TODAY is IAA’s Holiday Open House – Drop By Anytime 3pm-6pm

 

Today we invite you to drop by IAA's Holiday Open House any time between 3pm and 6pm at our newly-renovated office located at 621 S. Florida Avenue in Lakeland to celebrate our agency's 40th Anniversary! 

We'll share holiday treats, enjoy fellowship, and you'll have an opportunity to learn more about the free prevention education programs available in our community.

If you're not able to make it today and would like to support prevention of substance abuse in our community, please scan the QR code above, text IAA to 26989, or visit: https://www.inneractalliance.org/#donate

See You Later & Happy Holidays!

Join Us at the IAA Holiday Open House Tomorrow!

 

InnerAct Alliance invites the community to attend a Holiday Open House celebrating the agency's 40th Ruby Anniversary tomorrow, December 9, from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. The location is 621 South Florida Avenue in Lakeland. Please stop by to help us celebrate the holiday season and this special milestone and share holiday treats and fellowship.

For four decades, our agency's mission has been to encourage our community to strive for healthy choices such as prevention over intervention, positivity over scare tactic, and community investment over crisis management. The results speak for themselves in the thousands of students who have grown up making healthy choices because someone believed prevention could work.

If your means allow, please consider helping to empower the next 40 years of positive change - any gift, no matter the size - demonstrates that our community values prevention, supports youth leaders, and believes in the power of positive peer pressure. 

If you're not able to stop by tomorrow and would like to donate, please visit text IAA to 26989 or visit https://www.inneractalliance.org/#donate.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us since 1985 through donations to fund prevention programs, sponsoring or participating in the Annual Red Ribbon Run, gifted gently used formal wear to the Project Prom/Project Homecoming effort, or simply liked, commented, or shared our social media or blog posts. Your support makes everything we do possible, and we couldn’t have done it without you!

Holidays Are a Good Time to Talk to Your Kids

 

Alcohol is a part of many holiday traditions as folks enjoy a festive cocktail or toast in the New Year with friends and family. It is fine for adults who are drinking responsibly, but it is important to remember that children are careful observers of adult behavior. With this in mind, the holidays are a good time to talk with your children about drinking alcohol.

You want your children to be well-informed and that means knowing the risk of drinking alcohol long before they are tempted or faced with peer pressure. Tell them the facts and the dangerous effects of alcohol on their developing brain. 

Explain that the teen brain is still growing and changing until about age 24. Alcohol can cause permanent damage during this critical period of development. Repeated exposure to alcohol during adolescence can have long term negative effects on the brain, especially for mood and judgment. It could critically affect teens' ability to perform normal tasks, such as driving, doing math, and competing in sports.

Always remember that, as a parent, YOU play a major role in shaping your kids' attitude towards alcohol. Be firm that you don't want your child drinking AT ALL!

You Are Not Alone – Reach Out for Support

 

The Holiday season can be festive and full of joy, but around this time of year people may often experience stress, anxiety, pain, or loneliness. Try not to let yourself be defined by your past or by your challenges. Don't give up because inside, you are strong and still fighting. It's OKAY to feel your feelings.

Remember also to check in on your friends, loved ones, and others in your community - let them know they are not alone this season. Help is always available and healing is possible.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a great resource for support. SAMHSA leads public health and service delivery efforts to treat mental illness, prevent substance abuse and addiction, and offer treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring access and better outcomes for all.

Support is a click away
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help  

Be Aware of Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

 

We're quickly approaching the start of the Winter solstice, which takes place this year on Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 10:03am Eastern Time in the Northern Hemisphere. With the fallback time change from daylight savings time a few weeks ago, it has become dark earlier in the evening and temperatures are cooling down. Did you know that the shorter days and colder temperatures can bring on symptoms of a type of seasonal depression?

Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD, is a condition in which some people experience a significant mood change when the seasons change. Typically, SAD occurs during the fall and winter months when there's less sunlight and days are shorter. SAD usually lifts during the spring and summer months. Not everyone experiences the same symptoms, but many of them are listed on the graphic above.

SAD may be effectively treated with a specific type of light therapy. Antidepressant medicine and talk therapy may be helpful to reduce SAD symptoms for some people. Additionally, vitamin D supplements may also help.  

Learn more about seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and how to get help if you're experiencing symptoms this season at https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/seasonal-affective-disorder

10 Strategies to Help Teens Prevent Substance Abuse

 

Teen Drug Abuse is a pressing issue that raises concern among parents and health professionals.

During adolescence, the teen brain is still in the crucial stage of development making it vulnerable to the harmful effects of drug use. Scientific research has shown that the long-term consequences of teen drug use can cause severe impacts like deteriorating mental health, impaired cognitive functions, even problems with normal growth and delayed puberty.

Here are 10 strategies to help youth learn to resist peer pressure, abstain from drug use, and live a more balanced lifestyle:

*Resist peer pressure
*Refrain from substance use
*Seek professional help when needed
*Live a healthy, balanced lifestyle
*Foster strong family relationships
*Take time for self-care
*Learn healthy coping skills
*Educate on the dangers of drug use
*Take only prescribed medication
*Practice mindfulness activities

Strategies like these help teens learn to cope better in stressful situations, resist peer pressure, abstain from substance use, and live a healthy, balance lifestyle - that's what we want for all our kids!

Help Empower Youth to Make Healthy Choices

 

On this Giving Tuesday, your generosity can truly change the course of a young person's life. With 40 years of expertise providing services including science-based education in elementary, middle, and high schools, teen-driven social norms campaigns, informative presentations and family-oriented awareness events, InnerAct Alliance is encouraged by how well prevention works! 💪

When young people delay substance use until age 21 or older, their risk of developing addiction drops from 1 in 4 to 1 in 25. Your support fuels the education that helps families create those lifesaving delays.

Every gift matters! Please help empower resistance and resilience skills for students throughout Polk, Hardee, and Highlands counties to build confident leaders and create drug-free communities!

Make this Giving Tuesday count!

Text IAA to 26989 to donate or visit

https://www.inneractalliance.org/#donate