Nashua School District Parent of Young Opioid User Currently in
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NH Youth Council reatment
‘Nashua against Heroin” Facebook page
In the future, we hope to expand the discussion by including other people on the front lines of the
anti-opioid struggle. Those in attendance at the first meeting suggested that a representatives
from St. Joseph’s Hospital and Dartmouth Hitchcock, a member of the Nashua Interfaith
Council, a “sober house” organization, the Chamber of Commerce, and an experienced
community outreach counselor should also be involved in the discussion. There is also a great
need for a person in recovery from substance use to be present at these meetings, as we cannot
possibly aim to reduce the opioid crisis in our city without having the survivors of this crises
share their experiences.
Prevention
The Task Force participants discussed the following issues concerning prevention of further
cases of opioid addition:
e The Nashua Prevention Coalition led by Janet Valuk is an organization that works on
youth substance abuse prevention in Nashua. They meet every first Wednesday of the
month at the United Way of Greater Nashua. Many of the organizations present at this
meeting, as well as many youth organizations, are a part of the coalition.
e The Nashua Public Health and Community Services Division has developed a strategic
plan for prevention through Substance Misuse Prevention Coordinator, Lisa Vasquez.
This plan will be disseminated to those in attendance at the meeting and discussed
moving forward.
e Outreach needs to be a key part of our prevention plan as a community. Nashua
Prevention Coalition offers excellent resources, and we can all help in distributing those
resources through outreach. There were many creative ideas put forth in the area of
outreach, particularly by Bobbie Bagley, of Rivier College and formerly on the Nashua
Public Health Department:
o holding small house gatherings to teach community members about prevention in
a comfortable environment
o Distributing literature to faith leaders, in barbershops, through the Boys and Girls
Club
o Using the human capacity of organizations like Rivier University, college
students seeking experiential learning can provide prevention education to schools
and community organizations
e Betsy Houde of the Nashua Youth Council has compiled a “What’s Your Message?”
Quiz for parents to learn about the example they set for their children. She can send
anyone the PDF file and they can print it to distribute to their organization.
Treatment
Treatment for people with a substance abuse disorder was a major topic of discussion at the
meeting. The following issues were discussed by the Task Force:
