My Very Own Blanket

Another local nonprofit is working to make a difference. My Very Own Blanket, based in Westerville, makes blankets for children across Ohio in foster care. The organization started in 1999 and has made more than 25,000 blankets. They work with volunteers from all over including inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and the Girl Scouts of America. The organization is now looking to local businesses for support from their employees to help make blankets or donate bath items for the children in foster care. The blankets give the children something they can call their own and hold on to through tough times. My Very Own Blanket is a great cause trying to comfort and provide stability for children in foster care.

6 weeks!

I have been interning at Amethyst for around 6 weeks now. I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks! I have been able to do so many different things working at Amethyst that will help me to prepare for a career in the future. From writing articles, thank you letters and donation requests to doing research on corporate donors and general statistical information, I have had the opportunity to experinence a lot. One of the most rewarding parts of this internship has been getting to see what exactly Amethyst does helping women and their families through addiction problems. It takes a lot to run a non-profit and I have seen how hard each one of the employees here work. Another part of the job that I had never experienced before was the meetings and collaborative work that happens at a non-profit or any business. Working together as a team and bouncing ideas and suggestions off of each other is something that seems very beneficial in this environment. I have about 6 weeks more to go and I can't wait to see what else I will get to do and experience working at Amethyst!

National Drug Control Strategy Reaction

The National Drug Control Strategy has set goals that seem to have objectives that would truly benefit society and drug and alcohol users in general. I believe that moving from getting tough on drugs to prevention, intervention and treatment is the right road to take when dealing with alcohol and drugs. Although the budget has increased for drug control the money is not going into the areas that go along with the new path that the strategy is saying they want to take. By giving more money to law enforcement rather than prevention and treatment their new goals will not be met. In regards to admissions, treatment for people with multiple addictions seems to not be coinciding with how many people actually have multiple addictions. One other statistic that stood out to me was how the unemployment rate has risen so much for people in treatment since 2000.