The Gardner Community Action Team and the Health Equity Partnership of North Central Mass (CHNA9) are planning its 6th Annual Prevention Conference, to be held on October 21st from 9-12pm.
Prevention can be a broad term, so each year the planning committee decides to focus on a specific topic within the prevention field. In previous years we have shined a light on co-occurring disorders, mental health, trauma, and housing issues. This year we have decided to highlight local youth prevention and intervention programs and share the value of these programs with our SROs, school nurses, school-based coordinators, pediatricians, clinicians, coaches, school boards, youth court and probation officers, and other youth service providers. Traditionally we like to open the conference with a keynote speaker who can deliver a powerful message supporting the agenda of the conference. We are excited to present Tony Hoffman as the keynote speaker for this year’s conference.
Tony Hoffman is a former BMX Elite Pro and coached at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. He has presented on the prestigious TEDx stage, and his Goalcast video that went viral in February of 2020 has been viewed more than twelve million times. He is the Founder and Director of The Freewheel Project, a non-profit organization that mentors thousands of youth through action sports. Today, Tony is one of the most requested substance abuse speakers in the country, traveling over 200 days a year to share his inspiring story with various audiences. In his presentation, Tony elaborates on his early childhood, giving audiences a deep understanding of early childhood trauma and how substance use became a coping mechanism to help him escape the mental health struggles that trauma gave birth to. Tony believes every individual struggling with addiction has untreated trauma and the lack of knowledge on how to heal from this trauma creates the mental health struggle that causes an inevitable shift in behavior where substance use is the first effective coping mechanism the person finds. The unfortunate reality is the substances which are used as a coping mechanism also create the addictions that are destructive to not only themselves but eventually everything around them. This is depicted in the detailed stories Tony tells of his own life as addiction took over his ability to make healthy choices and his life spiraled out of control as a result.
We hope you can join us at this event, learn more about regional resources, programs and workshops our agencies and organizations have to offer to support our youth.
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