July Coalition Newsletter

We partnered with Way Enough Decision Coaching – Delena Meyer – to develop a facilitation introduction video to the Making the Connections online toolkit. Now participants can watch the online video and instantly gain access to the toolkit registration.

It’s a three step process:

1. Watch the video online at https://www.youthnow.me/providers/making-connections/ or https://youtu.be/gYBdfG5JbcE
2. Read the User Agreement (no need to print or sign—this is just for review)
3. Proceed to registration. By filling out the sign-up box you are creating an online login for the toolkit and also promising us you read the user agreement and watched the training video. Both are important to understand the toolkit style and approach.

All of these instructions are found on the main Youth Now – Connection Toolkit page.

https://www.youthnow.me/providers/making-connections/. We’ve had over 50 participants request access and we’re so excited to fulfill requests. We appreciate all you do, your commitment to young people and would love to hear how you’re using the toolkit and any feedback you have.

If you’ve been using the toolkit for a while now, THANK YOU! Share this news with your friends so Making the Connection can grow.

Last year our youth coalition developed a group they named the Youth Empowerment Project, or YEP, a safe place for teens to connect, grow and empower one another. This resilience and prevention group will now merge with the Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Committee and we're keeping the YEP title!

Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 3:30-5pm at ESD 112 Conference Center starting September 17th. An optional new member orientation takes place from 2:30-3:30 pm each meeting.This is for both youth and caring adults!

We'll kick-off the year by discerning our spirit and culture, learning about empowerment and what it means to have a voice, participating in a presentation and public speaking workshop, learning about Tuckman's stages of group development and more! Later this year we'll participate in a Youth Advocacy Training, a workshop on youth media interview preparedness and more.

YEP is the same group who developed the Secure Your Cannabis campaign, Youth Now initiative, Cannabis Conversations toolkit, developed Youth Now social media and more.

Click here to learn more information and contact Christopher.belisle@esd112.org if you know a youth or supportive adult who might be interested in getting involved.

Volunteer Spotlight

LaKresha Perkins is a Criminal Justice Instructor at Cascadia Tech Academy, whose mission is “Inspiring Greatness.” LaKresha absolutely inspires greatness through multiple means in our county.

We're honored to work with LaKresha on Prevent Coalition's youth-serving committee while developing the Secure Your Cannabis point of purchase campaign. She was instrumental in idea generation, critical thinking and planning. LaKresha helped develop the campaign from start to finish, even volunteering to distribute cards to Cannabis retailers and survey customers for feedback. She goes out of her way to support youth and promote prevention.

One highlight from the year is when LaKresha facilitated a “Values Spread” workshop where participants were guided through a discernment of their personal and professional values. We were given a deck of cards with values like belonging, mindfulness, excellence, family and more then instructed to sort them into categories of importance. LaKresha facilitated this process with kindness and finesse. She prodded us and “inspired greatness” that our team would use to move forward together cohesively.

LaKresha also supports other prevention efforts in the community. Her students have attended Prevent Coalition’s annual “Youth Advocacy Training” where they learned to use their voice and influence policy decisions with legislators, they worked with the Prevent Together Battle Ground Coalition to implement multiple prevention projects and soon will be supporting La Center United coalition with youth voice and implementing a community project.

We are so grateful for LaKresha and are excited to continue learning from her. LaKresha is a shining example of a committed coalition member!

Save the date!

We’re hosting a resiliency fair for our community members and school representatives (staff, prevention team, educators and more). We’ll start with opening remarks, hear from a brief panel of resource providers and transition to a community resilience fair.

Connect school staff and youth-serving professionals with resources to resilience. Find out what programs are available to youth in your school or community. Together we’ll convene to build youth resiliency and spread hope. Light refreshments are provided, no RSVP required unless you’re hosting a resource table.

Click to download the event flyer.

Click here for the website calendar event.

Click for the Facebook event.

Some resources featured will include YWCA, Triple Point, Teen Talk, FYSPRT, Fort Vancouver Regional Library, Janus Youth Programs, Police Activities League, the Youth Mobile Crisis, the SMART team, Clark County STASHA and more!

Who

School staff, Student Assistance Professionals and other youth behavioral health providers.

When

Wednesday, Sept. 18th 2019 3:30—5 p.m.

Where

ESD 112 Conference Center 2500 NE 65th Ave, Vancouver WA

Contact

For information about the event or if you’d like to host a resource table please contact Christopher.belisle@esd112.org.

In May 2019 SAMHSA (Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration) published five new Tips for Teens series resources in addition to the five from 2018. Topics include E-cigarettes, steroids, Opioids, Cannabis, Tobacco, Heroine, Methamphetamine, Cocaine and Inhalants.

The PDFs are available online at the SAMHSA store using the link below. Print-orders are also available for free. Visit https://store.samhsa.gov/series/tips-teens to learn more.

Prevent Coalition events:

Resource to Resilience Education Fair

September 18th from 3:30-5 pm

ESD 112 Conference Center

2500 NE 65th Ave. Vancouver, WA 98661

Contact Christopher.belisle@esd112.org to host a resilience resource table!

Youth Empowerment Project - Kickoff Meeting for youth and adults

September 17th from 3:30-5pm

Optional new member orientation from 2:30-3:30pm

ESD 112 Clark Room

2500 NE 65th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98661

Click for full calendar of coalition and community events.

Shining a spotlight on community events committed to supporting youth, not sponsored by Prevent Coalition:

7/10 Webinar: Building Resilience

Online from 12-1pm.

7/29 Webinar: ASTHOConnects: Ask the Experts Panel on JUULs in Schools

Online at 11:30am.

8/7 & 8/8 Region 10 Opioid Summit at Vancouver Hilton

8/20 Chalk the Walks in La Center, by La Center United

View all our newsletters at http://www.bit.ly/preventnews.

We'll still send monthly newsletters however our staff will be out of the office on rotating schedules during June, July and August. We look forward to connecting again in the Fall, if not sooner!

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: @preventcc112