Successful Annual Prevention Summit Held on October 15, 2018

Own The Upside's Successful Annual Prevention Summit Held on October 15, 2018

InnerAct Alliance and the StandUP Polk Coalition, along with our sponsorship partners Publix Super Markets Charities, Florida Department of Health-Polk County, Tobacco Free Florida, and SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), were proud to host the 9^th Annual Own The Upside Prevention Summit on October, 15, 2018 at the Lake Eva Banquet Hall in Haines City, FL to inform the public about important issues facing our community.

Nearly 100 participants took part in the Annual Summit including school board personnel, law enforcement, prevention specialists, and concerned citizens to hear informative guest speakers share a realistic view of current youth culture, emerging drug trends, judicial updates, school safety, and human trafficking. A few photos from the Prevention Summit are attached.

Attendees also had an opportunity to experience an exciting new resource to educate parents of teens in our community, offered in partnership with the Polk County Sheriff’s Foundation. The “Own The Upside…Avoid the Downside” trailer is a mobile, interactive exhibit that houses a replica of a teens’ bedroom that parents can walk through to learn how to recognize clues signaling potential involvement in drugs and risky behaviors visible in plain sight or easily concealed in everyday items and seemingly ordinary belongings in the room.

Civic groups and organizations can support efforts to encourage healthy behaviors and reduce substance abuse by inviting an Own The Upside representative to visit with the “Own the Upside…Avoid the Downside” trailer and share an informative presentation.

Own The Upside is an initiative of the Drug Free Coalition partnership of Hardee, Highlands, and Polk counties in Florida founded on celebrating the positives! We often believe the discouraging news or negatives we hear and tend to forget there are some encouraging positives to celebrate what we call the “Upside.” Data collected through the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) reports that most kids don’t engage in risky behaviors. Attitudes about abuse are shaped well before children reach adulthood. Own The Upside believes we can positively impact children’s lives by supporting and investing in prevention programs and services that reduce access, identify risky behaviors, change community attitudes towards alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and empower youth to make positive healthy choices.

Please call 802-0777 or visit the OTUS website at https://www.owntheupsidepolk.com for additional information.