Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a diverse group of dedicated community members united around the goal of reducing substance use in Lenawee County. LSAPC members work collaboratively to engage and educate the community in order to promote a healthy Lenawee.
Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams. And with me on tonight’s program is Amanda Olguin. And Amanda is the Director of Youth Prevention and Outreach at the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee. Amanda, we’re going to be talking about a fairly new program that you have going on there, correct?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, the Transitions Program, which is… we’re going into our second year actually, of the program.
Kathy Williams: And, tell our listeners then what’s all involved in the program: Is there age brackets? How’s that work?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, so our Transitions Program is a State Opioid Response Grant-funded program through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. And through that program, we provide substance use prevention to teens ages 13 to 19 throughout Lenawee County.
Kathy Williams: So, I know you have the club in Adrian, you have other locations then?
Amanda Olguin: So, we have the club in Adrian, and then we do have a club in Hudson as well.
Kathy Williams: Okay. Do kids come from all the other areas though then to the Adrian club for different events and such?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, so we’re open to anyone. Any students throughout Lenawee County can come to any of our clubs or both of our locations.
Kathy Williams: So, Amanda, for the Transitions Program itself then, what kind of materials are you using? What’s the direction of the instructions for that?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, so we use a program called Life Skills Training. And in that program, we use social-emotional skills and we build life skills. So we go through six different units. We teach students goal setting, we do effective communication, stress management, relationship building, budget, and time management. So, those are just a few of the skills we go over. So we’re really setting them up for success later in life.
Kathy Williams: Okay. So, and that is an important part of you know, steering kids away from drug use of course, is to empower them with better tools, I guess you could say, or just a better attitude about their lives, basically.
Amanda Olguin: Absolutely. We know, just looking at research that it’s really important that we’re building up protective factors for these kids. So they’re going into life and they have these skills to manage life, really.
Kathy Williams: Right, right.
Amanda Olguin: And the stresses that come along with it. So, we’re building those skills and giving them protective factors to reduce their risk of becoming addicted to substances.
Kathy Williams: Well, and I would think that with all the extra stress of the last couple years with the shutdowns and everything, that these kind of tools probably even come into play even more than before, because they’re actually learning how to live differently in their everyday lives right now.
Amanda Olguin: Absolutely. I mean, kids are really stressed right now. It’s been a stressful time for adults and especially kids who haven’t been able to socially interact the way they are used to. So yes, these… this class can help a lot with just helping them manage the stresses they’re experiencing right now.
Kathy Williams: Well, and the Boys and Girls Club offers a good side-by-side I would maybe say, as far as, counseling, peer advocacy, that kind of stuff.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a great place where they can come connect with their peers. We have really positive adult role models at the club that they can connect with. And having those adults in youth’s lives is really important. We run different programs, so we’re helping build their confidence, and their self-esteem, and leadership skills, giving homework help, so…
Kathy Williams: That’s what I was going to say: extra tutoring assistance and such too.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, extra tutoring. So, we have a lot of different programs we run for students.
Kathy Williams: Well it’s a great place for kids to go. Do they go just after school?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, it’s after school so we are open after school: 2:45 until 7:00 PM.
Kathy Williams: Okay, and that’s got to help with taking a little bit of those stressors also off the parents, that they know their kids are in a safe place, a safe environment, and that they are getting their schoolwork done or, you know, that kind of thing. So the parent, you know, kind of, doesn’t have to worry about that quite as much.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, absolutely. We give them a place for their kids to go instead of going home or going who knows where after school, right?
Kathy Williams: Yeah, who knows where. Right.
Amanda Olguin: We give them a nice, safe place to go. They get a meal, so we do feed them dinner. So, we send them home, hopefully happy and fed.
Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, and that’s important because if kids aren’t fed, they can’t, they don’t learn.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah.
Kathy Williams: They’re distracted by hunger.
Amanda Olguin: Absolutely.
Kathy Williams: That’s one of the things that I know we have some great organizations in our county that are all trying to alleviate hunger and make sure that our students are fed. Especially during the, you know, the different school breaks and such trying to send snacks home on weekends and all that kind of stuff.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, absolutely. And we certainly try to do that too. We have food that we can send home on the weekend for any kids that need it, and half days we provide them lunch and dinner. So we make sure they’re taken care of.
Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, Amanda, if our listeners are interested in finding out more about the Transitions Program or even how they could be involved in the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee, how can they do that?
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, so you can call us at (517) 266-9775. You can email me about the Transitions Program: aolguin@bgclenawee.org. Or you can find us on Facebook @BoysAndGirlsClubOfLenawee.
Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, thanks so much. And Amanda, we appreciate you talking with us about the Boys and Girls Club and their Transitions Program.
Amanda Olguin: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Woman’s Voice: Thank you for listening. This information has been provided by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. New messages air on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the audio tab on WLEN.com and listen and gather more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.
