Community Caring Council to hold 18th annual conference at SEMO

The Community Caring Council will hold its 18th Annual Community Caring Conference March 23 at Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium in Dempster Hall.

This year's topic is "Alcohol and Substance Abuse Awareness: What's going on in our communities? Do you really know?" The conference will include a keynote speaker, two panel discussions by local professionals and other information about issues such as drug and alcohol abuse in the local community and the media's impact on youth.

"Substance abuse has become a significant issue in this area," said Tom Davisson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Community Caring Council. "Youth just can't get away from it."

The Alcohol & Drug Abuse Priority Issue Council, the Campus & Community Coalition for Change, and the Missouri Foundation for Health are collaborating to present the conference.

Along with addressing the problems of abuse, the purpose of the conference is also prevention."A lot of times people know that these things are going on in their community, but they don't know how it affects them," said Leah Shrum, a substance abuse prevention advocate at the Southeast Regional Support Center. "This conference will show them how they can be a part of prevention."

If the community doesn't intervene and advocate early prevention the result will be catastrophic problems among teens and adults in the community, said John Gary, executive director of the Gibson Recovery Center in Cape Girardeau."Drugs and alcohol kill people. It kills their future, their dreams and their families. We have to raise awareness and show the youth that they have a significant impact on our community and the future of our community."

The keynote speaker, Dr. Tim Crowley, is from Missouri Western State University and is a nationally known motivational speaker, psychotherapist and consultant. He has been involved in drug and alcohol prevention efforts with junior high, high school and college students for 20 years.

"We think he will be inspiring and bring a great message to our community," Davisson said.

Davisson said about 200 people participated in last year's conference. The conference will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the conference or to register, call the Community Caring Council at 651-3747 or visit their Web site www.communitycaringcouncil.org/conference.

lbertrand@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 134