Hi, CV!

Please remember to clean out your medicine cabinet this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for safe and anonymous disposal courtesy of the DEA, Glendale police and CV sheriffs. And us. Drop-off sites include CVS Montrose, Rite Aid La Crescenta and La Cañada, and the CV Sheriff’s Station at 4554 Briggs Ave.

Our website is back! Hallelujah. Knock wood.

We held our Strategic Partners meeting in Sadler Hall at  St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church on Friday morning. It was the last meeting of our fiscal year. It was a fitting venue because when I started working for CVDAPC, pre-CV Alliance, they were supporting the founding of the Fire House, the site of our youth sector’s meetings. Five years later the Fire House Youth Center stands as a popular hang out and place for youth innovation.

It was also fitting because we made the announcement that our grant was not renewed by the federal government and governmental funding ends on Sept. 29. We don’t know why we weren’t selected.  We have a few guesses. All of the news releases put out by the government cite prescription drugs and heroin abuse as primary problems in the nation. While CV Alliance may have started in response to a heroin problem, five years later we were unable to document that this problem exists. It very well may, but we couldn’t prove it anymore.

What we could prove is that young people get alcohol at home, in your home,  or through friends. We also have higher e-cigarettes, vapes, and hookah usage than the national average. And, with the legalization of marijuana and increase in states adopting medical marijuana, we have to hit hard with the message weed isn’t good for teens and their developing brains.

With important work to be done – and let’s not forget addressing related issues like cutting, suicidal thoughts and the negative impacts of social media – we are not going anywhere.

We’re going to ask for your support. Please visit our website if the need to donate strikes you. We really appreciate any ideas you may have as our board presses on.

Suzy Jacobs, Executive Director,
CV Alliance

3516 N. Verdugo Road

Glendale, CA 91208 (818) 646-7867
cv-alliance.org/