The two organizations joined forces to put on Minnesota ICE: A Rural Response to Methamphetamine, a conference in St. Cloud, Minn., on Nov. 1. "I've been working in this field for 25 years, and I've never seen a turnout in this state that approached this magnitude," said Carol Falkowski, Hazelden's director of Research Communications and a conference keynote speaker. "It translates into a great opportunity for staying ahead of the methamphetamine problem."

"We thought 600 participants would have been great, so we were astonished when 1,800 registered, and we had to turn away 300 to 400," said Matt Kilian, director of Communications at the Initiative Foundation in Little Falls.

According to Falkowski, the breadth of the conference was unique, involving all segments of the community, including educators, clergy, law enforcement, city officials, healthcare workers, addicts and their families, treatment specialists, employers, social workers, nonprofit agencies, and concerned citizens. "We know that prevention amounts to the same message delivered by different messengers," said Falkowski. "The conference helped multiple messengers formulate their messages in a coordinated way."

Hazelden played a prominent role in the conference, with Dirk Johnson, author of Hazelden's Meth: America's Home-Cooked Menace, delivering one of two keynote addresses and several Hazelden staff members also participating. President and CEO Ellen Breyer took part in a forum called "The Essence of Meth" that included Richard Rawson, PhD, and Jeanne Obert, coauthors of the Matrix Model outpatient treatment curriculum published by Hazelden. Jim Atkins, manager of Admissions and Case Management, presented a workshop called "Life After Meth: Effective Treatment Options," and counselor Arnie Kampa talked about the "Addict in the Family" in a workshop. In addition to Falkowski's keynote address, she led a workshop on "Meth in the Workplace: Crystal Clear Strategies for Employers." They were joined throughout the day by other presenters, including legislators, nationally prominent addiction experts, law enforcement officials, recovering meth addicts, county officials and organizers.

Hazelden also exhibited at the conference and displayed information and materials about meth identification, addiction, treatment and prevention. All attendees received a comprehensive CD/DVD package compiled by Hazelden that includes an extensive meth resource directory; a meth "primer;" five "toolkits" for community leaders, educators, parents, employers, and health providers; and three Hazelden videos about methamphetamine.

As successful as the conference was, it is but one piece of a larger effort. Minnesota ICE (Intervention, Care and Education) is a statewide endeavor that was launched by the Initiative Foundation after several standing-room-only community meetings cohosted by the Initiative Foundation and Hazelden. The meetings reinforced a definite need for an extensive meth awareness campaign. Through Minnesota ICE, the Initiative Foundation will provide education, training, technical assistance, financial support, and resource and referral services in order to tackle meth head-on.

"Hazelden has such valuable information, but we don't always have the means to ensure that all the people who should be informed will be informed," said Karin Nord, PES marketing manager. "When we work with fellow nonprofit organizations like the Initiative Foundation, we can really see how we can make a difference. This experience shows what you can do when you involve the right people with the right attitudes who are willing to take risks and commit to a diverse agenda."

Thanks to generous donors, Hazelden responded quickly to the Initiative Foundation's request for assistance. Over a period of just a few weeks, individuals, local foundations and corporations, including Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota, provided funding to help keep fees to attend the conference to a minimum.

New national meth Toolkit for Change is available in April
The interest and success generated by the Minnesota ICE event convinced Hazelden that a national methamphetamine educational product is sorely needed. Meth: Our Nation's Crisis: A Toolkit for Change, will be available April 16. Each kit will contain a DVD with "Meth: Shadow Across America" and "Life After Meth"-two documentaries coproduced by Twin Cities Public Television and Carol Falkowski-and "Walking on Thin Ice," a Hazelden prevention video for grades 7-12.

A CD-ROM containing toolkits for communities, schools, employers, and media will accompany the DVD, making the Toolkit for Change a thorough and easy-to-use resource and guide. "These toolkits help each group develop individual initiatives and also offer ways in which they might work together in one coordinated effort in fighting the meth epidemic," said Ann Standing, director of marketing and sales at Hazelden.

Standing said the plan is to market the toolkit at the community and state level, because to be effective an awareness campaign of this sort must be far-reaching. "It doesn't help if St. Paul has a great meth prevention, education and treatment program for their populations and Minneapolis has nothing," explained Standing.

"We hope the Toolkit for Change will be seen as a valuable resource for communities, states and the nation and that it will provide the important information that we are looking for but can't find in one succinct document. This is a needed tool, and we want to offer hope to our nation."

Hazelden is so committed to this endeavor that it will offer the toolkit at a reduced price, according to Standing, "just enough to cover the production costs." For more information or to order a copy of the Toolkit for Change, call 800-328-9000 or visit www.hazelden.org/bookstore.

Published in The Voice, Winter 2006