CADCA is an international membership organization representing more than 5,000 community anti-drug coalitions in the United States and abroad. The national conference attracts over 3,000 attendees, and will feature training from top experts in the field.
Angie Saunders (PEP director), Tabetha Blevins (PEP deputy director), and PEP student leaders and trainees were chosen to present their workshop, “Empowering Youth to Change the World of Prevention,” after completing a highly competitive selection process that included applications from all over the nation. Saunders and Blevins will present on the key to successful comprehensive prevention with youth, the levels of PEP’s Youth Empowerment Model, and prevention strategies PEP uses. The four youth leaders and youth workforce development trainees (Brooklyn Johnson, Alli Chapman, Alexandra Biddle and J.R. Ash) will present on some of the successful prevention projects of which they have been a part, and share how PEP has positively affected their lives.
“It is such an honor for PEP to be chosen to present at SAMHSA’s National Prevention Day,” Saunders said. “We are very proud of the work we do in our community to empower youth to change their communities and we are excited to share our success and our youth with other coalitions across the nation.”
PEP is a collaborative committee of community-based organizations that partner together to increase access to prevention services for youth and families in Cabell County and surrounding areas. It acts as the overall prevention steering coalition for all non-duplicated substance use prevention.
To learn more about PEP visit https://pepwv.org/.
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Youth participants include:
Brooklyn Johnson
PEP Youth Trainee
Brooklyn Johnson is a fourth-year member of the PEP, this year being her first year as a trainee. She will be a freshman at Marshall University. She wants to play an active role in prevention because She wishes to erase the association of drug use in relation to recreation and fun among youth.
Alli Chapman
PEP Youth Trainee
Alli Chapman is a freshman at Marshall University. She is a first-year PEP trainee. She enjoys martial arts and volunteering in her church’s nursery. She wants to help educate the local youth on frequent substance misuse’s true physical and emotional effects.
Alexandra Biddle
PEP Youth Leader
Alexandra Biddle is a senior at Huntington High School. She enjoys participating in tennis; speech and debate; theater; and her youth group. As a first-year PEP leader, she hopes to actively work against the normalization of teen substance misuse and create change in her community.
J.R. Ash
PEP Youth Leader
J.R. Ash is a sophomore at Cabell Midland High School, and third-year PEP youth leader. He is a part of the Cabell Midland Knights Front Ensemble. Along with music, he has a huge passion for substance prevention in his community, state, country and world.
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Note to Media: Link for images of participants – https://livemarshall-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/davis220_marshall_edu/Eus1Ogl18u1NlbHUlbgzsW8BLq2KTWgi_KayFgUd3L7DtQ?e=qCh1SG