EmPoWER Somerset Hosts Successful Prevention Forum

EmPoWER Somerset Press Release:

Branchburg, NJ, April 28, 2010: To kick off Somerset’s Initiative for Partying Safely (SIPS), an initiative to address harmful consequences of alcohol use among 18-25 year olds, EmPoWER Somerset offered the Somerset’s Initiative for Partying Safely (SIPS) / Healthy Options for Prevention and Education (HOPE) Community Forum on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC). The event raised awareness and educated the community about the consequences of drinking and driving. The event sponsors included EmPoWER Somerset, Courier News/Home News Tribune/MyCentralJersey.com, and RVCC.

Over 300 people attended the event, including students, teachers, parents, community leaders, law enforcement officials, and social service professionals. Prior to the start of the event, attendees were able to obtain information about SIPSNATION.com, a website created by and for 18-25 year olds to learn about safe partying behaviors, implemented by EmPoWER Somerset. Free SIPSNATION t-shirts were also distributed to young adults who by completed a pre and post assessment through visiting alcohol education stations. The alcohol education stations were available courtesy of UMDNJ University Hospital-NorthSTAR.

Sharon Lutz, executive director of EmPoWER Somerset, opened the forum and shared a personal story about attending a funeral 20 years ago of a college classmate who made the decision to binge drink at a party, adding “no parent, student, or school should have to go through the loss of someone’s life because of one bad decision.” Lutz addressed the students in the audience saying “You can make good decisions, and still have fun. We are here to help you to have fun and make healthy decisions.”

Paul Grzella, general manager/editor of the Courier News/Home News Tribune and the event’s panel moderator emphasized to the audience that “[the consequences of drinking and driving] is an important issue that needs to be shared, explored, and talked about and not thought of as a problem that does not exist.” Grzella talked about a voice mail he received from a woman whose eighteen-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver on his way back from school 27 years ago, and that pain still exists today as she was crying in her message. “This is a pain that is avoidable,” said Grzella, “the discussions this evening are aimed to try to start the conversation to address the problem that we have.”

The New Jersey Department of Corrections presented the Project P.R.I.D.E. program, which brought Eavan and Reggie, two minimum security offenders from NJ correctional facilities to talk about the results that drugs and alcohol had on their lives. Eavan, a 23 year old student athlete that received a scholarship to college, because of a “split-second” decision, is now serving a 5-year sentence. At age 10, Eavan buried her feelings of her father’s death and soon after started smoking and drinking which led her to drug use. One day in 2006, Eavan got behind the wheel with her friend after drinking, crashed her car and killed her friend. “Now I am faced with taking someone’s life, a mother and father no longer has a son because of me,” Eavan said, “A lot of people lost a friend and a family member that day, and that is my fault, my responsibility.” Eavan continued, “Now I have to live with that every day for the rest of my life.”

Reggie, 23, came from a good two parent home that taught him to be respectful, to be productive, to be a good member of the society, and instilled within him morals, values, and principles. Due to peer pressure, Reggie started breaking the law, drinking, and using drugs. In 2005, Reggie robbed 4 people and never made it home that night because he has been incarcerated ever since. “I missed my daughter’s birth, her first words, her first step, every birthday, every Christmas, every holiday,” Reggie said, “I robbed her of a relationship with her father, I robbed my father and mother the opportunity to have their son.” Reggie continued, “More importantly, I robbed four people that night of the right to live a normal life, they may never ever get over what I did, and never forget it, and there’s no way that I could take that back.”

George Pizzo spoke about the loss of his daughter, Amber who was struck by a drunk driver when walking back from a fireworks event. “We all think we are invincible until we make that one bad decision,” said Pizzo. “My life forever changed,” said Pizzo after the loss of Amber. Pizzo established the Amber Pizzo Memorial Foundation in memory of his daughter to spread awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. “The only thing that keeps any of you, any of us, from part of that prison population that should not be there, is that one bad decision.” Pizzo continued, “I want you to commit to yourself, to everyone, to your family that you will not get behind the wheel if you drink. It has to become a lifestyle. You have to make a commitment to yourself; I am not going to drive because I am not prepared to face the consequences.”

The forum included two question and answer panels consisted of young adults and professionals. The professional panel included Somerset County prosecutor Wayne Forrest, UMDNJ University Hospital NorthSTAR Air Medical coordinator Terry Hoben, EmPoWER Somerset executive director Sharon Lutz, Somerset County Alcohol & Drug Abuse coordinator/IDRC director Brenda Pateman, Somerset Treatment Services executive director Barbara Schlichting, and RVCC counselor/HOPE project director Bruce Yellin. The young adult panel included students from Daytop NJ, RVCC, and Project P.R.I.D.E.

Young adults on the panel answered audience questions openly about their personal experiences with alcohol and drug abuse and their road to recovery. “A lot of kids end up using and being addicted because there’s something going on that you don’t see,” said Kevin from RVCC. Young adults on the panel reiterated the importance of parental involvement and the positive influence it has in their children’s lives.

Morning show radio personality John Bell encouraged the audience to teach young people coping skills. “We have a generation of people that do not know how to cope with the pressures of our time,” said Bell, “Make our children responsible for their actions the moment they can tell right from wrong.”

EmPoWER Somerset director of operations Anthony Ferrera closed the event by speaking about the successful turnout of the forum, the collaborative efforts of the community with SIPS through the SIPS Community Advisory Panel (CAP) and its sub-teams in the areas of education, faith based community, law enforcement agencies, local government and liquor establishments, and the development of SIPSNATION.com by young adults. Ferrera advised parents in the audience to, “listen to these kids, they are a lot smarter than you, they know what’s going on, so don’t bury your heads in the sand.” Ferrera said, “this is the beginning of SIPS, there will be ongoing efforts working with the community, SIPS CAP and sub-teams on implementing future community projects and activities.”

Click here to view forum photos.