The Northwestern Prevention Collaborative’s faith based symposium

On March 5, 2019, the Northwestern Prevention Collaborative (NPC), Shenandoah Valley’s first region-wide partnership in combatting the area’s opioid crisis, welcomed members of the area’s diverse religious community to learn about opioid and other drug use in the valley. 27 members of 12 different faith based organizations from the counties of Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page attended the educational event.

Cathy Tibbetts traveled from Luray to attend the symposium. When asked why she chose to attend the event she stated, “Part of being a person of faith is acting on what you believe in. Today gives us the opportunity to come together as a community to address the opioid crisis.”

Prevention Services Coordinator Shannon Urum from the Northwestern Community Services Board kick started the day by speaking on the relationship between mental health and substance abuse. Christa Shifflett, Executive Director of the Warren Coalition and NPC Lead, joined in on a discussion about Adverse Childhood Experiences. They stressed the importance of leading trauma informed communities due to the large impact multiple forms of adverse childhood experiences can have on numerous public health issues, including substance abuse.

Free materials available to community members to help store/dispose of medications.

The collaborative’s partnering organizations also shared information at the event. Shenandoah County’s Family Youth Initiative, the Page Alliance for Community Action, the Northwestern Community Services Board, and the Warren Coalition provided various supplies for attendees to share with their community. Attendees received timer caps, medicine lock boxes, and medication disposal bags to take home from the event to help prevent unwanted access to opiates. One lucky attendee also won a free copy of the book, “Cracked, Not Broken”, by Kevin Hines.

In the afternoon, clips from the documentary, “Pleasure Unknown”, explained the neuroscience of addiction. Casey Dwyer, from James Madison University, spoke to the audience about the stages of change and how faith based members can positively influence someone going through this process. Christa Shifflett finished the informative day by engaging the audience to reflect on anxiety, stress, and fear and how they relate to addiction.

Casey Dwyer speaks about the Stages of Change.

The Faith Based Symposium provided an outlet for members of various faith communities to collaborate and learn about drug misuse in the region. These leaders can now take what they have learned and apply it amongst their congregation in an effort to combat the crisis in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. A follow-up event is currently in the works, and the collaborative will happily provide trainings to any other congregations in the region who were unable to attend the event. For more information on what you can do visit: NWPrevention.org.