COALITION NEWS
July events, resources, opportunities, & more.
On June 13th coalition coordinators, community members, and partners came together to show appreciation to coalition volunteers for their outstanding contributions over the past year. The event was hosted by Prevent Coalition in downtown Vancouver and celebrated efforts by community coalition volunteers throughout southwest Washington. Each coalition also gave special recognition and a certificate to volunteers who went above and beyond.
"We are so lucky and grateful for every volunteer" said event organizer Paula Linden, Coordinator with Prevent. She added, "This event is an exciting opportunity to connect with the region's volunteers and community partners."
Volunteers typically attend coalition meetings, provide input, help plan and implement events, and are a key factor in a community coalition's success. However, coalitions often struggle to find and keep volunteers, especially in rural areas. If you know someone living in Clark, Skamania, or Klickitat Counties who may be interested in joining a community coalition please have them contact us at preventcoalition.com.
Prevent thanks the local businesses that generously contributed to the enjoyment of the event: Hidden House Event Space, Gold Cup Coffee House, Bettyrose's Chocolate and Coffee, and Molina Healthcare. We also thank our fiscal agent ESD 112 and funding provider Washington Department of Health Youth Cannabis and Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program.
All Prevent Coalition podcasts can be found at preventcoalition.podbean.com or on Google Podcasts, the Apple Podcast app and other familiar streaming services. Episodes are also archived at preventcoalition.org/events/news/.
Season 2 Episodes:
- Episode 1 - Supporting Student Assistance Professionals
- Episode 2 - What's an ACH?
- Episode 3 - Tips for Working with Teens (NEW!)
Season 1 Episodes:
- Episode 0 - Welcome
- Episode 1 - Rural Network
- Episode 2 - Policy Change
- Episode 3 - Secure Your Cannabis
- Episode 4 - "Better You Bingo" with special guests from Clark County STASHA!
- Episode 5 - Sweet & Sour
- Episode 6 - New Coordinator Orientation
Consider adding the Prevent Coalition Podcast to your playlist! We're sharing stories and strategies to help coalitions and organizations reach their full potential.
With cigarette smoking on the decline, tobacco companies have shifted focus to “smokeless” tobacco products, including oral nicotine pouches that are gaining popularity among young people.
Washington State Community Connectors (WSCC) and partners developed a training to educate families about substance use disorder (SUD) and related treatment options across the state. This training is for parents, family members, and caregivers who are interested in learning how to support their loved ones with SUD.
Participants will learn up-to-date information about SUD, addiction and its effects on the adolescent brain, skills for families navigating their relationship with someone with SUD, and systems navigation. This training is grounded in research and information supported by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA), including their training and technical assistance partners.
Training details
Dates: July 15-18 or August 5-8
Meeting time: 9:00 am– 1:00 pm daily (PT)
Location: Online
Duration: A 16-hour course split into 4 days of 4-hour modules.
Attendance is required for all 4 days.
More information: SUD Family Navigator Training website
Registration: Register
Last year the major U.S. tobacco companies were required by a federal court to post "corrective statements" at over 200,000 stores across the country. These eye-catching signs tell the public the truth about the deadly consequences of smoking.
A recent report found that the signs are not displayed in at least 16% of the stores that are supposed to have them! To improve enforcement and hold the tobacco industry accountable, the public plays an important role in reporting violations. Community coalitions, prevention clubs, and individuals can help by doing the following:
- Look for places where tobacco is sold, like gas stations, grocery and convenience stores.
- Look for a corrective-statement sign near the tobacco products.
- If there's no sign, report it at TobaccoSignTipline.com or text (877) 749-8477 and an auditor will look into it.
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids provides social media resources to spread awareness about the corrective statements and runs the tipline for reporting noncompliance. Individuals can also report a violation to the Washington State LCB.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Washington State Prevention Awards of Excellence! Making a nomination is easy, just complete the nomination survey by Wednesday, July 17, 2024.
You can nominate a colleague, young person, program, or organization in the following award categories:
- Tribal and urban Indian prevention efforts
- Youth leader
- Young adult leader
- Prevention professional, lifetime achievement, and/or community prevention supporter
- Community coalition and/or community prevention group
- Contributions to prevention by an organization, business, or agency
- Early career prevention professional
Award recipients will be announced and celebrated during the awards ceremony at the 2024 Prevention Summit in October. For more information, check out the overview document or visit the 2024 Prevention Awards of Excellence page at preventionsummit.org.
HearMeWA is a program for young Washingtonians up to age 25 provided by the WA State Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Youth experiencing stress, anxiety, bullying, violent threats, sexual abuse, or anything that makes life hard, can connect with a crisis counselor for secure, free support 24/7.
Youth can request help for themselves, friends, or classmates online, by phone, or in the app to be connected with a trained crisis counselor within minutes. Adults concerned about youth can also send a tip online or by phone at 888-537-1634.
The award-winning mental health communications campaign How Right Now (HRN) is designed to strengthen the emotional well-being and resiliency of people experiencing stress, grief and loss through targeted messaging that links to support resources.
The current focus of the initiative is on understanding and supporting the needs of public-school K-12 teachers and school staff who are encountering high levels of stress, burnout and grief. Resources include video, social media assets, links to mental health resources, and more.
Visit cdcfoundation.org/howrightnow to access the resources.
The Learning Labs is a repository for webinars and presentations on a variety of topics as well as self-guided learning courses. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a new employee, the Learning Labs provide a dynamic platform to acquire new information, hone your skills, stay updated on trends, and elevate your expertise in the prevention field.
Kohl’s and Healthier Generation provide a toolkit with creative ways to feel healthy at home. Parents and caregivers can use the toolkit to engage in planning healthy activities that prioritize mental health and well-being for themselves and their family. The toolkit includes activities in English and Spanish.
A hub of Kohl's Healthy at Home resources can be found at healthiergeneration.org.
This resource guide from SAMHSA offers information and resources to help practitioners in health and social service systems implement best practices to engage and help families and caregivers support their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children. It can help practitioners understand the critical role of family acceptance and rejection in contributing to the health and well-being of LGBT adolescents.
Click the image with this story to download the guide from the SAMHSA Publications and Digital Products website.
The National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network developed the Outlast Tobacco Social Media Toolkit which includes 16 graphics that can be posted on social media. The toolkit consists of graphics in 3 file formats, and for each of the graphics you’ll find two sample captions to pair alongside when posting. Each caption ends with a call to action, inviting folks to visit the LGBTQI+ cessation page.
New organic social content in English and Spanish is now available to support outreach for the next fiscal year (July 2024 to June 2025). There are dedicated posts for each month uploaded in separate folders under the “Organic Social” sections of the toolkit.
Commercial tobacco prevention partners can access an online partner toolkit to assist with promoting the campaign in their communities. Current assets include videos, a radio ad, banner ads in multiple sizes, organic and paid social ads, posters, billboards, and campaign background materials (talking points, backgrounder, and style guide). Assets are available in English and Spanish.
You can check out the campaign at chooseyouwa.org and the partner toolkit resources are available at socialpresskit.com/choose-you.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FDA/ETP recently released a fact sheet on how to safely dispose of e-cigarettes. They hope to educate the public about the importance of safe disposal of e-cigarettes.
The fact sheet is available for download on the EPA website. Click on the image with this story.
The Washington State Legislature wrapped up the 2024 session on March 7th. However, anytime is a good time to better understand the legislative process. Grant County Health District developed a toolkit just for that purpose with support and endorsement from the Youth Cannabis and Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program (YCCTPP).
This toolkit is meant to serve as an educational resource and includes a compilation of knowledge, definitions, experiences, and guidance from several well-known players on the WA State prevention scene.
The 2024 Rural Conference will take place on September 25 & 26, 2024 at the Yakima Convention Center, Yakima, WA. This will be the second Rural Conference and excitement is growing!
Registration and agenda are available now on the 2024 conference web page. Visit preventcoalition.org/ruralconference.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at preventcoalition@esd112.org.
Whether you have recently joined the Rural Network or are still thinking about it there is a resource available that will answer your commonly asked questions - our New Member Orientation Guide!
This guide describes our mission, vision, funding, 7 core principles, who we serve, and how to get involved. It also describes what our meetings are like and why you should join!
Learn all the details at smore.com/8eqhp
Connection is the Best Prevention
Supported by fiscal agent ESD 112, Prevent Coalition is a regional coalition formed in 2003 to increase collaboration, awareness, and reduce youth substance use in Southwest Washington. Prevent Coalition also implements initiatives for rural communities across Washington state. As a community mobilizer, our coalition creates a culture promoting healthy choices; advocates for policies and regulations that protect, empower and nurture youth; and facilitates positive opportunities for youth to be involved and thrive.
Email: preventcoalition@esd112.org
Website: www.PreventCoalition.org
Location: 2500 NE 65th Ave., Vancouver, WA, USA
Phone: 360-952-3457
Facebook: Facebook.com/PreventCoalition
Twitter: @supportyouthnow