Author: Media

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Help Vida Del Norte Keep Their Program Alive – Become a Monthly Supporter or Make a Donation Today!

HELP SAVE VIDA DEL NORTE

The Vida Del Norte Community Coalition is an organization based out of Questa, NM that works on youth substance misuse prevention in Northern Taos County. The Vida Del Norte Coalition is comprised of a group of volunteers that represent the various sectors of the community with the goal of mobilizing in a unified effort to support our youth and community well-being.

Vida Del Norte needs your support now more than ever before.

In the past, the coalition has received funding through a Drug-Free Community grant. This grant, and donation support, provided the daily budget needed to run this program.

The Vida Del Norte Coalition experienced a technical difficulty this year while applying for the DFC grant, resulting in a loss of funding for the coming year. Vida Del Norte will be relying more on donation support until they can reapply for the DFC Grant again next year.

Vida Del Norte would like to invite you to participate in the effort to prevent youth substance misuse by becoming a monthly supporter. Donation support will help maintain the momentum of the Vida Del Norte Coalition during this difficult time.

Monthly donations will help the coalition keep this program alive so that Vida can continue hosting teen nights and other healthy activities for the youth, have educational and collaborative events and workshops in the schools and community, connect people to the resources that they need to live healthy lives, and educate about substance misuse prevention.

You can also help support the efforts of preventing youth substance misuse in Northern Taos County with a one-time donation today of any amount. All donations to Vida Del Norte are tax deductible and go to supporting the efforts of the coalition.

To make a donation:
Click the donation button to navigate to our donation page on betterworld.org.
Select the amount you would like to give or choose a custom amount.
Select whether your gift is a one-time or monthly donation and follow the prompts to enter your payment information.

You can also make a cash or check donation by contacting Maria Gonzalez the Coalition Coordinator at: (575) 779-2260.

Thank you so much for your donation support.

Vida Camp - Campers, Junior Councilors, and Adult Staff at the Vida Camp, which Vida Del Norte helped to organize in collaboration with Localogy, Questa Farmers Market, Yoga Sala, the Village of Questa, Mini Manes, and other local organizations
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Teen Night is Back!

Every other Friday night at Vida Del Norte starting June 24th. From 7-10pm.

Located at 62 Highway 38 in Questa

Teen Night at Vida Del Norte offers youth ages 11-18 an opportunity to socialize in a drug, alcohol, and bully-free space.

Youth must check-in and out with a staff member and provide an emergency contact number of a responsible adult.

If you have any questions about Teen Night you can contact Maria Gonzalez @ (575) 779-2260

 

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Resources for Talking to your Teen about the Dangers of Underage Drinking and Substance Misuse

Research shows that when conversations go up, underage drinking goes down. Since 2003, conversations between parents and kids have increased 73%. During that same period, underage drinking has decreased by 50%.

Here is a list of links to sites that have tips on how to talk to the teens in your life about the dangers of underage drinking and substance misuse. If you have teens in your life, check out these links.

If you find or have a resource about talking to your teens about the dangers of underage drinking and substance misuse please send it to media@vidadelnorte.com so that we can add it to this list.

"Talk. They Hear You."® Campaign
SAMHSA’s national substance use prevention campaign helps parents and caregivers start talking with their children early about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs.
https://www.samhsa.gov/talk-they-hear-you

Talk It Out is a site out of North Carolina that has a comprehensive guide for parents with different ways that they can start the conversation about the dangers of underage drinking and substance misuse.
This page can be a key tool every step of the way — from thinking about what to say and how to say it, to keeping the conversation going as your kids get older.
https://www.talkitoutnc.org/starting-the-conversation/

Ask, Listen, Learn is a completely FREE digital underage drinking prevention program for kids ages 9-13 (grades 4-8) and their parents and educators with the goal to reduce underage drinking. The information provided throughout the program guides adults with ways to start communicating with kids about alcohol and the developing brain– and how to continue talking to them as part of a lifetime of conversations.
https://asklistenlearn.org/

Responsibility.org has developed programs and resources to prepare for a lifetime of conversations with kids, teens, college students, and adults of legal drinking age.  Learn more at: https://www.responsibility.org/prevent-underage-drinking

Ready to start a conversation for a child at any age? On Our Sleeves is a site dedicated to children's mental health and has a downloadable guide of conversation starters and tips to help create the habit of talking with your kids about all sorts of topics in effective ways.
https://www.onoursleeves.org

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Call for Volunteers – Media Workgroup

Fill out the form to add your name to the Media Work Group Contact List and let us know what days and times work best for you to meet.

Also if you are available to attend the first meeting before May 11 please select ALL of the times that you would be available from the list on that page.

The first meeting will be set at the most popular time. We will meet for about an hour. An email will be sent out with what meeting time worked best for most people in a few days.

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Resources About Underage Drinking

This page is a list of resources about underage drinking. If you know of a resource that should be added to this page please send it to media@vidadelnorte.com

Factsheet about underage drinking from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Underage drinking is a serious public health problem in the United States. Alcohol is the most widely used substance among America’s youth, and drinking by young people poses enormous health and safety risks.
Read More

A factsheet about underage drinking published by the CDC. 
Underage alcohol consumption is common in the United States and can have harmful outcomes. A comprehensive approach that includes effective policy strategies can prevent underage drinking and related harms.
Read More

The federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) works with state, territorial, and local governments and organizations to reduce and prevent underage drinking and its consequences. ICCPUD’s website,  StopAlcoholAbuse.gov , provides the latest research and resources to support underage drinking prevention and related issues.
Read More

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking
Drinking alcohol can harm the growing body and brain. That’s why it’s important for young people
to grow up alcohol-free. And it takes every adult in the community to help young people choose not
to drink alcohol. It takes you. Read More

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Vida Community Event Calendar

Vida Monthly Coalition Meeting


The next monthly coalition meeting will be September 26 at 6pm at the Vida office, 62 Highway 38. This meeting is open to the public of all ages. Please come and join the youth substance misuse prevention effort in our community.

September Recovery Month Events


4th Annual Community Candlelight Vigil in Questa
to Celebrate Recovery from Addiction,
Substance Abuse and Life-Controlling Issues.
Saturday, September 24th 6pm-7:30pm
By the Questa Traffic Light.

Recovery Celebration - Path to Wellness
September 24 at 12-4pm at Kit Carson Park in Taos
Featured speaker: Jimmy Santiago Baca - Northern New Mexican Poet and Author

 

Activities at Questa Public Library

 


Do you like to knit, crochet, embroider, or cross stitch? Well Dropped Stitch is back at the Questa Library!!!  Every Thursday at 2:30!

 

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Prevention Games, Quizzes and Factsheets

This page contains a list of links to online games, quizzes and factsheets that relate to substance misuse prevention. This list will grow over time. If you have a resource that should be added to this list you can email it to media@vidadelnorte.com.

Online Prevention Games

Drug and Alcohol Jeopardy

An online Jeopardy Style game that can be played as Jeopardy, Flash Cards or Memory and have questions relating to Alcohol, E-cigarettes, Marijuana, other drugs and fun facts.

Games: Drug Use and Effects

Thee games published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that explore Drug Use and its Effects

Underage Drinking and Tobacco Jeopardy

A Jeopardy Style game about underage drinking and tobacco use that can be played by one player or many teams.

Vaping Jeopardy

A Jeopardy Style game about vaping and the hazards of E-Cigarettes

Trivia and Quiz Sheets that Relate to Substance Misuse and Prevention

Quizzes and Activities Published by TheTruth.com

These are a few quizzes and activities on TheTruth.com that relate to vaping and  are part of the Safer ≠ Safe campaign.

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Lucky Leprechaun Saint Patrick’s Day Treasure Hunt 2022!


This year the Lucky Leprechaun Saint Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt will start at the Questa Library and the clues will be in the Municipal Park behind the library, around and inside the library. The hunt will be on Thursday, March 17th from 1-5pm. There will also be story time inside the library from 3-5pm. The first clue will be hanging from the bulletin board inside the entrance to the library. Please also take an information card and a compass from the sparkly box that will be under the bulletin board. Also, children must be accompanied by an adult. Please also post any photos that you take during your hunt to your social media with the hashtags #healthyhero and #vidadelnorte 🙂
Have fun and have a safe and happy Saint Patrick's Day!

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Resources about Youth and Substance Misuse

This list will continue to be developed over time. Please check back periodically to see new content and if you know of resources that might be good on this list please send them to media@vidadelnorte.com.

The Truth

thetruth.com
This site offers resources geared towards teens to educate them about vaping and help them to quit.

Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults - From the CDC

Information and data from the CDC about on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults. The bottom of this page also offers many other good resource links.

YOUTH.GOV - Topic: Substance Use/Misuse

This page provides tons of links to other resources relating to youth substance misuse. Check out all of the categories under the main text on this page to uncover many additional resources.

Substance abuse by youth and young adults in rural America

This page links to a scholarly research publication addressing substance abuse by youth in rural America. This page only contains a summary of the entire publication. This page also contains links to some related articles. The entire publication can be found here.

Vida Del Norte Coalition