June is PRIDE Month
Pride Month is an annual celebration of the many contributions made by the LGBTQ+ community to history, society and cultures worldwide. In most places, Pride is celebrated throughout the month of June each year in commemoration of its roots in the Stonewall Riots of June 1969. However, in some areas—especially in the Southern Hemisphere—pride events occur at other times of the year.
National Prevention Week is May 7-13
National Prevention Week is May 7-13. National Prevention Week is a national public education platform showcasing the work of communities and organizations across the country dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of substance misuse prevention and positive mental health. www.samhsa.gov/prevention-week
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 22
February is Black History Month!
Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 – October 15
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed each year from September 15 to October 15. This year’s theme, “Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation,” encourages us to ensure that all voices are represented and welcomed to help build stronger communities and a stronger nation. During Hispanic Heritage Month, OMH will partner with other federal offices and stakeholders to disseminate and amplify bilingual educational messages about disease prevention and health promotion.
Learn more:
Preventing Suicide: Connections & Community
Suicide touches us all. Find connections and support through personal stories, creative expression, wellness activities and local resources.
Join us in-person or virtually for the Preventing Suicide: Connections & Community Forum.
Free events on September 21 and 29.
Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 18th!
Join the Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 18th!
The Juneteenth Celebration, presented by the Juneteenth Committee of Ventura County (JCVC), is taking place on Saturday, June 18 at Plaza Park in Oxnard. This holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that date in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, slaves were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.
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Empower Up! Mental Wellness Event for Teens & Young Adults
Join us for arts and stories in the courtyard – performance, inspiration and community connections.
In person or livestream!
Saturday, June 4th, 2022
11:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Oxnard Performing Arts Center
Register now at www.vcbh.org/empower
National Prevention Week
National Prevention Week (NPW) is a national public education platform bringing together communities and organizations to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and positive mental health.
Through National Prevention Week, people become more aware and able to recognize the signs of mental health and substance use disorders. Community members learn how they can help build community, strengthen resilience, and create hope to keep those around them healthy and safe.
Learn more:
NAMIWalks Your Way Ventura County - May 21
By joining or donating to our VCBH All Stars Team you are contributing to increasing awareness of and raising funds for mental health. United we are stronger and together we can help to build and serve a stronger community.
Please see the link to support our VCBH team.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day - April 30, 2022 – 10AM To 2PM
The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is a clear and present public health, public safety, and national security threat. DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day reflects DEA’s commitment to Americans’ safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.
In Ventura County, more than 200 people die each year from opioid overdoses. Prescription painkiller abuse, rising heroin use, fentanyl and accidental opioid overdoses are part of a nationwide crisis.
Ventura County is actively engaged and committed to preventing prescription drug misuse and abuse. One of the ways the County works to address the issue locally is by reducing access, especially to teens. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO), in collaboration with Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH), established a countywide Rx disposal program that allows residents to safely dispose of unused, unwanted, or expired Rx medication via secure, confidential disposal bins. Learn the signs of overdose and how to take action. Find Disposal Bin locations near you.
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September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
Spread Hope
“We can all help prevent suicide…All month, mental health advocates, prevention organizations, survivors, allies, and community members unite to promote suicide prevention awareness.”
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to raise awareness on this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. In addition to shifting public perception, we use this month to spread hope and vital information to people affected by suicide. Our goal is ensuring that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.
Learn more:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
For suicide prevention resources: www.WellnessEveryDay.org
Conversations About Suicide: Help & Hope – 6th Annual Forum
Suicide touches us all. Join us to hear personal stories and points of view. Learn about local resources and how to make a difference.
Thursday, September 23, 2021
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Register:
For suicide prevention resources: www.WellnessEveryDay.org
Community Outreach Event - Mary Star of the Sea Church Resource Fair
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Our Community Outreach team, Alma and Ignacio Ixta, attended the Mary Star of the Sea Church Resource Fair on August 21 & 22. It was great to see everyone in the community again!
NAMIWalks Your Way Ventura County 2021
Join us for a United Day of Hope
Our 2021 NAMIWalks event will be a little different than what you might expect from a walk event— while making a lot of difference. It’s going to be “your way,” meaning you choose what you want to do on event day. Our collective mental health needs are at their greatest now. One in three U.S. adults reported experiencing depression or anxiety since the pandemic began. NAMI’s programs and advocacy are needed more than ever, and with your help, we are pleased to present NAMIWalks Your Way on Saturday, May 22.
What is NAMIWalks Your Way?
On May 22, NAMIWalks will be a virtual experience, united with NAMIWalks across the country. NAMIWalks Your Way means instead of putting one foot in front of the other, you get to put one feat in front of the other: participants get to use their creativity, with the main rule that we continue to advance towards our goal by leaps and bounds. The choice is yours on how you want to make this spring’s event fit into this spring’s reality.
We will have two team captains from VCBH, Esperanza Mata and Vince Franco.
BRITE World Health Expo for Ventura County Youth and Families
BRITE World is a super fun and exciting virtual environment giving users the chance to interact authentically vs. traditional distance learning platforms. BRITE World is another option to provide prevention education, youth development programs and events to students. Participants-as-avatars are immersed in vibrant game-like landscapes and interact and learn just like in-person. Organized and hosted in collaboration with schools and youth-serving community organizations, the Health Expo provides diverse worlds and activities to explore. Using fantastical scenes as backdrops, the Health Expo is full of fun and engaging learning and prevention education activities.
The virtual Reality Party experience, adapted to BRITE World in lieu of the in-person live event, features multiple scenes depicting unsafe and risky behaviors that can happen in a house party situation. There are interactive items and characters with information on drinking games, party drugs, vaping, impaired driving, and recognizing the signs of drug use. You can find tips on keeping teens safe and ways to engage in meaningful conversations.
Learn more:
National Prevention Week – May 9-15
SAMHSA's National Prevention Week (NPW) is a public education platform that promotes prevention year-round through providing ideas, capacity building, tools, and resources to help individuals and communities make substance use prevention happen every day. NPW culminates in May recognizing the important work that has been done in communities throughout the year to inspire action and prevent substance use and mental disorders.
Each year around this observance, communities and organizations across the country come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and positive mental health.
Learn more:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
"Marijuana: What You Need to Know" Presentation
CVUSD's BreakThrough Student Assistance Program and The Conejo Schools Foundation gave a workshop for parents and students on Tuesday, March 23 on "Marijuana: What You Need to Know." Presentations were given by professionals from Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Ventura County Behavioral Health and the Thousand Oaks Police Department followed by a Q&A. This workshop was for all CVUSD Parents/Guardians and students 12 years of age and older.
See the presentation at https://youtu.be/EXkoaikkkVQ
Learn more:
Marijuana FactCheck
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® 2021
March 22-28, 2021
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® links students with scientists and other experts to counteract the myths about drugs and alcohol that teens get from the internet, social media, TV, movies, music, or from friends. It was launched in 2010 by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to stimulate educational events in communities so teens can learn what science has taught us about drug use and addiction.
Teens may be seeking coping mechanisms to handle the increased stress that has come with many changes and challenges in their daily lives. Teens also need resources to develop the necessary skills to make informed decisions about their health.
Learn more:
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week®
National Institute on Drug Abuse
https://teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-alcohol-facts-week
2021 Teens Kick Ash Virtual Conference
Teens Kick Ash is intended to develop the next generation of tobacco-free advocates. Through hands-on training and team-building activities, middle and high school students from all over Ventura County learn about e-products and other tobacco-related health risks. They do this while networking with peers on how to effect positive change in their own behavior, in their schools, and within their communities. The conference teaches students about nicotine addiction and the e-product and tobacco industry’s marketing strategies to attract young people.
Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE)
February 23 & 25, 2021
For information: www.vcoe.org/health/tka
Rx Drop-off Day - December 5
Drop off your unused and expired Rx Medications at the Oxnard Police Department's Rx Drop-Off Day on Saturday, December 5!
REGISTER NOW! - 5th Annual Preventing Suicide: Help & Hope Conference
Register for the 5th Annual Preventing Suicide: Help & Hope Conference, which will be held online Thursday, December 10 at 9am.
Keynote Speaker Pablo Campos from Active Minds will share his insights about struggling with depression and addiction – and his road from attempting suicide to recovery.
SAVE THE DATE - 5th Annual Preventing Suicide: Help & Hope Conference
SAVE THE DATE for the 5th Annual Preventing Suicide: Help & Hope Conference, which will be held online Thursday, December 10 at 9am.
Keynote Speaker Pablo Campos from Active Minds will share his insights about struggling with depression and addiction – and his road from attempting suicide to recovery. Registration coming soon!
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, October 24
Safe Medication Disposal
Ventura County is actively engaged and committed to preventing prescription drug misuse and abuse. One of the ways the county works to address the issue locally is by reducing access, especially to teens. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with Ventura County Behavioral Health established a countywide Rx disposal program that allows residents to safely dispose of unused, unwanted, or expired Rx medication via secure, confidential disposal bins.
The DEA’s Take Back Day provides an opportunity to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the public about the potential for abuse of medications.
Learn more:
National Recovery Month 2020
Strong communities make for strong recovery. Community members—including families, neighbors, employers, educators, charitable organizations, and faith-based institutions—are the backbone of communities that foster recovery among its residents. Research shows that peer support services can provide a valuable approach to guide individuals as they work to maintain recovery. Each September, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), sponsors National Recovery Month. This observance celebrates the millions of Americans who are in recovery from mental and substance use disorders, reminding us that treatment is effective and that people can and do recover. It also serves to help reduce the stigma and misconceptions that cloud public understanding of mental and substance use disorders, potentially discouraging others from seeking help.
The theme for 2020 National Recovery Month is Join the Voices for Recovery: Celebrating Connections.
Now in its 31st year, Recovery Month celebrates the gains made by those living in recovery. Assistant Secretary for Mental Health andSubstance Use, Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, delivers a message for the 31st anniversary of National Recovery Month. Watch the video →
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