The old proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” has never held more true than in a time when our children are constantly facing drug-related issues. Find out where in your community you can go to join with other parents and concerned citizens who are all working towards the same goal: Drug-free neighborhoods for drug-free families.
Many state and local organizations exist to promote drug abuse prevention and to support families, but it is not possible to list them all. We recommend doing a keyword search such as “family support groups + drug abuse + [your state or city]” to find them. Or call your local or state government’s substance abuse office for recommendations. Below are some national organizations you can contact.
A sampling of national organizations:
Families Changing America is a national non-profit organization founded by a network of families who have lost loved ones to substance abuse. Their purpose in creating this organization and web site is to show how pervasive, insidious, and dangerous substance abuse is to families, friends and society, as well as to support and educate families to prevent more loss of lives. They are here to help by sharing vital information and providing valuable resources. http://www.familieschangingamerica.org/index.html
African American Parents for Drug Prevention, President, Bishopville, MD. AAPDP's Jacqueline P. Butler seeks to use African American culture to produce positive lifestyles by engaging families and communities in broad collaborative efforts to reestablish the "village" concept in African American institutions and neighborhoods. Jbutler4158@aol.com
The National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA) is a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to addressing the alcohol, tobacco and other drug issues of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations on the continental U.S., Hawaii, the six Pacific Island jurisdictions and elsewhere. Founded in 1988, NAPAFASA involves service providers, families and youth in efforts to reach API communities to promote health social justice and to reduce substance abuse and related problems. NAPAFASA is governed by a volunteer 33-member board of directors and has a national office in the Los Angeles. Its nationwide network consists of about 200 AAPI and human service organizations. http://www.napafasa.org
White Bison, Inc., is an American Indian non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Through White Bison, it's founder and president, Don Coyhis, Mohican Nation, has offered healing resources to Native America since 1988. White Bison offers sobriety, recovery, addictions prevention and wellness/Wellbriety learning resources to the Native American community nationwide. Wellbriety means to be sober and well. The "Well" part of Wellbriety is the inspiration to go on beyond sobriety and recovery, committing to a life of wellness and healing everyday. White Bison offers Wellbriety resources, Wellbriety conferences, specialized community training events, Wellbriety coalitions and the popular grassroots Firestarters circles of recovery groups across the nation. This web site contains many links to more localized programs and groups. http://www.whitebison.org
Al-Anon (which includes Alateen for younger members) has been offering hope and help to families and friends of alcoholics for 50 years. The same principles and techniques that apply to alcohol can also apply to drug use. Al-Anon/Alateen has over 24,000 meetings taking place in 115 countries in a host of languages. Use their site’s “meeting finder” feature to find one near you. http://www.al-anonfamilygroups.org/english.html
Electronic communities for parents:
http://www.theantidrug.com/community/Parent_topic.asp?id=1 On this site, which supports the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's national media campaign about drugs for both kids and parents, parents post messages with both queries and advice about their kids' behavior and/or drug use.
http://www.drugfree.org/Parent This site, maintained by the Partnership for a Drug Free America, exists to help parents connect with each other on the issue of teen drug use. It includes a forum within which parents can post queries or share ideas. It also profiles local grassroot parent organiztions and provides tools and other resources.
A sampling of state and local organizations that exist to help parents:
Californians for Drug-Free Youth (CADFY), Inc. is a statewide, non-profit organization working in collaboration with other agencies and organizations to bring parents, youth, schools and communities together to create and support safe and healthy communities. CADFY works at the local, state and national levels to influence policies that target illicit drug use and related problems, promote research-based prevention strategies and programs in communities, and create initiatives that support drug awareness and education. http://www.cadfy.org
Greenville Family Partnership, The mission of Greenville Family Partnership is to keep kids off tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other harmful substances by educating and partnering with families and communities.
Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is a broad-based, grass roots volunteer/parent organization. Informed Families serves as an education, training and support center for parents, schools and communities to help raise safe, healthy and drug-free children. http://www.gfpdrugfree.org
Hands Across Cultures Corporation, Harry Montoya, President (P. O. Box 2215, Espanola, NM 87532, 505-747-1889 (O), 505-747-1623 (F), Email: hacc@valornet.com). Hands Across Cultures is a private non-profit agency dedicated to creating community programs that demonstrate intercultural cooperation. Located in the Española Valley in Northern New Mexico, a region rich in cultural history and traditions, HACC strives to improve the well-being of youth in the community through family-centered, culturally relevant activities. Their programs focus mainly on youth in the Valley and are all drug, alcohol, and tobacco free events. Programming includes after-school programs at the elementary school level, programs for at-risk youth in area high schools, and a wide variety of events sponsored for youth and held at theHands Across Cultures Teen Center. Their La Vision del Valle Coalition is responsible for coordinating many of the events. http://www.HACC95.org
The Oregon Partnership is a statewide non-profit promoting healthy kids and communities through drug and alcohol awareness, prevention programs, and a 24-hour crisis line for treatment referrals. They work with parents, schools and community coalitions statewide, and their resource library is open to all to educate on the dangers of substance abuse. http://www.orpartnership.org/web/services/parentingforprevention.asp