Smithville Community in Action (CIA) is a coalition of community members who develop, implement and evaluate youth prevention programs to increase resiliency and decrease youth substance use.
Wayne Krueger, the Smithville high school principal at that time, founded CIA 25 years ago. Out of concern for the growing increase in underage drinking and youth use of marijuana, he expressed an interest in forming an area prevention coalition. He and other concerned community members worked with Tri-County Mental Health Services’ Manager of Prevention Services to form the coalition in 1994.
The focus of Smithville CIA is prevention of youth substance use and to foster resilience so they can reach their full potential. Objectives include educating youth and adults about the harmful effect of substance use on the developing brain, supporting our youth leaders in their efforts to impact their peers and younger students, to advocate for policies that help to protect our youth from substance use, and strategies to foster resilience among our youth. We also support mental wellness strategies that help our youth thrive!
In order to continue these efforts, we need your support. First, we ask you to join our meetings. We meet in the School District Office on the third Thursday of the month at 11:30am. At these meetings, we learn more about substance use prevention and plan our activities. Second, we ask for your financial support to continue this work.
