Webinars, Videos and Trainings Relating to Substance Misuse and Wellbeing

Here is a list of webinars that relate to substance misuse, health and wellbeing. Some of these webinars occur on a set date and others are available to view anytime. This list will be added to on an ongoing basis so please check back periodically.

ADAPT: Cultivating Prevention
This is the link to the Adapt YouTube channel that has all of the past webinars that were presented by the HIDTA program called Adapt. The mission of ADAPT is to advance knowledge, skills, and quality outcomes in the field of substance use prevention while supporting successful integration of strategies informed by the best available evidence into communities.

Operation Parent Resource Manager

This page has a list containing many webinars and videos that relate to youth substance misuse, addiction, mental health and wellbeing

 

Supporting People With Addiction During Covid-19

A Webinar Series by the National Academy of Medicine
This series of three 90 minute webinars addresses ways in which we can help to support people with addiction during Covid-19. These are the titles of the three webinars in this series:
Webinar 1: Helping People with Addiction Stay Connected During COVID-19

Webinar 2: Treating Addiction Across the Care Continuum During COVID-19: Challenges and Promising Practices

Webinar 3: Strengthening Coordination Across the Social Safety Net for Patients with Addiction

 

 

Dead on Arrival

A short film public service announcement by Dominic Tierno and Christine Wood about fentanyl’s deadly role in the U.S. illicit drug market.
Watch Now

The Science Behind Opioid AddictionThe Operation Prevention Virtual Field Trip explored the science of addiction to help middle and high school students understand how prescription drugs and heroin affect the brain and body. During this powerful forum, students got the unfiltered facts about drugs and addiction and had their questions answered by leading experts, including DEA agents and pharmacologists.

On-Demand Addiction, Recovery and Mental Health Webinars

The Recovery Village  webinars contain valuable insight on addiction and mental health topics to share with colleagues, patients, family and friends.
They offer a wide range of on-demand webinars.
There are many more on-demand webinars on the Recovery Village Website. Go to the Recovery Village Website to browse all of the titles.

Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network (ATTC) Webinars

Evening of Lights 2021 Recap

This holiday season, the Village of Questa partnered with the Vida Del Norte community coalition to organize the Evening of Lights which was held on December 4 in the village town center. During the Evening of Lights there was a tree lighting, a Christmas Tree tour, music, food, local craft sellers, a light parade and Santa even made a jolly appearance.

During the days before the event, workers from the village, Vida Del Norte and volunteers spent the afternoons outside in what was thankfully glorious weather to string up lights and arrange decorations. The village staff lined up beautiful handmade farolitos/luminarias that were lit one by one before the Evening of Lights. Mayor Gallegos went out with workers from the village to choose the tree from the Questa forrest for the town center. Kit Carson Electric Cooperative graciously came out to string the lights on the tree. Valerie and Armando Vigil made a beautiful wooden sign with the word “Joy” on it outlined in lights with material that was generously donated by Questa Lumber & Hardware.

During the Evening of Lights, Santa sat by the tree to spend a little quality time with the kids and families of Questa. The joy sign illuminated next to Santa to make the scene even more cheerful for family photos. Vida Del Norte provided Santa with some brown bag treat sacks full of apples, oranges, peanuts and candy to hand out to the kids. Vida was even able to sneak in some brochures about the dangers of vaping and underage drinking into the snack sacks to help spread some information about preventing substance misuse for the holidays. The Granite company generously donated the candy for the sacks.

Wendy Medina and her daughter Alexandra Romero who own the local catering company called Evelyn's Treats made delicious green chili stew, pasole and biscochitos to give away. Valerie Vigil came from Rael's coffee to give out hot coco and Bubba's BBQ food truck was there all evening selling world class BBQ.

For the Christmas Tree Tour, the Questa Girl Scout Troop and The Alta Vista Elementary School Art teacher Ms. Maya MacDonald had all the kids grad's Pre-K to 6th make ornaments to hang on trees sponsored by local businesses. During the tour people who found their ornaments received prizes from the Village of Questa.

Before the tree was lit, Mayor Gallegos made a speech to thank everyone who participated in making the evening possible. Once the lights turned on, the scene came to life. Families got a chance to mingle and children got to play amongst the magical glow of the lights making all the hard work that went into the display very rewarding.

The Light Parade was lead by the Taos County Police and Questa Fire Department blaring their sirens and playing Christmas music. Many local businesses and community members volunteered to be in the parade, creating elaborate holiday floats, and spectacular light displays on their vehicles. It was impressive to see how much effort and attention to detail people put to transforming their vehicles into holiday works of art.

One of the best floats of the evening was on display after the parade outside of Rael's Coffee Shop. This float was a Nativity Scene that was made by the Denise and Edward Vigil in memory of Enriquetta Vigil. A photo of Enriquetta and her beautiful smile was illuminated in lights next to the nativity scene on the float reminding us that like Enriquetta, the hard work that we put into making our community a better place can make a difference and continue to inspire into the future.

Vida Del Norte and the Village of Questa want to thank all of the local businesses and volunteers who participated and made donations to make the Evening of Lights a special and memorable time for the holiday. Also, a special thanks to everyone who came out on the 4th to help spread cheer and a sense of pride in our Questa community.
Text taken from an article published in the January edition of the Questa Newspaper. Written by Rachel Kuc' - Download the January Edition of the Questa News

HELP PLAN THE SKATEPARK IN QUESTA

Members of the Questa community, including members of Vida Del Norte, Trouts Unlimited and the Village of Questa have been joining together in the planning process of building a skatepark in Questa and they need your help! Sign up for the Newsletter on the right to get notifications for the planning meetings so that you can attend.

The plan is to build the Questa Skatepark behind the Questa Youth and Family Center and the Questa Public Library.

The project is currently looking for design ideas and for building contractors to give bids.


This is a great video to watch for anyone interested in helping to plan the skatepark in Questa. It would be an especially great video to watch before going to the Questa Village Council Meeting on Tuesday, January 25 at 6pm!

If you want a skatepark in Questa please sign up below for this newsletter so that we can keep you informed about meetings and updates.

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Red Ribbon Week in Questa Recap – 2021

This year Vida Del Norte partnered up with other groups and helped to organize a truly memorable Red Ribbon Week in Questa. Through out the week the individuals involved in organizing Red Ribbon Week in Questa kept remarking that this was the best Red Ribbon Week yet.

Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. It began as a tribute to fallen DEA special agent Enrique Camerena in 1985. According to the United States DEA, Red Ribbon Week is the nation's largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program.[1]

Red Ribbon Week is a perfect time to celebrate how good it can be to live Drug Free and it is also a time to honor the people who have lost their lives because of drugs. This year in Questa, Red Ribbon Week was both a lot of fun and also a time to learn, reflect, honor and show support for one another.

Red Ribbon Week was kicked off this year with a speaker named Fabian Ramirez that Vida Del Norte invited to come speak on Monday, October 25 to the junior and high school students at Questa High School. Fabian Ramirez is an anti-bullying speaker and drug prevention specialist based out of Washington, DC. He speaks to students at schools across the country. He used his knack for storytelling to talk to Questa junior and high school students about his personal experiences with bullying and also talked about the dangers of using various kinds of drugs and alcohol. He intertwined his stories with facts and jokes which made his presentation as enjoyable as it was informative. He kept the students listening, learning and laughing through his entire presentation.

Fabian Ramirez told the students how valuable it can be to try to not just be “a student” in school but to strive to be “the student” that people notice and remember, that influences others and that people look up to. He also talked about how important it is for young people to have good adult role models who encourage them and remind them that they are important and have potential and that this is a great responsibility.

Vida Del Norte is able to share short excerpts of recorded video from his presentation. These can be viewed on YouTube here:

The next event that took place in Questa during Red Ribbon Week was a Candle Light Vigil on Wednesday, October 27. The vigil was organized by the Harvest Questa church and was held in the center of Questa. The vigil was a time for the community to come together to think about, remember and pray for those who suffer, have lost their lives because of substance misuse and also celebrate, honor and pray for those who are in recovery. Various members of the community spoke about the pain endured by themselves and their families because of losing a loved one because of substance misuse and also about the hardship of having a loved one who struggles with using. Others spoke out about positive changes they are experiencing in recovery. At the vigil, Pastor Peter Martinez and Pastor Gayle Martinez from the Living Word Ministries church in Questa let people know that Living Word has been hosting a Grief Share group on Wednesdays at 6pm and also a Cristian Recovery Program called “New Thirst” that is on Fridays at 6pm. Both of these groups are open to the community.

On Thursday, October 28, the National Guard Counterdrug Task Force was invited to land a helicopter in the Questa Elementary school parking lot. Other members of the task force brought a climbing wall and an inflatable obstacle course that they set up outside the school. The elementary school students were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes that day to remember to “spook the drugs away.” The students took turns challenging themselves by climbing the wall and going through the obstacle course. They also were invited to go inside the helicopter.
Vida Del Norte is extremely grateful to the National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the staff at the elementary school for helping to coordinate that day and for being such good role models to the students.

Here are some photos from the day that the National Guard visited the elementary school:

On Friday, October 29, Vida Del Norte participated in a Trunk or Treat event that was organized by the Village of Questa and took place in the parking lot by the village municipal buildings. It was great to see how many members of the community showed up to decorate their trunks and give out candy. It was also a lot of fun to see all families that came in their costumes to trick-or-treat. Vida Del Norte took the opportunity to spread a message about prevention by putting up pictures on their trunk that said “Say Boo to Drugs” and “Don't let Drugs Turn You into a Zombie.” During the Trunk-or-Treat event, volunteers for Vida Del Norte, William and Nancy Borges asked participants to sign cards to say thank you to our county law enforcement officers for all that they do to prevent substance misuse in our communities.
Here are some photos from the Trunk or Treat Event by the Village of Questa Municipal Building

Later on Friday evening, Vida Del Norte hosted a Halloween Teen Night that was very well attended. The good attendance at the teen nights is motivation for Vida Del Norte and other community groups to keep providing activities for the youth in Questa so that they have things to do that don't involve alcohol or drugs.
Here are some photos from the Halloween Teen Night:


Red Ribbon Week came to a close on Sunday, October 31 which was also the day that Harvest Questa and Living Word Ministries came together to host a Harvest Fest. This harvest fest had games, another trunk-or-treat event, pumpkin decorating, a bouncy house and other fun alcohol and drug free activities for the community.
Thank you to everyone who helped to organize activities for Red Ribbon Week and thank you to all of the students, families and other community members who participated this year. Thank you to everyone who shares how good drug free can be.

Winter and Holiday Events and Activities

Help Light up Questa for the Holidays


Share your holiday cheer with the whole community and help to brighten the Questa Spirit.

Adopt and decorate one of the 30 trees that are along the walking trail in the center of Questa across from the Saint Anthony Parish Center.
Come up with your own creative way to decorate your tree.
You provide the decorations.
Lights will need to be solar powered.

Photos of all the trees along with a short personal dedication or quote can also be sent to media@vidadelnorte to be featured in the January Edition of the Questa Newspaper.

Contact Lori Archuleta @ (575) 779-0906 or Maria Gonzalez @ (575) 779-2260 to adopt your tree.

Deadline to decorate trees is December 1.

If you want to purchase lights order them soon since the deadline to decorate your trees is December 1!

Find deals on solar Christmas Lights on Amazon

 

 

 


2021 Fall and Winter Events

Red Ribbon Week is a time to celebrate what it means to live drug free,  honor the individuals who promote a drug free lifestyle and fight against substance misuse as well as reflect on the struggle that so many people have faced because of substance misuse.
To find out more about Red Ribbon Week visit:
www.redribbon.org

Find out what is going on in the Questa area for Red Ribbon Week below!

Red Ribbon Week Activities in Questa!


Sunday October 24:

Active8 paint the town RED. Any youth interested in helping paint windows are more than welcome to help. Contact Maria Gonzalez for mor information

Monday October 25th:

DRESS UP DAY: “Sock it to drugs!” – Wear crazy socks

Fabien Ramirez with Top Youth Speakers will kick off Red Ribbon week by speaking to our Junior and Senior Highschool at 9:25am and 10:25 am

Begin Door Decorating Contest:

Classroom door decorating contest. Vida Del Norte is sponsoring a Door decorating contest and the door with the best drug free slogans and messages will get a pizza party or Ice cream Social. PreK-3 and 3-6 will be judged.

Tuesday October 26

Dress up Day: Team up against drugs” – Wear sports jerseys

Wednesday October 27:

Dress up Day: Don’t get mixed up in drugs” – Wear mismatched clothes

6:00-7:00 pm Candle Light Vigil in the Center of Town at the light, for those who suffer and have recovered from Substance misuse.

Thursday October 28:

Dress up Day: “SPOOK THE Drugs Away” Wear Costumes

DEA and National Guard will have a Helicopter and obstacle course at the elementary at 1:00 in the afternoon

Friday October 29:

Trunk or treat/Officer Appreciation at the Village 3-5

Teen Night Costume Party at Vida Del Norte Office 6:30-10 Ages 11-18







Upcoming Holiday / Winter Events - (Check back soon as this list may grow)



Vida Coalition Meetings:

Last Monday of Every Month

This month the Coalition Meeting will be on Monday, October 25th at 6 pm. This meeting will be held on Zoom.
Here is the Zoom link and ID for the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8578620293
or the Meeting ID: 857 862 0293

Light Up Questa! 2021 Holiday Fundraiser

Help Vida Del Norte and the Village of Questa Spread Holiday Cheer this Year - Donate and Participate to Light up the Village this Holiday Season!

Vida Del Norte and The Village of Questa are partnering together to light up Questa during the Holidays again this year. We would appreciate any volunteer help, Christmas Decoration donations such as lights but mostly we would really appreciate participation.
We would like for families to be able to adopt and decorate approximately 30 trees that are on 522 north of the light. They would need to be decorated with solar lights, if anyone is interested in adopting a tree please reach out to Maria Gonzalez at 575-779-2260 for more information.
We are also planning a Light Parade and would like for anyone who would like to decorate their vehicle and participate to contact either Maria Gonzalez at 575-779-2260 or Dina Coleman at 575-586-0694.
You can download the application to be in the Light Parade HERE.
You can either fill out the application and bring it to Dina Coleman at the Questa Municipal Office or email it to her at: dcoleman@villageofquesta.org

We are also currently working with the school district and local business to create a tree tour that will be in collaboration with the youth of our community and the local businesses. We look forward to a very festive Holiday season and we would like to see all our community participate in the festivities.

We need to do some fundraising to cover all of the expenses involved in lighting up Questa and decorating for the holidays.  If you are able to make a donation online please click the green donate button or contact Maria Gonzalez at at 575-779-2260 to donate cash or a check or if you have donations of lights or decorations.


 

 

 

Vida Del Norte Virtual Pumpkin Carving Contest 2021 – Carve Substance Misuse Out of Your Life

Carve out substance misuse from your life. Enter the Vida Del Norte Virtual Pumpkin Carving Contest

Instructions to enter:

Carve a pumpkin and take a picture of you with your pumpkin.

You can carve your pumpkin alone or in a group.

Upload your image and your name to one of the following locations:

  • Via Email: to media@vidadelnorte (use #CarveOutDrugs as the subject line
  • To Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (to be entered you need to post your image with the hashtags #CarveOutDrugs AND #VidaDelNorte so we can find your submissions.)
  • You can also share your pumpkins on the Vida Del Norte Facebook Page
  • Or upload your photos using the form below. Don't forget to type in your name and email and then hit the "upload file" button
  • Upload Photo Form ↓

    UPLOAD PHOTO

    PUMPKIN PHOTO SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT NOVEMBER 1

    Don't forget to vote for your favorite pumpkin! Visit this page again on November 3rd to November 8th to vote. All of the pumpkin photos will be posted by November 3rd so that you can vote on your favorite pumpkins. The Pumpkin Winners will be posted on Tuesday, November 9th.

    Vida Del Norte Coalition