When my oldest son was in 6th grade a good friend of mine mentioned a prevention program she had just attended with her daughter.  She lived in a small neighboring town.  It was a program provided by her school that educated 7th graders and their parents about the risks of youth substance abuse and other high risk teen behaviors.  My friend said that it was “life changing”.  That she and her daughter had never talked so much about these serious topics before.  I thought, “Wow, sounds like a crucial bit of education for us about some pretty dangerous choices our kids are facing as they move through middle and high school”.  So, I approached the school principal wondering why our city didn’t have a similar program.  We lived in a larger more densely populated city that had just as many, if not more, problems with youth substance abuse than her town did.  The answer was typical.  “Well, we used to have a program like that 20 years ago but we lost funding.”   And suddenly this became my passion.  The principal introduced me to the retired guidance counselor who ran the old program and still did some grant based work in the school.  Together, with a few other concerned parents that I dragged along with me, we researched, planned and fundraised.   In a matter of 5 months we offered the program to our 7th grade families – Project Safety.

Project Safety is a day long conference for kids and their parents, held during the school day  and off-site.  Kids and parents attend sessions about a variety of issues like:  substance abuse, bullying, peer pressure, safe use of the internet and other timely issues we know our kids will be facing every day.  The focus for kids was to talk about the consequences of the many choices they were making and to show them what could happen in real life.  We did not paint pretty pictures of the reality of bad choices.  Our goal was to open lines of communication so that kids would feel empowered, safe and smart about these choices.  Parents had their own sessions focused on the same issues but with emphasis on providing tools parents could use to talk to their kids and keep them safe.

Over the next 10 years we organized our small program into a nonprofit corporation (now Project Safety Association) and gained 501(c)3 tax status.   We attended other similar programs and conferences so we could maintain current information about the issues our program addressed and continuously provide fresh speakers.   We worked hard to gain credibility with school administrators, city officials and parents.   It wasn’t easy to do this. We had a lot of  push back from some parents who didn’t think the material we provided to kids and parents was “appropriate”.  Because of course “their kids” would never hear about any of these things and certainly not choose to engage in them…..  And of course there were the school staff members who didn’t think that they had the class time to give up to the program.  Nonetheless, as they say, we persisted and became proudly known as the only prevention education organization “game in town”.

I have been the Executive Director of this Association for 10 years.  This venture has been the most important professional one of my life.  I am so proud of what we have accomplished and believe that we have impacted the lives of our kids and parents in significant ways.   I know that some of our kids will always remember the speakers and the important and sometimes intense things they’ve shared with them.  I hear it a lot.  Especially recently…..

I have decided that it is time to move on to something new.   A bit of a new chapter, I guess.  This blog is the beginning of that.  The sad part for me and one that I am struggling with is that no one is interested in taking over the Association.   I do understand it in part.  There is no paycheck for this position.  We are all strictly voluntary.  All the funds raised go right into programming.  It’s not a big budget but it can be tough to raise money these days.  There is enough for programming but not for the planning of it.  I have been fortunate to be in a position to do it as a volunteer – it really has been a passion of mine.  I know that is not the case for everyone.  We’ve tried hard to muster up some new blood and, while everyone – and I mean everyone – says how fantastic the program is and how much our kids and parents need it, no one wants to run it.  So here I am.  Winding down “my Association”.  It has taken a lot out of me and sometimes I feel like I’m giving up a child.  But it is time.  Nonetheless, it is killing me to see my sweat, hard work and passion go down the drain.

Mine, mine, mine.   Going, going, gone.