Winooski Partnership for Prevention uses community- based efforts to combat youth substance abuse
Winooski Partnership for Prevention’s mission is to “prevent substance use by educating and empowering Winooski.”
State surveys show that drug and alcohol use among Vermont teens has increased. A Winooski nonprofit wants to help combat that trend — especially in schools.
Focusing on Chittenden County, Winooski Partnership for Prevention aims to curb underage substance abuse by working with students, parents, schools, government officials, and other stakeholders to educate the public and implement creative solutions.
The organization’s Executive Director, Kate Nugent, believes a supportive and accepting community facilitates prevention work. Building relationships among students is key.
“The biggest thing you can do is have a relationship with the students,” Nugent said. “That's where the real learning comes from.”
The nonprofit lobbies for stricter rules on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana marketing and for boosting the number of local smoke-free zones. It hosts afterschool and summer programs for youth.
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows that Vermont has one of the highest percentages of illegal drug use in the country, and adults aren’t the only ones contributing to that statistic.
Adolescents in grades six through 12 regularly participate in underage drinking, tobacco consumption, marijuana use, and prescription drug misuse, according to the 2019 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
According to the survey results, marijuana use among Vermont high schoolers increased from 24% in 2017 to 27% in 2019; one in five middle schoolers has tried alcohol; and the percentage of middle and high schoolers who use or have used vape products has jumped, with current use doubling between 2017 and 2019.
The data encouraged the Winooski group to expand their programming to do more in Winooski and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Lukas Zweeres, a Winooski High School senior and Winooski Partnership for Prevention youth board member, admires the nonprofit’s methods and how it has helped students in schools.
“A lot of people don't like substance prevention because they feel like it’s shoving propaganda,” Zweeres said. “[As] opposed to the kind of strategy we're using by focusing on the community.”
He said that by providing free meals through a take-out dinner series and hosting clean-up days in the city, students and Winooski residents could become more connected to each other and their community.
“This is like where the community walks, and this is where the community interacts, and this is where they are,” said Zweeres. “To see that cleaner and healthier landscape, it felt great.”
Additionally, the group hopes to contribute to the prevention curriculum in Winooski schools through a new website, VT SUPER, short for Vermont Substance Use Prevention Educational Resource. The website will offer students and teachers activity plans, articles, games, and more.
Without many directives from the state Agency of Education, Nugent believes students need to take initiative with the resources they have. The goal of the pilot website is to make those resources easier for educators to provide.
To learn more about Winooski Partnership for Prevention, visit their website: https://winooskiprevention.org/.