The San Benito Prevention Coalition will continue hosting its
Family Wellness Program sessions throughout March at two new
locations
– Marguerite Maze Middle School and the Hollister Plaza
Apartments.
The San Benito Prevention Coalition will continue hosting its Family Wellness Program sessions throughout March at two new locations – Marguerite Maze Middle School and the Hollister Plaza Apartments.
At Maze, the group will meet each Tuesday March 4 through April 8. At Hollister Plaza, the group will meet each Wednesday March 5 through April 9.
The program is designed to inform parents on ways to address sensitive issues with children such as drug abuse and sexual activity. At the meetings, trained facilitators discuss the best methods of communication.
“How do you discuss what drugs are a problem for kids?” is one example, according to Lucia Aguilar-Navarro, director of the prevention coalition.
“How can you discuss things without having an argument? How do you communicate in productive, noncombative ways?” she mentioned as other issues often brought up.
The San Benito Prevention Coalition is a federally funded program founded locally in 1999 to reduce substance abuse among youth. The program also sponsors Friday Night Live dances the second Friday of each month.
The Family Wellness Program is national, while San Benito County has offered it, funded by a federal grant, for slightly more than a year. Different subjects are addressed at each meeting including drugs, sex, alcohol and tobacco, Aguilar-Navarro said.
Facilitators at the meetings communicate in both English and Spanish. Aguilar-Navarro said mostly parents attend, although children 8 and older are also encouraged to come. The program offers child care at the sites for children under 8.
Aside from Aguilar-Navarro – the lone member of the paid staff – about 30 volunteers help the effort. She said the prevention coalition is always looking for more people because “the more people we have, the more work we can accomplish.”
For more information, call Aguilar-Navarro at 636-4382.
