Trauma Interventionist Workshop Helps Volunteers Help Kids With the Truth About Drugs

A team of volunteers from Foundation for a Drug-Free World and Bridge Publications trained interventionists from the nonprofit Soledad Enrichment Action to help them get through to kids with the truth about drugs.

With California opioid deaths increasing 121 percent in three years and crime on the rise, the Trauma Prevention Initiative of Soledad Enrichment Action teamed up with volunteers from the local chapter of Foundation for a  Drug-Free World and Bridge Publications for a drug prevention training workshop to empower them to give drug education lectures to thousands of children in East Los Angeles.

A crime occurs every 90 minutes in East L.A. And there is an intimate connection between drug abuse and crime. Anyone working to reduce crime and violence knows it is a very tough job. But these interventionists are up to the challenge. The group works with at-risk teenagers, young adults and their families to help youth choose honest and productive lifestyles.

The leader of the Trauma Prevention Initiative, Michael Villalobos, has worked extensively with families broken by violence and is well acquainted with the relationship between drug abuse and crime. Villalobos and his team set a target to educate children in East L.A. about the harmful effects of drugs. But they were missing the tools to do so.

 

Learning about their interest in educating youth on this subject, volunteers from Bridge Publications met with Villalobos to present him tools for this vital work.

Bridge Publications publishes the nonfiction works of author, humanitarian and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. A corps of Bridge staff also volunteer in projects to help the community, including working to curb drug abuse by providing information about the harmful effects of drugs.

In his research, which he described in the book Clear Body, Clear Mind,  Mr. Hubbard established “a link between drugs and increasing difficulties with crime, failing productivity and the modern breakdown of social and industrial culture."

Bridge organized and helped deliver training on the Truth About Drugs program with the local chapter of Foundation for a Drug-Free World to Villalobos’ core team. 

“The training was excellent and really informative,” said Villalobos. “Now the team has a great toolbox to help the community tackle this urgent issue.”

Armed with this knowledge and their Truth About Drugs educator kits, Trauma Prevention Initiative members are eager to impart this factual information about drugs to youth throughout East Los Angeles.

Soledad Enrichment Action (SEA) was formed in the summer of 1972 by a group of mothers whose families were affected by violence. They met regularly in the basement of Our Lady of Soledad Church, from which they took their name, to search for ways to protect their children from early, senseless deaths. The nonprofit organization engages parents, youth, law enforcement, elected officials, and gang members to bring peace and reduce violence in their communities by providing guidance, resources and support to empower youth, families, and communities in underserved areas to become self-determined, contributing members of society.

Foundation for a Drug-Dree World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. For more information, watch the award-winning The Truth About Drugs videos and feature-length documentary, download or order booklets, or take the free online drug education courses on the website of Foundation for a Drug-Free World at www.drugfreeworld.org. 

For more information on Bridge Publications Inc., watch an episode of Inside Scientology, on the Scientology Network, available in 17 languages on DIRECTV Channel 320, DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T U-verse and streaming at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.

To join Bridge Publications on future outreach events to benefit the community, contact Lucia Winther at 

(323) 888-6200 or lwinther@bridgepub.com.