This week on the PrevenTable, we’re talking with the Executive Director of one of St. Louis’s most well-known nonprofits: Kristin Wild from Operation Food Search! Kristin details the story of how OFS’s founder tracked down Roger Dierberg to offer help distributing his grocery store’s leftover food and got its start as a hunger relief organization. She also explains the importance of food insecurity awareness and highlights the need to reduce stigma toward people in need.

Addie Bond, Sherwood Forest Executive Director, sits down to discuss her organization’s mission to break the cycle of poverty for kids through a balance of camp activities and evidence-based programs. As a youth-development agency anchored in a summer camp, Sherwood Forest immerses kids in nature to create separation between their school lives and camp lives. And it works—100% of leadership training graduates go on to graduate from high school! Participants learn how to try new things and fail successfully, building resiliency skills that support their growth in all aspects of life.

Designing a campaign about a nuanced topic like cannabis isn’t simple. But Sam Agusti-Nuernberger, Strategy Director at Magnetize Agency, thrives on purpose-driven marketing. This week on the PrevenTable, Sam takes us through several processes Magnetize conducted to create our In the Weeds Campaign, including discovery, surveying, and messaging. She also reveals the answer to one our our most popular questions: why purple instead of green?

AJ Pickens, Executive Director at Community of Hope, shares her inspiring story of growing up as an unhoused teen mom who transformed her trauma into a full-scale organization that helps remove barriers for young mothers in St. Louis. She describes how her most painful experiences are what tied her to her greater purpose, what motivates her to build self-worth in girls, and the supportive community partnerships that make her work possible.

PreventEd Director of Education Kelly Wieser joins Nichole at the PrevenTable for a nuanced conversation on talking about cannabis with kids. She explains the importance of laying the foundation for future discussions of substance misuse, the success of consistent reinforcement, and how programs can be the difference for adolescents with a family history of substance use disorder.

A delicious $135 multi-course meal with NA beverages to pair? Sounds like a deal to us! This week on the PrevenTable, Executive Chef Max Bredenkoetter delves into his idea for Temperance Kitchen, a St. Louis pop-up series designed to support restaurant workers in recovery. Max explains the prevalence of substance misuse in the hospitality industry and reveals his biggest cooking inspirations in both chefs and ingredients.

“Don’t just talk about it, be about it.” It’s advice that Councilwoman Shalonda Webb lives by as an elected official in District 4 of Missouri. As our guest this week on the PrevenTable, Shalonda describes the challenges of balancing politics with a full work week as a software engineer at Boeing, the stigma of being an elected official, and her work to reduce the number of alcohol outlets in her district and limit open carry for minors.

Prevention Educator Emma Wilson is joined by Kaine, a Northwest High School senior, to talk with Nichole about the It’s Complicated program. With Emma running It’s Complicated and Kaine being a trainee, the pair give the inside scoop on the benefits of joining the program, the effectiveness of peer-to-peer learning, and the nuance needed in discussions about cannabis.

Dawn Price, founder and CEO of The Sophia Project, Inc., sits down with Nichole this week to discuss how her life's purpose is dedicated to the transformative journey of young women. Dawn shares how the name "Sophia" has a spiritual meaning that connects with her life's purpose and how her light bulb moment evolved into what she teaches today.

In case you haven’t heard, PreventEd is welcoming in a new Interim Executive Director next week! Get to know Jenny Armbruster on today’s episode of the #PrevenTable. Jenny shares how she got started in the prevention space and joined NCADA, the ways her and Nichole’s working partnership perfectly balances one other out, and the future of the PrevenTable podcast.

Angela Roberts, Director of Business Development at Sana Lake Recovery Center, joins this week’s PrevenTable with over 15 years of experience in the substance use field. Angela talks about the link between eating disorders and substance use disorder, the Members for Life program, and centering recovery programs around the idea of family and trust.

Our In the Weeds episode this week features Kristin Bengtson, Director of Community Services at PreventEd, and Lili Schliesser, Director of the All In Clayton Coalition. As experts in substance use prevention, they talk about the importance of decreasing accessibility of cannabis for adolescents and the function of stash bags, which allow parents to lock away their substances.

We have a triple threat of guests joining us for our #IntheWeeds episode this week: Courtney Hinton, Community Strategist III at PreventEd; Gerald Watson, Executive Director of Fresh Start Community Coalition; and Danyeal Crittenden of Lewis Place Coalition. With experience in substance use prevention, the trio discusses the generational differences in how cannabis is perceived, the ways that cannabis is depicted in media, and the importance of safe storage.

Alcohol freedom coach Allison Barber sits down with Nichole to share more about helping people navigate their drinking habits. Allison touches on the difficulty of breaking out of an alcohol-saturated culture, describes how she talks to her family about alcohol, and explains the lifestyle changes she made as a person who no longer drinks.

Associate Director of GuidEd, Presley Menendez, is our second #IntheWeeds guest as we navigate through the questions surrounding cannabis and its legalization in Missouri. Presley discusses her approaches to talking with adolescents about cannabis, ways to rebuild trust between kids and parents, and touches on guiding conversations with empathy and not judgment.

Tom Etling, President of PreventEd’s Board of Directors, sits down at the PrevenTable to talk more about his marketing expertise and time working with nonprofits. He shares how he helped PreventEd kickstart its rebrand and create the name we all know today, delves into changing misconceptions about people in need while at St. Patrick Center, and even chats about being an Eisenhower Fellow.

Welcome to In the Weeds, where we dig up answers to big questions about cannabis following its legalization in Missouri. Our very own Stacie Zellin kicks off the podcast this week to share more about PreventEd’s efforts to dispel cannabis myths and stay up-to-date on the most recent cannabis research. She provides insights into the opportunities and challenges that cannabis legalization brings, talks about PreventEd’s ethics trainings, and describes the importance of translating complex information into a digestible form for the public.

Huvona Watkins, Executive Director of Almost Home, is featured on the PrevenTable this week to discuss her organization’s work in assisting young moms with reaching self-sufficiency. She shares how Almost Home provides the stepping stones to end poverty two generations at a time, their goal to create a better life for children, and the different roles and responsibilities of moms that utilize their program.

Ann McCauley, Missouri Director of the Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Project with MU Extension, sits down with Nichole to discuss recovery friendly workplaces. Ann touches on the philosophy of putting the health and wellness of employees to the forefront of a company’s priorities, the designation process, and her efforts to shift perspectives surrounding hiring people in recovery.

The power couple of LGBTQ+ health is on the #PrevenTable this week! Ben Greene, a public speaker, advocate, and author joins us along with his wife, Samantha Levine, a medical and public health student. They share more about gender roles and norms in society, address drinking culture in LGBTQ+ spaces, and explain several social determinants of health that disproportionately impact queer folks. Plus, Ben talks about his book, "My Child is Trans, Now What?" which is coming soon!

Claire Wyneken and Allison Williams, former and current CEOs of the Wyman Center, join the PrevenTable to talk about their programs to empower teens to lead successful lives and build strong communities. They emphasize the importance of investing in partnerships, explain the Teen Connection Project, and describe how they have helped over 350,000 young people form meaningful connections in the community.

This week’s PrevenTable episode features Dr. Marty K. Casey and Renee Cunningham, Executive Director and Executive Assistant of UnGUN Institute. After both experiencing and witnessing the ways that unresolved trauma impacts people, Casey created UnGUN to help disarm trauma in individuals. The pair describe how to detect bodily signs of trauma and self preservation, highlight the power of role models, and share more about the company’s self care products that made it all the way to Los Angeles for the 2024 Oscars!

Podcaster Alex Kaiser joins us to explain the motive behind starting his podcast, “No Lions Here.” He bravely shares more about his journey as a person with a substance use disorder. Alex describes his process of seeking treatment, details how he fights against the stigma of substance misuse, and takes us through his belief that freedom for him means being open about his struggles without concern for judgment from others.

This week on the PrevenTable, Beth Elders, the Executive Director of the Greater St. Louis Chapter of the American Red Cross, shares more on her journey of working in disaster relief. A PreventEd Teen Institute participant as a high schooler, Beth comments on how she truly found her place in the program, discusses her experience moving from working for the church to the Red Cross, and opens up on how she stays calm in the face of disaster.

The PrevenTable is back for our Season 4 premiere featuring rocker and radio host Moon Valjean and his wife, Mallory, a life coach and entrepreneur! In this episode, the pair covers the highs and lows of the rock music world, including their decision to stop drinking. They also share more about connecting with other sober people through social media, trusting the process of establishing healthy habits, and learning to appreciate their accomplishments despite obstacles.