Our annual campaign focuses on expanding prevention services to all ages. Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a web page. Annual Campaign Be a Prevention Superhero–Donate Today! You can be a prevention superhero by committing to playing your role in creating healthier communities. Easy solutions don’t exist to prevent substance misuse and promote mental health wellness. While you may feel you can't do anything to solve these complex problems, by joining others in this work YOU CAN make an impact. Prevention Action Alliance’s Annual Campaign is running throughout May to raise funds to expand prevention services to all ages by supporting healthy communities across Ohio. You can help with your time, your voice and your gift of prevention. Join us in creating healthy communities and be a prevention superhero today! Donate Today Important Tax & Transparency Information The CARES Act extends the $300 universal, above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers through 2021 and also allows joint filers to deduct up to $600. (Visit our DONATE page for more information). Accountability and transparency is important to us which is why you can find links to our accreditations and ratings by the top charity watchdogs on the DONATE page of our website. You’ll also be able to access our 990 tax forms and annual reports which show that 90 cents of every dollar go directly to provide prevention services to communities. Q&A: Get to Know Our Board PAA Welcomes New Board Members Jodie Demo-Hodgins is the soon-to-be retired director of the NAMI Ohio's Children's Division. She is a social worker by background and has worked in the field for more than 40 years at agencies and with an ADAMH Board. Jodie resides in Marion. How did you get involved with PAA and what was your first impression of the organization? I have known about the work of PAA for many years because of my former job as an ADAMH board director. My impression has been that PAA seeks to spread information about best practices for prevention and create partnerships around the state of Ohio that extend the work of prevention. Also, I volunteered for the Marion-Crawford Prevention Program. I saw prevention touch the lives of young people and believe that is where change needs to happen so they can impact their peers and the future. Why PAA? Because prevention should be at the very core of behavioral health and physical health. As the statewide voice for prevention, PAA is in a position to influence practice and this is critically important. What might someone be surprised to learn about you? That I am a canner. I make jam, jelly and relishes from our fruit trees and garden. What would you say is the greatest challenge and/or opportunity prevention organizations in our state are facing currently in your opinion? The lack of acknowledgement that $1 spent on prevention saves $5 on treatment and that moving funds towards prevention makes a difference. That difference is just not seen immediately. How would you like PAA to help them? Through advocacy and support. Spreading the message to those who fund programming. What would you like to gain from your service to the organization? More knowledge and a solid future for prevention that will benefit my four grandchildren. The Rev. Nancy Day-Achauer lives in Columbus and is the pastor of the Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church. She is a member of two subcommittees of the Columbus and Franklin County Addiction Plan, and provides education on addiction and prevention to religious organizations and community groups throughout Central Ohio. How did you get involved with Prevention Action Alliance and what was your first impression of the organization. As a member of the Franklin County Opiate Crisis Task Force (2016-2017), I was involved in several educational seminars where PAA had a table. In task force committee meetings, members referenced PAA’s work and I was impressed by the level of respect members had for the organization. Ellen Schoonover of The G.A.P. Network has been my PAA connection for several years. She called me to discuss my becoming involved. My high regard for her and the PAA organization made it easy to say yes! Why PAA? I am interested in PAA’s broad scope of programming on addiction and mental health. I have been providing harm reduction and opiate prevention education to religious organizations and community groups for several years and people often ask me questions about other types of addiction and dual diagnosis. What might someone be surprised to learn about you? I love to play practical jokes (not mean ones). When I worked in the corporate office of Catholic Healthcare West, I often partnered with a nun and a Yoruba priestess to play practical jokes on the lawyers. What would you say is the greatest challenge and/or opportunity prevention organizations in our state are facing currently in your opinion. I believe the greatest challenge for organizations is reaching all the people who need prevention education. I once organized a prevention education event with a large suburban school district and only 75 parents attended. Too many people are in denial about needing prevention education so organizations need to find a variety of opportunities to reach them. How would you like PAA to help them? In addition to PAA’s extensive resources and training, providing a “think tank” opportunity for diverse organizations to come together and brainstorm about outreach would be helpful for prevention organizations trying to reach more people. What would you like to gain from your service to the organization? I would like to expand my opportunities to help prevent addiction in its many forms. News You Can Use Yes, We're Hiring! PAA is looking for a prevention coordinator for Community Based Prevention Services. This role manages and supports events, activities, deliverables, and projects associated with the Statewide Prevention Coalition Association, Ohio Center for Coalition Excellence, G.A.P. Network and statewide problem gambling initiatives. It serves as a point-of-contact for consumers, partners, funders, grantees and agency leadership. Communities throughout Ohio and the United States rely on us at Prevention Action Alliance to provide them with resources and expertise to help them prevent drug misuse and promote mental health wellness. In turn, we rely on our dedicated staff to carry out that mission. Do you want to join a team of passionate professionals working together to improve health and wellness? For a full job description and information on how to apply, visit preventionactionaliance.org. Ohio Prevention Conference Virtual Summit, Free Training Opportunities Coming in June The 2021 Ohio Prevention Conference Virtual Summit will be Tuesday, June 22 from 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. This free summit will feature Dr. Paola Molina of the OMNI Institute and La'Quana Williams of the Prevention Institute. It will explore frameworks for reducing health inequities and how to implement culturally specific strategies within evidence-based interventions. Continuing education hours for social workers, counselors, prevention specialists and chemical dependency counselors are pending. Additionally, free training opportunities through the Ohio Prevention Conference will be available on Thursdays through June. Visit ohiopc.org to learn more about the upcoming summit and trainings. The Ohio Prevention Conference Virtual Training Series is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. May is Mental Health Month It’s easy to fall into negative thinking —especially during difficult times. Check out our latest Know! Tip for advice in promoting mental health wellness for our youth. Special Events WATM Rally, PAAS on Racism Promote Prevention Statewide Two of PAA's signature events happened in May, albeit virtually due to the pandemic. While the events happened online, both were very successful in engaging their audiences and sparking conversations in prevention. As always, we are thankful for all those who make each a success, including our dedicated sponsors, dynamic speakers, passionate committees, enthusiastic participants and hardworking staff. After all, everyone has a role in prevention. The We Are The Majority Rally happened May 7. Many thanks to the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network Youth Council members for all their efforts in making this year's virtual event a success. Thank you to our emcee and Youth Council member Jade Eilers and to all our speakers, including Gov. Mike DeWine, Bobby Berk and Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Director Lori Criss. Our sincere appreciation to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for its generous support of the WATM Rally again this year. And to all those who participated in watch parties or just tuned in, thank you for your interest in and support of the WATM Rally and its message that the majority of youth do not use alcohol, marijuana or other substances of abuse. See you again next year! If you missed the rally, you can view it by visiting our YouTube channel. (Tip: video starts at the 5-minute mark.) The second Prevention, Action & Advocacy Summit, "Promoting Equity Through Culturally Competent Prevention," happened yesterday, May 20. It featured dynamic nationally and regionally known speakers addressing the issue of racism and an engaged statewide audience of prevention and nonprofit professionals. PAAS certainly delivered on its goal of educating, empowering and advocating for prevention solutions to racism that are just, equitable and culturally competent. Many thanks to all who made it a success, especially our keynote speakers, the Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson and Dr. Wanda Boone, our session presenters Simone Crawley, Dr. Chenelle Jones, and Dr. Terrance Dean, and Honey Bell-Bey and The Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word. Shop PAA From prevention-related gifts and books to program memberships and printed collateral, see what our shop has to offer to help you promote prevention in your community. 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