I Strengthen My Nation: American Indian and Alaska Native Community Projects Created by Youth to Stand Against Substance Misuse.
Calling all creative youth 14-25 years old! Are you concerned about substance misuse in your community? Do you believe that the strength and power in indigenous people and tribal communities can help fight substance misuse and inform solutions? Could you use some money to support activities that promote resilience in your community? Here’s your chance to win big and do just that!
Substance misuse is preventable and treatable and there have been many programs created to do just that. Youth are rarely a part of this process and we want you to help change that! We know you have creative, innovative ideas for projects that could decrease substance use and promote resilience in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. What do you want to tell people about the strengths in your people and your community that protect against drug misuse – that stop people from using drugs or help combat addiction? What ideas do you have for a project that you and your community could undertake to enhance resilience against substance misuse? We know Indigenous people are resilient, let’s share those strengths and let your voice be heard! Let’s share your innovation solutions to address substance misuse!
We challenge you to create 1) a detailed plan for a project that can help strengthen your community and promote resilience against drug misuse AND 2) a video that describes resilience against substance misuse in yourself and/or your community and how your project could enhance it. The video should be crafted so that viewers are inspired by the ideas and could consider doing the same sort of project in their own tribal community or researchers and the community could partner to test whether the ideas can be developed into an intervention. The budget should include enough detail and explanation of costs so that other tribal communities could use it as a guide. We’re offering cash prizes to the most innovative, creative, unique project proposals and videos that represent resilience and promote the strength of your community. We will share the winning submissions across the country, so your plan might help others!
As part of its mission, The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), seeks to identify intervention strategies to combat drug addiction. Recognizing that youth voices and creativity are critical to this goal, NIDA announces “I Strengthen My Nation: American Indian and Alaska Native Community Projects Created by Youth to Stand Against Substance Misuse” in partnership with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), through the We R Native program. Youth participatory action research has demonstrated that youth participation in carrying out substance misuse prevention research yields community-specific prevention methods and materials, increasing community awareness of substance misuse and solutions. The goal of this challenge is to show how youth participation can help identify feasible intervention strategies that will inform subsequent intervention development and testing.
Challenge Theme
The theme of this challenge is to collect the best ideas from youth on how to leverage indigenous resilience to combat substance misuse through community projects. NIDA is seeking to reward and incentivize the development of ideas for feasible intervention strategies. Submissions should include both a project description and a video depicting resilience, how it relates to substance misuse, and how the project can support resilience against substance misuse.
Awards:- Cash prizes offered: Up to $10,000 per entry, Minimum prize $2000, total purse of $85,000
Deadline:- 07-07-2021