Every Person. Every Community. Prevention Together – It Matters!
Prevention saves lives. That’s why we are SAFE Project use proven prevention strategies in all we do, going beyond a simple “Just Say No” message and focusing on a full approach: preventing issues before they start, responding early when concerns appear, and reducing harm and improving quality of life.
Every October during Prevention Month, we hope to empower action and inspire ways to prioritize and integrate prevention into every life. Together, we can strengthen the life-changing impact of consistent, ongoing prevention education, skill-building, and support.
Take Action
Prevention matters now more than ever. Each of us can step forward to help build healthier, stronger communities and families.
End Stigma, Join the No Shame Movement: Sign the No Shame Pledge today!
Gain knowledge and skills through our Prevention Webinar series. Explore how to champion healthy relationships and protective factors.
Prevention Matters: Take our Opioid Overdose Response Training on October 29th!
Learn prevention basics with our Prevention Point Segments.
Practice and learn safe In-Home Medication Disposal.
Prevention Month Webinars
Building Health-Promoting Relationships
September 30 • 12:00 PM ET
Prevention Month starts early this year as we explore ways to proactively address mental and behavioral health risks and foster protective factors through our “Building Health-Promoting Relationships” webinar. Join us as we explore the science behind connection and examine relationships with four strategies that comprise a “way of being” with others. Participants will have an opportunity to identify specific areas for growth.
Register for Webinar
Webinar – Prevention – Building Health-Promoting Relationships (September 30, 2026)
From Risk to Resilience: How to Support Youth Affected by Substance Use Disorders & Mental Health Challenges
October 14 • 12:00 PM ET
Growing up isn’t always easy! As adults, we understand that substance use, mental health challenges, and other stressors can make the journey feel like an uphill climb. Learn the tools to work through these challenges successfully while also developing the confidence and knowledge necessary to support young people and assure them that they are not alone.
Register for Webinar
Message from the Senior Director of Prevention: Ronna Yablonski
October is National Prevention Month, a time to shine a brighter light on something that matters every day: Prevention!
Prevention is intentional, proactive, and should be woven into our everyday lives. It is so much more than a single event, a one-time “drug talk,” or a simple slogan. Rest assured, prevention isn’t about striving for perfection; rather, it’s about progress and growth.
Whether we prevent mental health challenges or substance misuse before it starts, respond early when concerns arise, or reduce harm and support quality of life, prevention takes many forms. At its heart, prevention is about the intentional actions we take to strengthen protective factors while reducing risks.
Protective factors are qualities and conditions that support our health and well-being. Think of personal strengths, supportive family relationships, positive school environments, and connected communities. Protective factors can look different for everyone and we can build upon them and strengthen them over time. They’re also interconnected. When we work on one factor, like personal connections, it can help us grow in other areas. Protective factors are good!
For help with identifying and building protective factors, check out our Prevention Point segments on the topic, with several also offering a hands-on worksheet that is downloadable and ready for use.
Have an idea, question, or curiosity about prevention?
Let’s connect. I’m always happy to listen, learn, and explore opportunities to grow prevention together.
prevention@safeproject.us
Prevention Month reminds us that parents, caregivers, educators, healthcare professionals, employers, youth-serving organizations, faith communities, policymakers, and community members all play an important role in prevention.
Every Person. Every Community. Prevention Together – It Matters!
Prevention Partnerships and Collaborations
In-Home Medication Disposal
Partnering with NarcX
Make safe medication disposal part of your prevention routine. Safely disposing of medications as soon as they are no longer needed helps create safer homes and reduces opportunities for misuse. It’s a simple, proactive step we can all take—and one that can make a life-saving difference.
Simply Neuroscience Partnership
Special Announcement Coming Soon!
Prevention Podcast Features
The Overdose Report
Featuring Ronna Yablonski
Ronna brings more than 20 years of experience in youth substance use prevention and community-based work to the conversation.
The Pulse of Prevention
Featuring Ronna Yablonski
Ronna Yablonski’s message highlights why youth involvement isn’t just helpful — it’s essential. Check it out as she shares her experience.
The Overdose Report
Featuring CEO Jeff Horwitz
Jeff discusses the importance of prevention education and young peoples’ role in prevention.
Just Say Something
Featuring Cal Beyer
Cal Beyer, Sr. Director of SAFE Workplaces, discusses prevention, substance use, and mental health.
Prevention Spotlight Features
Hear from Members of our Youth VOICE Council
We are showcasing real-world examples of prevention in action, highlighting the innovation of young people who are making a difference every day. Through these stories, we celebrate what’s possible when we take proactive steps to strengthen health and well-being. Together, these stories demonstrate that prevention matters and that we all have a role to play. Every Person. Every Community. Prevention Together – It Matters!
Danielle Choi
Danielle Choi has a favorite way of thinking about collaboration: raindrops.
“One person is one raindroplet,” she says. Bring enough of those individual drops together, though, and suddenly you have something much more powerful.
It’s an image that captures Danielle’s approach to prevention remarkably well.
Ronit Ginde
When Ronit Ginde arrived on the scene, the young person was unconscious.
As an emergency medical technician, Ronit watched his partner administer naloxone while he helped ventilate the patient. Eventually, the person woke up and was transported to the hospital.
The response worked. But for Ronit, a high school student who had already developed an interest in healthcare and community service, the experience left behind a bigger question.
Why did the naloxone have to arrive with the ambulance?
So Eun Kang
When So Eun Kang first noticed naloxone sitting beside the tables in a research lab at Case Western Reserve University, she had a simple question for her mentor: What is this?
She learned that naloxone is a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. What surprised her was not only what the medication could do, but that she had never heard about it before.
Not at school. Not in health class. Not alongside the other emergency response tools young people routinely learn about.
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Prevention Point Segments
In earlier segments, we explored individual protective factors and relationships as protective factors. In this segment, we look to the community and societal supports that help us thrive, including the communities we live in and the broader systems that surround us.
Identifying and Building Individual Protective Factors
May 2026
Connections Matter – Relationships as Protective Factors
June 2026
Protective Factors Within Communities and Society
October 2026
Opioid Overdose Response Training
October 29, 2026 • 1:00 PM ET
Led by our SAFE Campuses, participants will learn how to identify the signs of an opioid overdose, administer naloxone, and understand the importance of timely intervention.
Register for Training
