Summer is Here!
Summer is a time to relax...but not time to let go of the kids in your life just yet. This is truly a bittersweet time of watching high school seniors and older teens grow, gain new freedoms and start making those first steps toward attaining their hopes and dreams. Younger teens are also taking their first steps towards independence.
But in their ever-growing autonomy, teens and young adults still need support from the adults around them. Regardless of a child's age, parents, relatives, and community members are a vital influence in their decision making process. So keep talking--to them and each other. Together, we are making underage drinking a thing of the past!
Have a great summer!
-Erica, Jo, Jen, Sue, and Laura.
PS: Stop by our new downtown office! 48 Free Street, Portland.
Do You Eat Pizza?
Have you ordered a pizza lately? Be on the watch for our pizza box flyers! These flyers celebrate our parent campaign called "Wow, Times Have Changed!"
Most youth today don't drink...AND parents do more to prevent it by:
- Checking in often
- Restricting access to alcohol
- Reporting underage drinking parties to police
- Being up and ready at curfew
- Enforcing the rules
- Networking with other parents (See Table Talks article below)
Learn more about how you can prevent underage drinking by visiting our website.
Staff Changes at 21 Reasons
It is with great sadness that we announce two major staff changes at 21 Reasons this summer.
Emily Wolff, the Project Manager for the 21 Reasons Mentoring Program, has moved on to another position. She will be greatly missed at the 21 Reasons office and in the Casco Bay and Gray/New Gloucester communities! Over the summer, Erica Schmitz, and Suzanne DiBella-Olson, will be the contacts for members of the Casco Bay C.A.N. and Gray & New Gloucester Coalitions. Coalition members can feel free to email Erica or Suzanne, or call them at 773-7737 with any questions.
Laura Romanella, the 21 Reasons Project Assistant, is also moving on. For the past year, Laura has been the voice on the phone and our private website whiz. She’s helped us set up systems to make our work easier and been a driving force behind our social media, in addition to many reports, research, and outreach efforts. She will be sorely missed, and impossible to replace.
We hope you'll join us in wishing all the best for these two wonderful women in their new workplaces!
Portland Coalition News
Portland Parents Love Table Talks
We have recently launched our Table Talks initiative to rave reviews. Table Talks give parents a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere to talk about underage drinking, share challenges and successes, learn new information, and get tips for preventing underage drinking. Based on the "Tupperware Party" model, each Table Talk is a small gathering held in a parent host's home or similarly comfortable community location and facilitated by someone trained by the 21 Reasons coalition. To learn more about hosting a Table Talk in your community, contact 21reasons@mcd.org.
Party Patrol Kits for Cumberland County Police
 Every law enforcement agency within Cumberland County received a Party Patrol Kit on Wednesday, May 19th during a kick off press conference hosted at the Portland Police Department. These kits give investigating officers the tools they need when they respond to the scene of an underage drinking party. The kit contains items that will help officers organize and document what can be a chaotic environment, such as a white board, markers, cameras, binoculars, flashlight, breathalyzers, as well as an investigative checklist to ensure they gather enough pertinent information. The goal is not to get youth in trouble, but to help alert parents about what their child is doing and to aid in the investigation of criminal cases regarding furnishing liquor to a minor or furnishing a place for a minor to consume liquor.
"How Many Cheeseburgers do you Drink in a Month?"
For three years that's been the tagline for an online program that offers young adults some tools and tips about reduced-risk alcohol usage.
In May and June we took the opportunity provided by the beautiful weather and went to young adult-oriented events to do outreach to promote MaineBAC.org. We attended the League of Young Voters' ReEmergence, a casting call for MTV's The Real World, the Old Port Festival, and Southern Maine Pride. We also put together some goodie bags for young adult tenants at several large rental properties.
In all, we distributed over 800 items--keychains, aluminum water bottles, magnets, t-shirts, bottled water--to promote the website.
However, some changes are coming to the site soon. The tool that MaineBAC.org has used is based on the e-CHUG program that uses a confidential survey to provide users with personalized feedback about alcohol use. The MaineBAC e-chug contract is ending this summer, and while we look for ways to fund this valuable program, the website will instead provide links to other information and services for young adults. We hope that the site will continue to be useful for people looking for information about reduced-risk drinking practices.
21 Reasons staffer Laura Romanella distributes
MaineBAC.org branded materials at the casting call
for MTV’s The Real World in May 2010.
Portland Training Ordinance Starts September 1
Twice a year 21 Reasons, with the support of Healthy Portland, hosts a Seller-Server training for local alcohol retailers. The training provides information and support for the issues a clerk, manager, or bartender might encounter when trying to comply with Maine liquor laws. The trainer, Frank Lyons (featured here in a recent Bangor Daily News article), is a former police officer and liquor inspector. He mixes his extensive experience with a healthy dose of humor and anecdotes to make the training both useful and entertaining. This year we offered the training at low cost to on- and off-premise retailers, and trained nearly 30 staff and managers .
We are offering an extra training this year for on-premise retailers (places like restaurants and bars) because the City of Portland's new training ordinance goes into effect September 1 ( City Code Sec. 15-41). To help on-premise retailers meet this training suggestion, we are offering a low-cost training on 8/30 in Portland for 25 employees and managers of on-premise venues. Interested people should contact 21 Reasons office at 773-7737; preregistration is required.
Rental Property Project Revitalized
This summer has seen renewed work on an ongoing 21 Reasons project--working with rental property owners to help minimize alcohol-related concerns in apartments. This effort will begin with two surveys: one for property owners and managers, and one for tenants, to find out what resources are being utilized and which are available. Portland-based young adults can look for the tenant survey on Facebook within the next few weeks; property owners with 10 or more tenants can look for the survey in the mail or fill it out online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rentalproperties.
Casco Bay Coalition News
For the past two years, 21 Reasons has been proud to mentor the Casco Bay C.A.N. Coalition. Recently, we assisted them to apply for their own Drug-Free Communities grant, with Cumberland County as their fiscal agent. Funding news should arrive by September!
Casco Bay C.A.N. on the web!
Casco Bay C.A.N. is moving and shaking! In our last newsletter, we unveiled the Casco Bay Coalition's new name: "Casco Bay C.A.N....Create Awareness Now to Prevent Youth Substance Abuse." Casco Bay C.A.N. now has a beautiful new logo to go along with their new name; keep an eye out in your community for the new logo!
In addition to the logo, Casco Bay C.A.N. now has its own website! Visit it at www.cascobaycan.org to get more information about the Coalition and its work in the community. You can find community resources, the Coalition's five year Substance Abuse Prevention Plan, and minutes from past meetings. Even better, the Casco Bay C.A.N. group plans to make the site more dynamic once it receives its funding for next year. This could involve a blog, Facebook account, or other great social marketing tools! Be on the lookout for these things coming in the fall, and feel free to email the coalition at info@cascobaycan.org with any questions.
Casco Bay C.A.N. Prevention Plan
Casco Bay Community members -- are you wondering what your community coalition will be focusing on for the next five years? Casco Bay C.A.N. has finalized its five year Substance Abuse Prevention Plan. This is a compilation of the key documents that Casco Bay C.A.N. created over the past two years, with the help of 21 Reasons, in developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the region.
The Prevention Plan includes a summary statement, key findings from the Casco Bay Community Assessment, the one year action plan, and the 2010-2015 logic model.
Both the Substance Abuse Prevention Plan and the Needs and Resources assessment can be accessed online at www.cascobaycan.org or by emailing: info@cascobaycan.org. A hard copy of the Prevention Plan can also be obtained from 21 Reasons--please call: (207) 773-7737.
Thank you for all of your support this year!
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