Organizing for Change

18 - Sustaining Your Work, Engaging Parents, Involving the Media and More!

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

Host, Amanda Decker joins Deb Naro, Executive Director of CADY (Communities for Alcohol and Drug Free Youth). For the last 17 years, CADY has been dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth through innovative programming and evidence-based strategies that deter alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; that engage and strengthen families, schools and communities; and that promote healthy environments, resiliency building, and promising futures for our youth. On this Episode, Deb talks about sustaining the work of the coalition, how to think outside the box and get parents to come to the table, and why the media is so important in creating change!

Welcome to Episode 018 of the Podcast: Sustaining Your Work, Engaging Parents, Involving the Media and More!

 

Guest: Deb Naro

CADY Website: http://cadyinc.org/

CADY Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cadyinc/

CADY Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_cady_yaac

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

1. You Need to Plan For Sustainability at the Beginning. Deb talks about how thinking about sustainability at the beginning of a funding stream is so important. She talks about building support and creating champions that will ensure the work continues long after the grant is done.

2. Think Outside the Box to Reach Parents. Too often coalitions and organizations invite key stakeholders (such as parents) to the table, and find the table is empty. Deb talks about ways she worked to engage parents and think outside the box.

3. Get the Media Involved. How can anyone support your group or help sustain it if they don’t know about it? Deb talks about why she and her team created the Prevention Accelerator Media campaign and how it was used to build credibility for her coalition. (The Media campaigns are also for sale on the CADY website if this is something your coalition could use!)

 

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 019

17 - Fighting the Addiction Industry

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 17 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

 

Host, Amanda Decker joins Ben Cort from Cort Consulting. Ben has been part of the recovery movement in almost every way imaginable from a recipient of services to a spokesperson to a respected professional inside of the treatment industry. Sober since 6/15/96 he has seen the devastation that substance use disorder can bring first hand as well as the joy that is recovery.

 

Ben began his career inside of Human Resources and was a Director at an S&P 500 firm by 27. He left that position to help start the Colorado based non-profit Phoenix Multisport, an organization that provides pro-social activities that are primarily athletic in nature to those living sober lives.

 

As an original Board member and the first full-time employee Ben was instrumental in building an organization that still receives frequent national attention for its innovative approach to fighting addiction through sport and the community that surrounds sport.

 

In May of 2012, he left Phoenix Multisport to join the opposition campaign for Amendment 64, the constitutional amendment that would ultimately allow for the commercialization of marijuana in Colorado. Following that campaign Cort joined the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) where he ran marketing, business development and admissions for their substance abuse treatment service line known as CeDAR. He left that role in January 2017.

 

Throughout his time with UCH Ben remained active in the discussion around marijuana, assisting several states in their efforts to hold back Big Marijuana and always advocating for recovery. These efforts kept him close to the national discussion and made him a frequent guest in the media. Ben has earned a reputation as being pro-logic and recovery rather than anti anything.

 

His direct and honest approach has made him a sought after speaker and respected voice in this national conversation.

 

Welcome to Episode 017 of the Podcast:

 

Guest: Ben Cort, CEO - Cort Consulting

 

Cort Consulting Website: https://www.cortconsult.com/

 

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

 

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

Insights from This Episode:

 

• Big "Marijuana, Tobacco, Alcohol, Pharma" targets those strugling with a substance use disorder. Ben talks about how he as a person in recovery stood up to Big Addiction in his state......

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 018

16 - Independence Academy - A Recovery High School

15 - Public Health and Prevention

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 15 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

 

Host, Amanda Decker joins Carol Read, Certified Prevention Specialist and former Director of the Needham Coalition for Youth Substance Abuse Prevention and a Drug Free Communities grantee to talk about the role of Public Health in Substance use prevention.

 

Welcome to Episode 015 of the Podcast: Public Health and Prevention.

 

Guest: Carol Read M. Ed., CAGS, CPS

 

Needham Public Health Substance Abuse, Prevention & Education Website:

http://www.needhamma.gov/index.aspx?NID=2124

 

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

 

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

 

 

• When communities work to reduce stigma about substance use disorder by educating the community about health, those who need treatment are more likely to get it. Carol speaks about how their community (Needham MA) worked to educate people that addiction is a disease of the brain and that the disease can be treated.  

 

 

 

• Education alone is not enough to make change. Over the recent years, the United States has seen a dramatic decrease in tobacco use. Although many people were aware that smoking was bad for your health, that knowledge did little to change behavior. It wasn’t till there were major changes in policy (banning indoor smoking, smoking on planes, increasing taxes) that tobacco use began to decline. Carol talks about how these changes affected youth use of these products, and how communities need to continue to think of ways to limit access to youth. The community where Carol works (Needham MA) was the first to raise the age of purchasing tobacco to age 21.

 

 

 

• Prevention of substance use doesn’t happen by engaging just one group. Carol talks about engaging different sectors of the community and educating them about what we know about substance use to encourage sectors to support policy to keep communities healthy.  A healthy fish living in a polluted pond will still be unhealthy.

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 016

14 - The Faith Community and Coalition Work

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 14 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

Host, Amanda Decker joins her husband, Pastor Loren Decker of LifeHouse Church in Middleboro Massachusetts to talk about the Faith Community and working with coalitions. Pastor Loren was a founding member of Middleboro Youth Advocates, a substance use prevention coalition in Middleboro MA.  He also founded a youth mentoring agency (called the JAIRUS agency) to work with at risk youth, pairing them with mentors and meaningful community service opportunities. He also shares on this episode his encounter having dinner with the late Reverend Billy Graham and the impact Dr. Graham had on his life.

Welcome to Episode 014 of the Podcast: The Faith Community and Coalition Work

Guest: Pastor Loren Decker, Senior Pastor of LifeHouse Church, Middleboro MA

 

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

 

• Ask what you can do to help. Pastor Loren shares a great agenda for the faith community is to go to community leaders and ask what can be done to help. Usually community leaders are asked to help, and not offered help. Pastor Loren shares his personal story of how his agency was able to fill a need in the community by providing youth with meaningful community service opportunities.

 

• Faith Community- You have more in common then you think. Often the faith community is hesitant to get involved with coalition work because they think they will be forced to compromise their values or change their beliefs. By asking for ways you can serve the community, you will find that there is a respect for the clergy and a willingness to work together in most communities even if there can be differences in values or beliefs.  

 

• Coalition Community- You have more in common then you think. The coalition community can be hesitant because they think the faith community will try to push their agenda on the coalition. Research the faith leaders in your community and do some homework to find out about their beliefs and traditions. Look for things you have in common and offer to meet with them to explain the commonalities and ways you can partner together.

 

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 015

13 - Vision and Mission

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 13 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

 

Host, Amanda Decker and Producer, Ed Rand of the Organizing for Change Podcast sit down to talk about Vision and Mission and why it is so important to coalitions and organizations.  

 

Welcome to Episode 013 of the Podcast: Vision and Mission

 

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

 

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

 

1. Vision and Mission statements can help your coalition focus on what is really important.

Although your coalition knows what you are trying to do to improve your community, it's easy to lose sight of this when dealing with the day-to-day hassles that plague all coalitions. Your vision and mission statements help members remember what is important as you go about doing your daily work.

2. These  statements let other individuals and coalitions have a snapshot view of whom your group is and what it wants to do.

When your vision and mission statements are easily visible (for example, if they are on the letterhead of your stationary), people can learn about your coalition without having to work hard for the information. Then, those with common interests can take the time necessary to learn more. Clearly, this can be very helpful when you are recruiting other people and coalitions to join in your effort.

3. These statements are also very helpful in having members who are focused and bound together in common purpose. Not only do the statements themselves serve as a constant reminder of what is important to your coalition, the process of developing them allows people to see the coalition as "theirs." It's common sense: people will believe in something more completely if they had a hand in developing it.

 

Resources Amanda Mentions:

Community Toolbox: https://ctb.ku.edu/en

 

Key Differences Chart:

http://keydifferences.com/difference-between-vision-statement-and-mission-statement.html#ComparisonChart

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 014

12 - A Champion for Change

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 12 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

Host, Amanda Decker joins Jennifer Rowe, Assistant District Attorney for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office.  

 

Welcome to Episode 012 of the Podcast: A Champion for Change

Guest: Jennifer Rowe, Assistant District Attorney for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office

Norfolk County District Attorney Website: http://www.mass.gov/norfolkda/

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

1. Find a Champion. The District Attorney’s Office had credibility and relationships with many diverse partners. They are champions for change, leveraging this influence to address gaps in information sharing around Rx prescribing (due to things like HIPPA,) by bringing people who do not traditionally work together to share information and create change. One of these ideas was to put on a conference for safe prescribing of medication. During this conference, medical prescribers (nurse practitioners, doctors, dentists etc), state officials, law enforcement (both local and national), educators, parents, and coalition members were able to talk about different experiences and realize how they were all connected to each other and were trained in their role how to prevent over prescribing.
2. There is Nothing Like the Power of the Personal Story. In Norfolk County, any one is supposed to be able to get naloxone (the opioid reversal drug) from their pharmacy. Due to a number of circumstances, a number of people who try to pick up naloxone for their loved one are met with negative experiences. When Jen and the team wanted to talk to pharmacists about what the person getting naloxone experienced, they made a video with people’s actually experiences with attempting to obtain naloxone. This video was eye opening to everyone at the safe prescribing conference. A first hand experience that details the problem, has incredible power to create change.
3. Identify the Right People. Jen and her team worked to find people who had the right information, resources and motives and put them to the task of mentoring other starting coalitions in Norfolk County. The DA’s office leveraged their influence to give credibility to other voices in the prevention field to create community change. Today, almost every community in Norfolk County has a Substance Use Prevention coalition (despite many of these coalition not having funding) and the DA’s office serves as a connector to provide ongoing training for coalitions.

 

Off air insight from Jen: Although HIPPA does not allow doctors to talk to someone other than the patient (without a waiver), this does not prevent the parent (spouse, grandparent etc) from talking to the doctor and giving them information. Many people do not understand that HIPPA does not prevent them from calling their loved ones doctor. Although the conversation will be a “one way street”, a “one way street” is still better than a “no way” street.

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 013

11 - Unleashing the Power of Prevention

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 11 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

 

In this episode we feature Dr. J. David Hawkins, Endowed Professor of Prevention Emeritus and Founding Director of the Social Development Research Group. Delivered as a Ted Talk style presentation, this recording was taken with permission at the 2017 Massachusetts Statewide Conference for Substance Use Prevention.

Dr. Hawkins research focuses on understanding and preventing child and adolescent health and behavior problems. He seeks to identify risk and protective factors for health and behavior problems across multiple domains; to understand how these factors interact in the development of healthy behavior and the prevention of problem behaviors. He develops and tests prevention strategies which seek to reduce risk through the enhancement of strengths and protective factors in families, schools, and communities.

He is principal investigator of the Community Youth Development Study, a randomized field experiment involving 24 communities across seven states testing the effectiveness of the Communities That Care prevention system developed by Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano. He has authored numerous articles and several books as well as prevention programs for parents and families, including Guiding Good Choices, Parents Who Care, and Supporting School Success. His prevention work is guided by the social development model, his theory of human behavior.

Welcome to Episode 011 of the Podcast: Unleashing the Power of Prevention

 

Guest: Dr. J David Hawkins, Endowed Professor of Prevention Emeritus and Founding Director of the Social Development Research Group.

Website: https://socialwork.uw.edu/faculty/j-david-hawkins

Slides for presentation: http://edc.adobeconnect.com/p3ai7al0dlx8/?OWASP_CSRFTOKEN=7814175d80d0b9e3718de1b578b36ff27f2993a16a358be150f3aa94de7aae66

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

4 Insights from This Episode:

 

Untested good ideas can make things worse. Dr. Hawkins speaks about prevention efforts of the past, which were untested. These efforts sounded good at the time, but were not effective and some even caused more harm than good. Use good ideas, but test them.

Bonding provides the motivation for youth to live up to the standards. Dr. Hawkins says that street gangs understand bonding better than we do. He speaks about the power of bonding and how this protective factor makes youth more likely to embrace our message.  

 

We can promote healthy development of young people. We have over 70 tested effective preventive programs now to reduce and prevent alcohol and drug addiction. Use the resources and tools that are tested and proven.  

 

We will not solve the opioid epidemic unless we invest seriously in prevention. Dr. Hawkins talks about proven programs that reduce opioid use and how implementing them in our communities will address the opioid epidemic.

Website Resources Dr. Hawkins mentions:

Blueprints Programs: http://blueprintsprograms.com/ (University of Colorado)

Surgeon General's Report: Effective Policies to Prevent Substance Use Disorder: https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/key-findings/prevention-programs

Washington State Institute for Public Policy: (Cost Benefit Analysis of Prevention): http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost?topicId=7

 

Programs Dr. Hawkins mentions:

Botvin LifeSkills: http://lifeskillstraining.com/

Strengthening Families: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/sfp10-14/

Prosper: http://evidencebasedprograms.org/prosper

Communities that Care: https://www.communitiesthatcare.net/

 

If you found this helpful, share this episode with a coalition member, colleague or friend!

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 012

 

10 - Changing the Landscape of Smoking

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 10 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

 

Host, Amanda Decker joins Larissa Swenson of the Greater Boston Tobacco Free Community Partnership Program. For those working with Drug Free Communities funding, this sector fills the role of “Other Organization Working to Reduce Substance Disorder”

Larissa engage stakeholders/organizations to increase community capacity and builds support for local tobacco control policies and regulations.

She also partners with individuals and community coalitions to raise awareness about health issues related to tobacco use and serves as a liaison between the program and the program’s funder, the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program/Department of Public Health.

 

Welcome to Episode 010 of the Podcast: Changing the Landscape of Smoking

Guest: Larissa Swenson of the Greater Boston Tobacco Free Community Partnership

Website: http://makesmokinghistory.org

Facebook:  https://m.facebook.com/MTFCP/

 

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

1. Ask Youth What They See. Larissa says when working to reduce you tobacco use, talk to youth and ask them what they see in their community. When making any type of change, asking questions is the best place to start.
2. Build Partnerships. Look for people and groups who can support what you are looking to do. There are people who have the same goals in mind as you and will want to help.
3. Support your efforts with data. Do your homework and back your efforts to create change with data. Larissa speaks about collecting data to reduce youth tobacco use and creating strategies around that data.

 

 

Upcoming event: November 16th

Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout event. Encourage someone you know to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance and then quit smoking that day. By quitting – even for 1 day – smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their cancer risk.

For more information: https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/great-american-smokeout.html

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 011

09 - Empowering Youth

Organizing for Change Podcast - Episode 09 Show Notes

Goal: “to equip coalitions, organizations, and individuals to bring change to their community”

Host, Amanda Decker joins the youth from the Ashland's Decisions at Every Turn (DAET) Coalition to talk about engaging youth in creating change. If you have questions about how to get more youth involved, what to have them do in your coalition and how to keep them engaged, this is the episode for you.

 

Welcome to Episode 009 of the Podcast: Empowering Youth

Guest: Youth Members of the Ashland Decisions at Every Turn Coalition

The DAET coalition is a community-based group with stakeholders from many organizations throughout Ashland. The group is dedicated to creating a safe and healthy Ashland by working as a community to prevent, reduce, and solve the problems that can lead to youth substance abuse. The coalition was awarded the Drug Free communities grant in 2013.

DAET Website: http://www.ashlanddecisions.org/

DAET Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ashlanddecisions/

Organizing for Change Website: https://organizing4change.podbean.com/

Organizing for Change Twitter: @organizing4chng

 

3 Insights from This Episode:

1. Empower your youth. If you are making decisions in your organization, agency or community that affect youth, it is important to have youth involved in the process. Give youth real leadership roles. Empower youth to have real decision making authority. Often adults are hesitant to give youth authority when decision making because they are worried they will not make a great choice for their coalition or agency. This results in tokenism of youth (just having a youth at the table because you are supposed to).
2. Train your youth. How do you increase the likelihood that youth will make a great choice for their coalition or agency? Train them. The DAET invested funds and time in training youth by sending them to the National Leadership forum put on by CADCA. This training for youth helps them to understand the process of change and breaks things down so the youth were able to put their knowledge to work in helping create their coalition's action plan for the next year. When the DAET youth were trained, they understood what needed to happen in order to create a working plan for their community. It is so important to regularly train your youth. When youth have the good training to make an informed decision, they can be a powerful asset to the coalition.
3. Support your youth. Youth need to be valued and advocated for. Not every adult will believe youth are capable of working with your organization or coalition to make change. Having adult supporters to make sure the youth voice is heard and valued will make a big impact.

 

Next Episode: Subscribe now for free and you won’t miss episode 010