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Fourteen dedicated community leaders from across rural Washington have received vital support from the Prevent Coalition, thanks to a new scholarship program designed to strengthen youth mental health and substance use prevention efforts.
Launched in partnership with and made possible by funding from the Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health (SWACH) and the Washington State Department of Health (WADOH), the Prevention Training Scholarships provide up to $1,000 to help recipients attend prevention-focused trainings or earn professional certifications.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news.
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Approximately 120 youth leaders from across Southwest Washington gathered at the ESD 112 Conference Center in Vancouver, Washington, on December 11 for the annual Youth Advocacy Training. The high-energy, one-day event builds students’ skills and confidence to advocate for meaningful change in their schools and communities.
Coordinated by Prevent Coalition, in partnership with peer-led organizations, Teens for Tomorrow and Unite! Washougal Community Coalition, the training brought together students in grades 8–12 for a day of leadership development, public speaking workshops, collaborative games, and hands-on community engagement activities, all centered on empowering youth to create healthy, drug-free environments in their schools and communities.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news.
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Last fall, students from Skamania Elementary, Carson Elementary, Wind River Middle School, and Stevenson High School were invited to participate in the “Decorate a Yard Sign, Win a Prize” contest. Participants received blank yard signs to take home and decorate with any weatherproof materials of their choice, from markers and paint to yarn and collage. Along with the signs, they received something even more meaningful: informational resources to help parents discuss the risks of substance use with their children.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news.
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Angela Kruger, a Student Assistance Professional serving Goldendale Middle and High School, has been named a 2025 Youth Prevention Leader by the Washington State Health Care Authority as part of its annual Prevention Awards of Excellence.
This statewide recognition honors Angela’s exceptional leadership and dedication to promoting mental health and preventing substance use among students. Now in her fifth year serving Goldendale’s youth, Angela has shown a steadfast commitment to fostering student wellness through education, collaboration, and inclusive, data-driven prevention strategies.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news.
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More than 264 residents across Clark, Klickitat, and Cowlitz counties safely disposed of unwanted medications during a regional Drug Take-Back event held on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
The biannual event, organized by local prevention coalitions, law enforcement, and public health partners, offers a safe, secure, and environmentally friendly way for residents to dispose of unused medications and prevent misuse before it begins.
Read the full story at esd112.org/news.
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On October 13, the Prevent Coalition hosted the annual Principals’ Breakfast at Educational Service District 112 (ESD 112). The Principals’ Breakfast brings together Principals, Student Assistance Professionals, Prevention/Intervention Specialists, and Coalition Coordinators to support the vital work of student well-being and success.
After a keynote from Tim Merlino, Superintendent of ESD 112, Clark County Public Health representatives presented Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) data and led a discussion about how the information can be used to help strengthen student support systems. Conducted statewide since 1988, the HYS measures factors that affect youth health in Washington. The Healthy Youth Survey is the only source of population-level health and health-related data for adolescents in Southwest Washington.
“This data shares student voice, and it can be used to help schools direct prevention programming where it’s needed,” said David Hudson, Healthy Communities Programs Manager at Clark County Public Health. “We were honored to share findings from the Healthy Youth Survey at the event.”
Student members of the Goldendale High School (GHS) Prevention Club participated in the discussion to offer youth perspectives on student health. “I got involved in prevention because I want to help high school students change their habits,” said Jacy, a Goldendale High School (GHS) student and participant in the GHS Prevention Club. Through the GHS Prevention Club, Jacy helps to organize annual Red Ribbon Week and other prevention activities to encourage healthy choices at her school.
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Following the annual Principals' Breakfast, a free community resource event was held focused on youth, family, prevention, and mental wellness, bringing together resources from across Clark, Skamania, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Pacific, and Wahkiakum counties.
The event offered valuable opportunities to connect with local organizations and resources, explore prevention and mental health services, get a free professional headshot, network with others, and enjoy refreshments in a welcoming space.
The event featured booths from partners and programs such as:
Prevent Coalition is grateful to all of the vendors who participated! This event highlights how strong partnerships can contribute to the success and wellness of students across the region.
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Prevent Coalition is currently planning for their annual Elevate Youth Summit. The event welcomes youth from Clark, Skamania, or Klickitat Counties to participate in a day focused on youth leadership, empowerment, resilience, and substance use prevention, among other vital topics. The event aims to equip young participants with tools to create meaningful connections with peers and their school community.
Attendees will participate in a variety of interactive and engaging sessions, combining large group work with breakout activities facilitated by Xander Cook, Youth Engagement Coordinator with Unite! Washougal Coalition. While the event is designed for middle school-aged youth, high school students are encouraged to attend and can support younger participants through mentorship.
This year's Elevate Youth Summit is tentatively planned for second half of April 2026. An official event date and registration will be announced soon, along with an event webpage. Questions can be directed to Community Prevention Project Coordinator Paula Linden ([email protected]). A link to the event web page will be available soon on the Prevent Coalition home page. Don't miss this opportunity for youth to learn, connect, and develop essential skills for personal growth and community impact!
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New Prevention Manager
Prevent is excited to introduce Thalia Williams as our new Community Prevention Project Manager. Thalia Williams has spent nearly two decades working in public health and community engagement, with a focus on inclusive programming and youth substance use prevention. She’s contributed to a range of initiatives supporting youth and families, and has experience managing grants, coordinating events, and building partnerships across sectors. Thalia’s approach is rooted in collaboration, cultural awareness, and a genuine commitment to helping communities thrive.
Before joining ESD 112, Thalia served as Director of Programs at Pink Lemonade Project, where she oversaw the full lifecycle of mission-driven programming by strategizing, implementing, and evaluating workshops, trainings, and community events supporting individuals impacted by breast cancer. Under her leadership, participant engagement increased by nearly 40% through expanded visibility and strengthened partnerships.
Previously, as Director of Prevention Programs at Southwest Behavioral & Health Services, Thalia built and scaled prevention initiatives across six grants, developed trauma-informed educational programs, and cultivated enduring partnerships with community coalitions and organizations.
Thalia is excited to join ESD 112 where she will help advance the Prevent Coalition’s mission to connect and support communities in building resilience and preventing youth substance misuse. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunications.
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New Student Assistance Professionals
ESD 112 and Prevent Coalition welcomes three new prevention program staff to schools in southwest Washington:
Kristie McCarty, SAP, will provide prevention services for the Castle Rock School District and partner with the local community coalition, Castle Rock CARE, to collaborate on community prevention and wellness for youth.
Courtney Gross, SAP, will provide prevention services for the Stevenson/Carson School District and partner with the local community coalition, One Prevention Alliance (OPA).
Chrisine Olivera, SAP, will provide prevention services for Lyle School District three days a week and partner with the local community coalition, Klickitat/Lyle Against Substance Abuse Coalition (KLASAC).
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Prevent released their latest podcast, Season 3, Episode 2 - Bringing tech to the table: How AI and digital tools can support prevention. Prevent Coalition staff members Matthew Cox and Abigail Wells welcome Katherine Livick, Instructional Technology Coordinator for ESD 112, and engage in a roundtable discussion about AI and digital tools, provide some tips, talk about concerns, and answer some common questions. They also share some great digital resources - download the resource guide below!
Season 3:
All Prevent Coalition podcasts can be found at preventcoalition.podbean.com or on Google Podcasts, the Apple Podcast app and other familiar streaming services. Episodes are also archived at preventcoalition.org/events/news/.
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Southwest Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, February 11, 2026 10:00-11:30 a.m. Virtual Meeting Regular quarterly meeting for Southwest Regional Network Members.
Prevention Coordinators Meeting Thursday, March 12, 2026 1:00-2:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting Bimonthly meeting of Community Coalition Coordinators serving Southwest Washington.
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Our next newsletter, "Coalition Resources & Events" will be published in March! We will highlight new and existing prevention resources, provide information about upcoming prevention related events, and share links and downloadable content. If you are a subscriber to this newsletter, you will automatically receive the new publication. Future publications of our two newsletters will alternate approximately month-to-month.
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The Rural Network hosted two days of virtual presentations focused on sharing what rural communities are doing and how they are addressing the changes and challenges in rural prevention. On January 20th & 22nd, attendees were able to l earn directly from rural community members and trainers who are implementing effective rural strategies rooted in lived experience.
Day one began with keynote speaker Joe Neigel, Director of Prevention Services for Monroe School District, who presented "Connection in Chaos: The Heart of Prevention in Rural Communities". Day two kicked off with Crystal Collier, PhD, LPC-S, therapist, educator and author of Know Your Neuro, who presented, "Brain-based Prevention for Each Stage of Development". Additional presenters included Isaac Wulff, Sarah Meyers, Stephanie Morgareidge, Allison Ormsby, Amy Dunham, Jolynn Kenney, and Elizabeth Lester who facilitated a fascinating youth panel discussion. The honor of event emcee was artfully facilitated by Isaac Wulff.
If you attended the event - THANK YOU! We hope it left you feeling energized and ready to have a productive and successful year. The Rural Network is so grateful to the speakers and to the planning committee for everything they contributed to make the event a success!
All presentations are available for viewing on demand, along with the presentation slides. Visit preventcoalition.org/virtual-rural-summit_2026.
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We are looking for input on a title and tagline for the in-person Rural Prevention Conference happening this fall. You can help by answering the survey questions below!
Want to get involved with planning the 2026 Rural Conference? Join our workgroup! This workgroup gets to design theme, branding elements, choose activities that happen at the conference, agenda, speakers and more. The workgroup will meet on a rotating schedule based on volunteer availability each month. Contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]) for more information about the conference or joining the workgroup.
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| Choose your favorite Title for the 2026 Rural Conference |
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| Choose your favorite tagline for the 2026 Rural Conference |
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Monthly “Rural Network Meetings”
The full membership meets monthly on the last Tuesday of each month from 2pm-3:30pm. This meeting is meant to engage network members, build connections across isolated communities, provide training to members and bring in guest speakers. Meetings often include policy work including guest legislators who come to meet rural volunteers, plus community-of-practice style activities where members share their experiences with one another or tackle tough issues collaboratively. These meetings are usually held virtually and open to the public. Anyone is welcome to join! To learn more contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]).
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2026 Rural Conference Workgroup
This group just began meeting monthly to prepare, design and plan for the statewide gathering of rural prevention professionals which happens every 2 years, called the Rural Prevention Conference. Our second conference was completed in September 2024. The fall 2026 conference is planned for September 30-October 1st in Wenatchee, WA. This workgroup gets to design theme, branding elements, activities that happen at the conference, agenda, speakers and more. The workgroup will meet on a rotating schedule based on volunteer availability each month. Contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]) for more information about the conference or joining the workgroup.
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Book Club
Our book club is currently reading, "Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America," by Beth Macy. The Rural Network members will choose a new book to read (decided by members and based on a majority vote) once we finish this book. Interested in participating in the Spring? Have a good author or title to suggest for our next book? If you are interested, please reach out to Abigail Wells at [email protected].
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Member & Youth Engagement Committee
This committee is tasked with reflecting and brainstorming about member engagement. The committee will discuss recruiting for opportunities, barriers to Rural Network participation, strategies and activities to build capacity and membership across rural communities, as well as feedback received about participation. This year, we are prioritizing Youth Engagement and are meeting monthly to find ways to get youth more involved in the Rural Network. We hope to brainstorm ideas, research what already exists and what the needs are, and figure out a solution or two for making sure that youth can have their voices heard and participate in our statewide Rural Network in an effective and worthwhile way. If you are interested in being a part of this conversation and have some ideas on what this might look like, please reach out to Abigail Wells ([email protected]).
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Steering Committee
Our Steering Committee is our leadership team that guides the work of the Rural Network, reflects on action plan progress, plans monthly meeting agendas, and evaluates the progress and outcomes of the program. We’re looking for more members to guide the work and get involved to increase our capacity and keep the work sustained/strong. We meet monthly on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 9am-10:30am (PT) and are hoping to add 3-4 more members. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Abigail Wells ([email protected]).
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Affinity Group Workgroup
This workgroup changes throughout the year as we complete a project/need and move on to the next. We just finished up our first Affinity Group, and the topic was the Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) and finding ways to get more participation from admin, schools, and youth themselves (with a focus on rural communities). We developed a series of HYS Fact Sheets and tools for communities to utilize that dispel myths about HYS and encourage participation. We have begun to meet around our new topic, which is “Successful Strategies in Rural Communities (using the 7 Strategies for Community Change).” We have met a few times and plan to continue to meet monthly on a set, recurring date and time that is TBD. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Abigail Wells at [email protected].
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Office Hours
Our staff reserves an hour every month for people to gather and brainstorm, bounce ideas off one another, and receive support or Technical Assistance from our team. Sometimes you need a like-minded Coordinator to generate ideas, double check an action plan, troubleshoot a difficult sector representative, etc. We’re here to support you at these monthly time slots. Our current Office Hours takes place on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm-2pm, however, you can also reserve another time slot with us. Email Abigail Wells ([email protected]) or [email protected] to reserve this time with us.
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7 Core Principles Rural Network.pdf
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Download
1.1 MB
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Rural Network Steering Committee Meeting Wednesday, February 11, 2026 9:00-10:30 a.m. Virtual Meeting Help to Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate the RN workplan
Rural Network Office Hours Wednesday, February 11, 2026 1:00-2:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting
For Rural Network members to receive technical assistance
Rural Affinity Group - Successful Rural Strategies Thursday, February 19, 2026 10:00-11:00am Virtual Meeting Help develop a tool to capture statewide rural strategy ideas
Member & Youth Engagement Committee Meeting February Date & Time TBD Hybrid Meeting This year we are exploring ways to get youth involved!
Rural Conference Planning Committee Meeting Monday, February 23, 2026 11:00am-12:00pm Virtual Meeting Help plan the 2026 Rural Prevention Conference,
Equity Book Club Meeting Friday, February 27, 2026 1:00-2:00pm Virtual Meeting Discuss "Paper Girl" with rural colleagues,
Rural Network Meeting Tuesday, February 24, 2026 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting Regular monthly meeting for Rural Network Members.
Rural Network Steering Committee Meeting Wednesday, March 4, 2026 9:00-10:30 a.m. Virtual Meeting Help to Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate the RN workplan,
Rural Network Office Hours Wednesday, March 4, 2026 1-2 p.m. Virtual Meeting
For Rural Network members to receive technical assistance,
Rural Conference Planning Committee Meeting March Date & Time TBD Virtual Meeting Help plan the 2026 Rural Prevention Conference,
Equity Book Club Meeting March Date & Time TBD Virtual Meeting Discuss "Paper Girl" with rural colleagues
Rural Network Meeting Tuesday, March 31, 2026 2-3:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting Regular monthly meeting for Rural Network Members,
Join us! Learn more about the Rural Network, ask questions, and meet the coordinator. Everyone is welcome! Contact Abigail Wells ([email protected]) for meeting links.
All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST)
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Connection is the Best Prevention
Supported by fiscal agent ESD 112, Prevent Coalition is a regional coalition formed in 2003 to increase collaboration, awareness, and reduce youth substance use in Southwest Washington. Prevent Coalition also implements initiatives for rural communities across Washington state. As a community mobilizer, our coalition creates a culture promoting healthy choices; advocates for policies and regulations that protect, empower and nurture youth; and facilitates positive opportunities for youth to be involved and thrive.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.PreventCoalition.org
Location: 2500 NE 65th Ave., Vancouver, WA, USA
Phone: 360-952-3457
Facebook: Facebook.com/PreventCoalition
Twitter: @supportyouthnow
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Prevent Coalition
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