scott, and Mississippi counties (District 148). She was elected to her first two-year term in November 2012.

Rep. Rehder has been a strong voice for prevention in Missouri.  She is an advocate of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, and travels across Missouri sharing her story of how prescription drug abuse has affected her family. She was the closing keynote at the 2014 Substance Abuse Prevention Conference, and has volunteered to speak at Press Conferences with ACT Missouri on the issue of prescription drug disposal.

Champion of Change for Prevention: Raeanne Presley

Raeanne Presley is a founding member of the ADAPT coalition. She has been instrumental in the coalition’s expansion of prevention to other communities in Taney County. She has acted as spokesperson for the coalition and helped coordinate and moderate several SAMHSA town hall and other community meetings. Raeanne has been a resident of Branson since 1968 and is a co-owner of the first music theater to open on the famous 76 strip. She hosted the annual DARE program graduation ceremony at her theater for 20+ years. As the co-leader of the coalition, Raeanne traveled to Indianapolis in August to attend the CADCA Mid-year conference and shared the strategies that she learned with the coalition upon her return. She strives to improve the effectiveness of the coalition’s work and develop the next generation of regional prevention leaders. During her tenure as the mayor of Branson, Raeanne was invaluable in helping the coalition educate policymakers and the public about the importance of smoke-free policies to prevention and public health. She also successfully advocated for changes to the local alcohol ordinance in Branson, which now includes Responsible Beverage Service Training for retailers, quarterly compliance checks, and a cap on the number of retail licenses. She regularly serves as a volunteer at ADAPT events and participates in other community improvement efforts. This includes service on multiple nonprofit boards including the Community Partnership of the Ozarks from 2011-2014, Cox Hospital Branson, was the former past president of the Missouri Tourism Commission, Missouri Municipal League Vice President, OTC Foundation Board, and was awarded the 2009 Missourian Award for contributions to the state. Without Raeanne’ s leadership and generous spirit, the coalition would not have had the successes that it has had in efforts to reduce substance use among Taney County youth. Raeanne Presley deserves to be recognized as the 2015 Champion of Change for Prevention and we are grateful for her time and dedication to the coalition and to making Taney County a better place to live.

Coalition of the Year Award: Youth With Vision

Youth With Vision (YWV) is a student-led, coalition made up of 40 high school leaders from Clay, Platte and Ray Counties. Students who apply for YWV must be positive, drug-free role models who are committed to fighting the devastating effects of alcohol and other drug abuse. YWV was established in 1994 and now serves as the youth advisory council for local prevention coalitions, Tri-County Mental Health Services, the Northland Coalition and statewide prevention agencies. They have been registered as an active DMH-DBH coalition since 1996.

Members lead evidence-based prevention efforts within their own schools and communities and help to coordinate area and statewide prevention efforts.

Through the year, YWV members actively work in their schools, communities and with their elected officials to educate about the dangers of teen substance abuse and to advocate for environment change. They work with numerous community partners to ensure that their programs are sustained and available to all parts of Clay, Platte and Ray County and are consistent with their mission: “To create drug-free communities for future generations by putting education into action.”

Past successes include:

1. Local and state passage of Banning of synthetic drugs, K2, Ban of AWOL Devices, Keg Registration, Open House Parties and MIP By Consumption laws.
2. The Today Show featured their Wall of Fame and Shame.
3. Received the Robert L. Northcutt Award for outstanding contribution to Public Health Legislation.
4. YWV co-chairs awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award by President Bush.
5. Participated (by ONDCP invitation) in a small roundtable discussion (12 people) with the President of the United States followed by a national press conference and then a celebratory reception at ONDCP with the Drug Czar, John Walters.
6. Receipt of 2015 Community Health in Action Award

Coalition of the Year Award: Perry County Community Task Force

The first community survey indicated there was a need for substance abuse prevention in 1996. The Task Force started in 1995 to address issues in the community. The Task Force has continually been expanding its services and programs. Each year the coalition has a quality assurance meeting to ensure the needs of the community are being met by the programs offered. The Task Force’s focus is on youth issues-helping youth overcome their disadvantages to become the best they can be. The coalition’s motto is: Helping today’s youth become tomorrow’s leaders. All of the programs have arisen from identified community needs. In 1998, the first program was started through the coalition. Programs were implemented by the coalition to address alcohol and community efforts. School dropout rate has declined as well as use of substance abuse, due to the ongoing programs the Task Force provides. Task Force worked behind the scenes to connect a local school to best policy and practices after a pact suicide attempt. The Task Force also worked behind the scenes with a local civic organization in obtaining permanent prescription drug boxes and disposal of the drugs.

Milestone Award: Council for Drug Free Youth

CDFY has dedicated itself to substance use prevention education to the 3rd – 12th grade students in the schools within the City of Jefferson and its surrounding area by providing programs that engage students in critical thinking, problem solving, coping skill information, and team building. CDFY also recognizes that parental education and involvement are crucial to fighting the use of alcohol and other drugs within the City of Jefferson and its surrounding area and excels in the knowledge that its parents and youth coalition members choose to be advocates of the CDFY Mission Statement.