Farewell to 2009 and Welcome 2010

By Kevin Quint, Executive Director

As I reflect on the past 12 months, I think that the biggest issue we've faced as an organization and as a community is the uncertainty of the economy.  The economy has been declining since 2008 and even though I see frequent prognostications about imminent recovery, so far, that hasn't happened.  But with all of that said, JTNN had a great year in 2009.  Here are some of the highlights:

• JTNN funded 10 substance abuse prevention programs in Washoe County with State of Nevada funds to the tune of about $350,000.  More than 4,600 parents and youth participated in prevention programs coordinated by subgrantees.  Programs include: Positive Action, School-Based Mentoring, SMART Moves, Project Toward No Drug Abuse, Creating Lasting Family Connections, Too Good For Drugs, Parenting Wisely, Strengthening Families, Brief Alcohol Screening Interventions for College Students, and Directed Patrols.

• Another $250,000 was allocated to various organizations and groups, including law enforcement, UNR, and local prevention programs to implement coordinated and far reaching strategies to prohibit and prevent underage drinking in the community.  This effort was guided by our Environmental Strategies Coalition.

• We participated in the 2009 Legislative Session in Carson City provided substantial input and information on the state budget on substance abuse prevention and treatment and on a number of bills that impact substance abuse prevention and treatment.

• We continued to partner with the Crisis Call Center to provide the Help Line, in which thousands of people a year are able to call for help, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Along with the other 10 coalitions statewide, we unfolded the social media campaign, "I Am One of Many."  This was showcased at the Reno Aces baseball park and in their printed program for each game. As part of this, JTNN hosted 150 tickets that we offered to all of our partners for the June 11th game.  Even though it was unseasonably cold that night, we had a great time!

• We sponsored many trainings for various groups in the community including information on addiction as a brain disease, the short and long term effects of substance abuse, prescription drug addiction, methamphetamines, and more.

• We developed a community library that covers many topics, including drugs of abuse, prevention, treatment, recovery, parenting, codependency, and other self-help topics.

• In June, we held our 6th annual My Anti Drug Mural, which included art work for over 200 local youth that was first showcased at the Red Robin restaurant in Reno and then at a local art gallery.

• In September, JTNN collaborated with dozens of other partners to put on the 9th Annual Recovery Picnic at Cottonwood Park in Sparks.  This event celebrates the fact that people can and do recovery from substance use disorders.

• In April, a mother and father who had lost their son to a prescription drug overdose in January 2009 came to us to ask that we do something about the access that youth have to prescription drugs.  Out of this initial request, we have developed a coalition called the Community Prescription Round-Up Group.  This new coalition includes many community partners and on October 17th we sponsored a "round-up" in which people in the community brought in unwanted prescription and over the counter drugs.  In all, we gathered up over 39,000 pills, which were collected by Reno PD officers and incinerated safely.  We plan to do this again in 2010.

With all of that said, 2010 poses some unique challenges for JTNN because of the economy and two federal grants we've had for a number of years but that are ending in the next six months.  To meet this challenge, we are developing our capacity to collect and interpret data, which will help us better focus our work and our funds.  We are developing new sources of revenue to meet the challenges of a weak local and national economy.  We are planning ahead to make sure that JTNN is able to serve the community in
the best and most effective ways possible.

2010 will be interesting but we are excited about continuing and expanding the work that we do and we look forward to all of us being involved together to do that.