Community

By Al Rice

The Vanier Community Service Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has a very active BABES Prevention Program involving third grade students in the Vanier (Ottawa) area schools. For eight weeks, the children have the pleasure of getting to know the fun animal puppets, which are animated by presenters from the Vanier Community Service Centre. Children follow the adventures of the delightful BABES club member characters during school hours and learn themes which are appropriately aimed for learning positive life principles.

Ms. Camille Marcil is the youth programs coordinator for BABES Prevention Program at the Vanier Community Service Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Greetings from my desk…high atop a mountain of paperwork. We at BABESWORLD have begun Stage III in the process of credentialing BABES to achieve its goal of becoming registered as an Evidence-Based Program listed on SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs (NREPP). We are following a plan, created by the Wayne State School of Social Work, which includes:

• Developing a logic model (theory of change)
• Revising our Program Materials
• Hiring a professional Evaluation Team

Continue reading Credentialing Update

The 16th Annual Recovery March and Rally, sponsored by the NCADD, was celebrated by thousands of people on Saturday, September 10, 2016. BABESWORLD was represented by our founder, Rev. Dr. Lottie Jones Hood and Linda Pierce, who braved the inclement weather and marched across the Belle Isle Bridge, in Detroit, Michigan to enjoy the day’s events. Carmen Cook coordinated and Al Rice, Jan Lossing and Yvonne Knox hosted the resource table, where BABES distributed hundreds of flyers and spoke of our mission to people from all areas of recovery. Jan and Yvonne also had a table for the children in The Fun Zone, with coloring, BABES balloons and a treasure hunt. Life-sized puppets of Donovan Dignity and Bows made a brief appearance, due to the threat of rain. A good time was had by all and we look forward to participating in next year’s event.

BABESWORLD was on exhibit at the 17th Annual Substance Use/Co-Occurring Disorder Conference in Detroit, and was enjoyed by many conference attendees. Representatives from agencies of Substance Use/Co-Occurring Disorder from across the state of Michigan visited the BABESWORLD booth and got to meet the delightful BABESWORLD club puppets. Also performing at the booth were the life-size characters of Buttons and Bows McKitty.

Continue reading BABESWORLD on Display at the 17th Annual Substance Use and Co-Occurring Conference at Cobo Hall in Detroit September 19 & 20, 2016

Sixty-Five Kindergarten students at Huxford Elementary School in Huxford, AL were recently honored with a BABESWORLD graduation ceremony to recognize their achievements in completing the BABESWORLD program. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, AL has sponsored this program in the school for the past two decades. BABESWORLD has provided many students with the necessary tools to help them learn to deal with many situations in life that may be the results of addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

Pictured above is Mrs. Belinda Jolley and the 2015-2016 Huxford Elementary K-5 students singing “This Little Light of Mine

The children traveled through the “magic of their minds” to Pudding Heights where they met the BABESWORLD Club members, Buttons & Bows McKitty, Myth Mary, Early Bird, Donovan Dignity, Recovering Reggie, and Rhonda Rabbit. Through the magical stories they discovered a wealth of information to carry with them throughout their lives;

• “I’m Looking Good and Feeling Fine”, teaches the importance of having a good self-image.
• “She made me do it, didn’t she”, teaches how to make good decisions and overcome peer pressure.
• “Accepting the Things I Cannot Change and Changing the Things I Can”, teaches skills in learning to cope with difficult situations that you cannot control.
• “Let’s Play Party”, shows that you do not have to have alcohol and other drugs in order to have fun. You can have more fun just by being yourself.
• “Retreat is not Defeat and Failure is not Final”, teaches that you can overcome your mistakes and failures if you are smart and brave and ask for help.
• “When you don’t know what to do, (Helping Children from Chemically Dependent homes)”, teaches that you are not alone and it is okay to ask for help from someone that you trust.
• “Wrapping Up”, shows you how to use and share the tools and information that you have learned to help others.

As the song says, “BABESWORLD, BABESWORLD what a wonderful place to be!”

The Gathering of Nations (GON) is a grand 3-day Native American event held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, featuring pageantry, dance, singing, cultural exchange and special shopping experiences involving artists, crafters and traders from around the world.

BABES was fortunate to secure a vendor booth, which was well visited by several hundred GON attendees. The BABES booth was staffed by Rev. Lottie, Deborah Smith and Al Rice. During the event, the BABES team was able to present the BABES program, hand out materials and provide information for BABES advocacy, future contact and follow up.

Continue reading BABES Get Very Positive Reception at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

By Al Rice

During the week of April 25-28, eleven (11) Pueblo teachers and Prevention Specialists completed the Basic BABES and Suicide Prevention Trainings at the beautiful Prairie Star Golf Course and Restaurant in Santa Ana, New Mexico.

Continue reading Pueblo of Santa Ana Completes Basic BABES and Suicide Prevention Training, April 25-28