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| | | | Prevent Coalition staff members Paula Linden and Abigail Wells welcome Joanna Turner, Prevention Program Director with Washington Gorge Action Programs and Coordinator of Our Klickitat Coalition, and Mandy Feeks, Community Prevention Project Coordinator with the Prevent Coalition. Together they dive into a discussion about youth prevention, harm reduction, and the overlap between the two - and how communities leverage both to support youth across the entire continuum of care. | | | |  |
Elizabeth Lester, Student Assistance Professional at Klickitat School District, was awarded the 2026 "Spirit of the ESD" award for outstanding service and dedication. The award is issued twice per year by Educational Service District 112.
Mrs. Lester was nominated by colleagues in the district-based staff category. One colleague praised her impact on youth, “Mrs. Liz’s “customer service” is measured entirely by community trust, accessibility, and real student outcomes everyone sees. The ultimate, unassailable proof of her stellar service is written clearly in the data: Klickitat High School’s attendance numbers show a sharp, undeniable spike and steady maintenance directly correlating to the exact timeline of her hiring and work with Klickitat students. She is the definitive reason at-risk youth choose to show up to the building, she is a force that kids are drawn to and respond to in all the right ways.”
Thank you, Elizabeth, for your hard work and positive impact on youth. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition!! | | | | |  |
Students from across Southwest Washington were recognized for their leadership, creativity and commitment to prevention at the 2026 Washington State Spring Youth Forum, held on May 19 at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. The annual event, themed Cascade of Change, brought together 44 youth prevention teams from across Washington to celebrate student-led projects that promote healthy choices and strengthen communities. Funded and hosted by the Washington State Health Care Authority, the Spring Youth Forum is Washington’s premier celebration of youth-led prevention work.
The forum serves as a follow-up to the Washington State Prevention Summit, held each fall. Together, the two events create a cycle of learning and action, equipping students with prevention education and planning skills before providing a statewide platform to showcase the projects they have implemented in their schools and communities. Southwest Washington was well represented, with eight teams earning scholarships to attend and present their prevention initiatives.
“Supporting youth leadership is at the heart of prevention work,” said Joy Lyons, director of Prevention Programs at ESD 112. “The Spring Youth Forum gives students a chance to share their successes, learn from one another and see that their ideas can make a lasting difference across Washington.”
Read the full story at esd112.org/news. | | The annual summit is a daylong event focused on youth leadership, wellness and substance use prevention. This year’s theme, “Be Your Own Bestie,” encouraged students to reflect on self-worth, healthy choices and the importance of positive peer relationships. ESD 112’s Prevent Coalition hosts the event in partnership with local coalitions and community organizations. The event was funded by the WA Department of Health (DOH) through the Youth Cannabis & Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program (YCCTPP).
Read the full story at esd112.org/news. | | Hosted by the Coalition for Preventing Abuse in Klickitat County and the Goldendale High School Prevention Club, the summit gathered 32 students and 8 adult partners from across the county to share ideas, build relationships, and strengthen prevention efforts.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news. | | More than 300 residents across Clark and Cowlitz counties took part in the event held on April 25th.
Click here to read the full story at esd112.org/news.
Medicine take‐back events in Southwest Washington are funded in partnership by Washington State Health Care Authority, law enforcement, and community partners. If you’re unable to make it to a drive thru event on April 25th, you can find a year-round medicine disposal kiosk (link below) or order envelopes to dispose of medicine by mail at www.Med-Project.org.
Links to download & print year-round disposal flyers:
|  | | Southwest Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, September 2, 2026 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting Regular quarterly meeting for Southwest Regional Network Members.
Prevention Coordinators Meeting Thursday, September 10, 2026 1:00-2:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting Bimonthly meeting of Community Coalition Coordinators serving Southwest Washington. |  |  | | | | | Small Towns, Big Impact - Celebrating What Works — and Building What’s Next Thursday, October 1 – Friday, October 2, 2026 Confluence Technology Center
285 Technology Center Way
Wenatchee, WA 98801 | | | About the Conference Hosted by the Rural Network, this bi-annual conference brings together prevention professionals, volunteers, and community leaders dedicated to building resilience and preventing youth substance misuse in rural Washington.
What to Expect
Focus Areas:
Who Should Attend Anyone living in, working in, or supporting rural communities, including prevention specialists, educators, coalition members, and community partners.
Cost & Registration $125, with sliding-scale scholarships available! Clock hours and continuing education credits also available. | Promote your prevention resources at the Rural Conference! Tabling space is available to promote your rural prevention related resources. Reserve your spot now by contacting event coordinator Abigail Wells - [email protected]. | | | | | |  |
The Rural Network is proud to spotlight the Cle Elum Prevention Club youth and their Coordinator, Jessica Cranefield. Recently, the Cle Elum High School Prevention Club was honored by the City of Cle Elum for their youth advocacy and bestowed a Proclamation for their actions. In March, at a Cle Elum City Council meeting, the Prevention Club students were formally honored with a Proclamation recognizing their outstanding youth advocacy, strong leadership, role modeling, and commitment to promoting positive choices among their peers and throughout the broader community.
In addition to receiving this recognition, the students delivered a powerful presentation highlighting their work over the past year. Their efforts have been nothing short of remarkable and include:
- Youth advocacy at the legislative level, including work related to tobacco and kratom restrictions
- Peer-to-peer engagement through tabling events and prevention activities
- Presenting Samantha Skunk skits to elementary students
- Speaking engagements, including the Cascade Prevention Coalition Key Leader Event
- Participation in the Southeastern Regional Youth Conference
Students also highlighted their local advocacy efforts this past August and September, when a vape shop was proposed to open directly across from The Shop Teen Center. Many Prevention Club members, as well as Jessica Cranefield, Club Advisor and Community Prevention Specialist, attended city council meetings and provided testimony opposing the location, demonstrating courage and a strong commitment to protecting youth in their community.
During the March meeting, Mayor Matthew Lundh shared that youth voice has played a meaningful role in shaping local decisions, including the City of Cle Elum’s kratom ban, an outcome influenced in part by the advocacy and testimony of these students. The student's dedication to prevention, leadership, and community engagement truly sets an example for others to follow.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor shared incredibly kind and complimentary remarks about the students, recognizing the meaningful impact they are making in the Cle Elum community. It was clear to all in attendance that these young leaders are creating real, positive change.
The zoom is available to watch on the City of Cle Elum Facebook page and/or website, agenda items #4 and #8. You can also go to the Cascade Prevention Coalition Facebook page to see their post about this work, which you can view here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565155888254 | | | | | | Monthly “Rural Network Meetings” The full membership meets monthly on the last Tuesday of each month from 2pm-3:30pm. This meeting is meant to engage network members, build connections across isolated communities, provide training to members and bring in guest speakers. Meetings often guest speakers who come to present on topics that are relevant to rural communities, plus community-of-practice style activities where members share their experiences with one another or tackle tough issues collaboratively. These meetings are usually held virtually and open to the public. Anyone is welcome to join! To learn more contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]). | 2026 Rural Conference Workgroup This group is continuing to meet monthly to prepare, design and plan for the statewide gathering of rural prevention professionals which happens every 2 years, called the Rural Prevention Conference. Our second conference was completed in September 2024. The fall 2026 conference, Small Towns, Big Impact - 2026 Rural Prevention Conference is planned for October 1st-2nd in Wenatchee, WA. This workgroup gets to design theme, branding elements, activities that happen at the conference, agenda, speakers and more. The workgroup will meet on a rotating schedule based on volunteer availability each month. Contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]) for more information about the conference or joining the workgroup. | Book Club Our book club just finished reading and discussing the book, "Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America," by Beth Macy. The Rural Network members will choose a new book to read (decided by members and based on a majority vote) within the next few months. Interested in participating in the Fall? Have a good author or title to suggest for our next book? If you are interested, or to make a suggestion, please reach out to Abigail Wells at [email protected]. | Member & Youth Engagement Committee This committee is tasked with reflecting and brainstorming about member engagement. The committee will discuss recruiting for opportunities, barriers to Rural Network participation, strategies and activities to build capacity and membership across rural communities, as well as feedback received about participation. This year, we are prioritizing Youth Engagement and are meeting monthly to find ways to get youth more involved in the Rural Network. We are working on brainstorming ideas, researching what already exists and what the needs are, and figuring out a solution or two for making sure that youth can have their voices heard and participate in our statewide Rural Network in an effective and worthwhile way. If you are interested in being a part of this conversation and have some ideas on what this might look like, please reach out to Abigail Wells ([email protected]). | Steering Committee Our Steering Committee is our leadership team that guides the work of the Rural Network, reflects on action plan progress, plans monthly meeting agendas, and evaluates the progress and outcomes of the program. We’re looking for more members to guide the work and get involved to increase our capacity and keep the work sustained/strong. We meet monthly on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 9am-10:30am (PT) and are hoping to add 3-4 more members. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Abigail Wells ([email protected]). | Affinity Group Workgroup This workgroup changes throughout the year as we complete a project/need and move on to the next. We just finished up our first Affinity Group, and the topic was the Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) and finding ways to get more participation from admin, schools, and youth themselves (with a focus on rural communities). We developed a series of HYS Fact Sheets and tools for communities to utilize that dispel myths about HYS and encourage participation. We are currently meeting around our new topic, which is “Successful Strategies in Rural Communities (using the 7 Strategies for Community Change).” We have met a few times and plan to continue to meet monthly at a day/time that works for our members. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Abigail Wells at [email protected]. | Office Hours Our staff reserves an hour every month for people to gather and brainstorm, bounce ideas off one another, and receive support or Technical Assistance from our team. Sometimes you need a like-minded Coordinator to generate ideas, double check an action plan, troubleshoot a difficult sector representative, etc. We’re here to support you at these monthly time slots. Our current Office Hours takes place on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm-2pm, however, you can also reserve another time slot with us. Email Abigail Wells ([email protected]) or [email protected] to reserve this time with us. | |  |  | 7 Core Principles Rural Network.pdf |
| Download 1.1 MB |
| | Rural Network Steering Committee Meeting Wednesday, August 5, 2026 1:00-2:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting
Help to Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate the RN workplan.
Rural Affinity Group - Successful Rural Strategies August - Date/Time TBD Virtual Meeting
Help develop a tool to capture statewide rural strategy ideas.
Youth Engagement Committee Meeting Friday, August 14, 2026 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Hybrid Meeting
This year we are exploring ways to get youth involved!
Rural Conference Planning Committee Meeting August - Date/Time TBD Virtual Meeting Help plan the 2026 Rural Prevention Conference.
Rural Network Meeting Tuesday, August 25, 2026 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting Regular monthly meeting for Rural Network Members.
Rural Network Steering Committee Meeting Wednesday, September 2, 2026 9:00-10:30 a.m. Virtual Meeting Help to Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate the RN workplan.
Rural Network Office Hours Wednesday, September 2, 2026 1:00-2:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting
For Rural Network members to receive technical assistance.
Rural Affinity Group - Successful Rural Strategies September - Date/Time TBD Virtual Meeting
Help develop a tool to capture statewide rural strategy ideas.
Youth Engagement Committee Meeting Friday, September 11, 2026 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Hybrid Meeting
This year we are exploring ways to get youth involved!
Rural Conference Planning Committee Meeting September - Date/Time TBD Virtual Meeting Help plan the 2026 Rural Prevention Conference.
Rural Network Meeting Tuesday, September 22, 2026 2-3:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting Regular monthly meeting for Rural Network Members. |  | 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: [email protected]
Website: www.PreventCoalition.org
Location: 2500 NE 65th Ave., Vancouver, WA, USA
Phone: 360-952-3457
Facebook: Facebook.com/PreventCoalition Instagram: Instagram.com/PreventCoalition
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