Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Thank you for your support, DFC Grant not received, but youth substance abuse prevention work will continue :)

Dear GeorgetownCARES Sector Members, On behalf of the GeorgetownCARES community coalition, I would like to thank you all for agreeing to participate as an active coalition member in a Drug Free Community (DFC) Sector capacity. DFC Grants are awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. The 2014 awards have been announced, and sadly, GeorgetownCARES was NOT among the (only) three community coalitions across the country offered a grant. Thanks to the caring support of so many in Georgetown, however, the work of the GeorgetownCARES coalition will continue in a similar manner as before, with the twin goals of building protective factors for youth and reducing the risk factors that lead to risky behavior choices. The stated purpose of the grant was to increase community readiness to address youth substance use problems. In fact I want to recognize that already many groups and individuals in our small, caring, family-friendly town step up every day to support our youth in making healthy choices and decisions. We are particularly appreciative of the Georgetown School District for agreeing to administer, analyze, and develop a responsive prevention plan to the 2014 Search Institute’s Attitudes & Behavior Survey for GMHS students this fall. Also, our highly trained and professional Police & Fire Departments do an incredible job keeping our community safe in their responses to the substance-abuse related situations our youth find themselves in. We also thank the Georgetown Record for their practice of printing educational prevention articles for parents. GeorgetownCARES would like to continue partnering with you all to provide parents with information and support on how to keep teens safe from alcohol and other drugs. We will also keep working hand in hand with the Georgetown Wellness Committee, to provide a safe and supportive school environment for all of our youth. If any of you have ideas about how GeorgetownCARES could help promote or be a part of any educational youth activities involving substance abuse prevention, please do contact us. Again, thank you very much for your willingness to participate in this SAMSHA program, and wishing you all success in your endeavors to support Georgetown youth. Very Best Regards, Pam Lundquist, GeorgetownCARES http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/drug-free-communities-support-program http://beta.samhsa.gov/grants

Friday, April 4, 2014

Website Updates

https://sites.google.com/site/georgetowncaresma/home Please feel free to check out our new website pages! Information Fact Sheets now include: The Plan: GeorgetownCARES, Substance Abuse Prevention Awareness Websites, Substance Abuse Prevention Strategies for Communities (2 pages, The 40 Developmental Assets Approach, Seven Myths About Teens, Alcohol & Other Drugs, Social Host Liability: Get the Facts, High School Student Drug Recognition: Get the Facts, Check Yourself: On the path to addiction?, Pathways to Help: Treatment, Alcohol and Underage Drinking: Get the Facts, Bath Salts: Get the Facts, Club Drugs GHB, Ketamine & Rohypnol: Get the Facts, Ecstasy: Get the Facts, Hallucinogens: Get the Facts, Heroin: Get the Facts, K2 & Synthetic Marijuana: Get the Facts, Marijuana: Get the Facts, Prescription Drug Abuse: Get the Facts, Steroids: Get the Facts, Youth and Tobacco Use: Get the Facts,

Georgetown Health & Wellness Fair 4/5/14 8-11am at Penn Brook School

Hope to see everyone at the Penn Brook School for the Georgetown Health & Wellness Fair – Come discover new ways to be healthy & well – exciting activities & interactive stations – perfect for all ages! 8am-11am, FREE, sponsored by the Georgetown Health & Wellness Committee.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Thank you, Chris Herren & GHS SADD!

March 24, 2014 - GeorgetownCARES would like to thank Chris Herren, former Celtics player and a recovering addict, for speaking with all of our Georgetown High School students today, courtesy of our GHS Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter. As Chris delivered his message of both the hope in recovery and his cautionary tale, the audience was riveted in silent awe. Chris’s story is that of a young basketball superstar out of Fall River, MA. For many years, Chris basked in the ever-growing approval of the crowds, the colleges who recruited him, the NBA, his friends and family. That is, until cocaine, opiates and heroin threw him off track from his career and family dreams, like he never imagined. Like he never planned on, when as a high school students, he started at parties with his friends to drink and smoke. Are drinking, cigarettes, pot gateway substances for teens? Never mind the statistics, Herren said. Toward the end of his drugging, he knew many a heroin addict, not one of whom didn’t begin as a teen that way. That’s why Herren likes to talk more about the first days than the last days. Because if he had said no to underage drinking and smoking as a teen, the last days most likely would not have happened. One student asked, what should you do if you have a friend who has done hard drugs before, but promises not to do it again? Herren didn’t hesitate: If you know you friend has tried drugs or alcohol? You tell an adult. That’s what a friend does. That’s what I wish I had done for my friends. 7 out of the 15 kids on my high school basketball team ended up as heroin addicts. If I had told, maybe that wouldn’t have happened. And I wish someone had told an adult on me. Ask yourself, why do you need substances? If you can feel good about being you 24/7, there’d be no need for substances. Again, we thank you, Chris Herren, for telling your story. If only one young student here can make a better choice from hearing you speak, it’s all worth it. Find out more about Chris at: http://www.theherrenproject.org http://www.ahoopdream.com/profile/chris-herren/ http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/chris-herren-five-year-anniversary-of-sobriety-080113 Find Chris’s 2012 memoir, Basketball Junkie, and his DVD, Unguarded, at www.amazon.com