The Prevention Leaders Podcast
How SAFE Project Is Strengthening What Protects Us
58 min
Guests: Ronna Yablonski, Adam Swift
Listen on SpotifySummary
This episode features Ronna Yablonski and Adam Swift from SAFE Project, who discuss the organization's comprehensive approach to substance misuse prevention. They emphasize that prevention is an ongoing, daily effort that involves individuals, families, and communities. The conversation highlights how SAFE Project strengthens protective factors before, during, and after a crisis, particularly for veterans.
Key takeaways
- Prevention is not a one-time event, but an everyday commitment involving multiple stakeholders including parents, educators, leaders, neighbors, and peers.
- SAFE Project focuses on strengthening protective factors to address substance misuse and mental health challenges.
- The military provides strong protective factors, but these supports may diminish after service, necessitating community intervention.
- Coalitions and communities play a vital role in providing ongoing prevention and support for veterans and others.
- SAFE Project offers various initiatives like SAFE Veterans, SAFE Communities, SAFE Campuses, and SAFE Workplaces to address substance use and mental health challenges.
Show notes
Prevention is not one day, one week, or one month, and this conversation with SAFE Project shows what it looks like when it is every day.
I sat down with Ronna Yablonski and Adam Swift as SAFE Project kicks off Prevention Month with the theme Prevention Matters: Together We Strengthen What Protects Us. We talk about what prevention looks like in practice, what is planned for October, and how parents, educators, leaders, neighbors, and peers can all play a part.
Ronna brings 23 years in the field, including two Drug-Free Communities coalitions. Adam brings 26 years in the Air Force and a personal reason for doing this work: he found a SAFE Veterans wellness workshop while he was struggling after retirement, and now he leads the program. Together they make the case that prevention reaches people before, during, and after a crisis.
You will hear why the military is full of protective factors, what happens to those supports when the uniform comes off, and what coalitions and communities can do about it. Press play and bring a pen.
Guest BiosRonna Yablonski is the senior director of prevention at SAFE Project. She has spent 23 years in substance use prevention and coalition development, and she describes her career in three words: connection, service, and growth.
Adam Swift is the director of SAFE Veterans at SAFE Project. He retired from the Air Force after 26 years of resilience work, went through the SAFE Veterans wellness workshop himself, and now helps bring it to veterans and their communities.
About SAFE ProjectSAFE Project is a national nonprofit working to save lives affected by substance use and mental health challenges, through overdose prevention and response, prevention and recovery programs, and work to reduce stigma. Its initiatives are SAFE Veterans, SAFE Communities, SAFE Campuses, and SAFE Workplaces.
Connect with SAFE Project:
- SAFE Project website: www.safeproject.us
- Prevention Month website page: https://www.safeproject.us/prevention-month/
- SAFE Veterans website page: https://www.safeproject.us/veterans/
- Prevention Perspectives webinars:
https://www.safeproject.us/webinars/
- Prevention Point Segments: https://www.safeproject.us/prevention/prevention-point/
- In-home medication disposal : https://www.safeproject.us/disposal/
- Opioid Overdose Response Training:
https://www.safeproject.us/prevention-month/#OORT-Train
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