Friday, April 15, 2011

Saginaw Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership Excited about Their Service

Hello! My name is Ashlie Tillman and I serve with the Saginaw Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership. The program consists of a partnership between the United Way of Saginaw and nonprofits in the community (with demonstrated expertise in substance abuse prevention) that utilizes 20 half-time AmeriCorps Members engaged in educating youth, parents, and community members on substance abuse prevention. Members serve 5,950 youth and 1,290 parents.

Members address three areas a) Parenting - AmeriCorps members will work to enhance parents ability to set forth acceptable standards of behavior for their children with regard to substance use and abuse; b) Youth - AmeriCorps members will work to enhance the awareness of youth with regard to substance use and abuse; and c) Environmental - AmeriCorps members will work to raise community awareness of substance use and abuse so people do not become de-sensitized to the associated dangers.

The Saginaw Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership has been working on a lot of different projects in the past six months.

On Saturday, April 9, we went to Ricker Middle School where they had a "Just Stop - An Anti-Drug and Crime Summit." They had an author there and different Public Safety Officers with vehicles. We were able to talk with many different people of all ages about the great work AmeriCorps members do.

Also, this coming Saturday, April 16, there is a Children's Health Fair in two different places in Saginaw and we will have AmeriCorps members at both places. Our members are very excited for this Saturday because they are going to be able to mix with the children and parents, while giving out information on AmeriCorps and the various programs of the Saginaw Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership.

We also have many fun outdoor service activities planned for the summer, now we just need the nice weather to arrive. We are very excited about the service we do here and are always excited to tell everyone about it.

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