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The Courage To Speak
Foundation Inc., is a nonprofit organization
based in Norwalk, CT, whose mission is "to save
lives by empowering youth to be drug free
through fostering education and open
communication about the dangers of drug and
alcohol use.” Ginger Katz founded the
organization in 1996, just months after her 20
year old son Ian James Eaccarino died of an
accidental drug overdose. She and her husband
Larry Katz pledged that they would do all they
could to help prevent such a tragedy from
befalling another family. Since then, Mrs. Katz
has given nearly 1000 presentations reaching
approximately 500,000 individuals – young people
and the adults who care about them. Ms. Katz
also has authored a new book called the
Sunny's Story.
A book for children of all ages, parents,
grandparents, teachers, and others.
The Courage To Speak had developed
The Courage to Speak Drug
Prevention Curriculum for Elementary,
Middle, and High Schools. The Curriculum –
including teacher training and classroom
activities – provides crucial, ongoing follow-up
to The Courage to Speak’s live presentation and
video. New January 2008 is a program for parents
called Courageous
Parenting 101. (see
press release) A four session program, each
one and a half hours long, are taught by
professionals to disseminate information about
topics such as: Drug Trends in America, How to
find out if your child is using drugs, What to
do if you child is using drugs, How to access
help, Helping kids handle stress, Taking a
better look at MTV, MySpace, FaceBook, and more.
Based on her own experience and research, Mrs.
Katz realized that merely providing information
about drug use and its consequences could not
surmount the obstacles of peer pressure,
cynicism, ignorance, and apathy that our young
people face every day. To truly change their
attitude and behavior, The Courage To Speak
would have to reach them in a more direct and
personal way, encourage their families to
support them in rejecting drug use, and engage
the community in this battle by increasing its
awareness.
Therefore, the organization’s strategy begins
with a dynamic, riveting, and thought-provoking
presentation by Mrs. Katz combining the
intensely personal story of a family shattered
by drugs with the latest information and
statistics on substance abuse and prevention.
Told with quiet intensity and rigorous emotional
integrity in schools, places of worship,
conferences and other community venues, her
story calls forth in her young listeners a
willingness to trust her and the advice, and
information, that she and Mr. Katz offer.
Complementary presentations are offered to
parents, preparing them to foster the
life-saving change in attitude. The
presentations have curriculum available as a
follow up.
The Courage To Speak has formed alliances and
collaborates with state and national
organizations such as the Department of
Addiction Services in CT, Community Anti-Drug
Coalitions of America, the US Dept of Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Pride
International, National Association of Secondary
School Principals, The National Association of
Independent Schools, the DEA, Weed and Seed,
Alanon, ONDCP – Office of National Drug Control
Policy, Mid-Fairfield Substance Abuse Coalition,
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
Community Prevention Task Force of Norwalk, CT,
and other local and state groups.
Our additional programs
show parents and communities how to support
their children to be drug free.
As part of the The Courage To Speak mission to
reach parents the organization has on many media
outlets, such as TV, Radio, Newspaper and other.
Some examples are the Madison Square Garden
Network Sports Desk, NBC, NBA Inside Stuff, News
Channel 12, Cablevision of CT, Time Warner Cable
TV, Connecticut News Channel 8, CPTV, MSNBC and
Life Time for Women. Print coverage includes The
New York Times, NY Daily News, Hartford Courant,
CT Post, New Haven Register, the Norwalk Hour,
the Stamford Advocate and other prominent media
outlets. see press articles.
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Program Information
President:
Ginger Katz
Address: P.O.
Box 1527, Norwalk, CT 06852
Telephone:
877-431-3295
Fax:
(203) 852-9159
E-mail:
gkcourage@aol.com
Program Brochure
Click
here to download.
Resume
Click
here to download.
Program
Bio
Click
here to download.
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 Video
Presentation
To preview the video, click on one of
the appropriate links here*:
*Real
Player is needed to view the video. If
your computer does not have Real Player
installed,
you can get it free here.
To
order the Courage to Speak video,
call 1-877-431-3295 or E-mail
gkcourage@aol.com
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-How it All Started |
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 Ian
James Eaccarino was the much-loved son of Ginger
Katz and Louis Eaccarino, step-son of Larry Katz,
brother of Candace Eaccarino and dear friend to the
many people he made part of his short, but vibrant
life. As a kid, he liked to cuddle up on the couch
with his mom, sister and step-dad. At age eight, he
was captain of the soccer team. Two years later, he
earned a black belt in karate and at eleven, came in
second to a fourteen-year-old in a competition at
Madison Square Garden. As a 5th grader, he was voted
most popular boy of his class.
In high school, Ian played baseball, basketball and
lacrosse. The semester before he died, he was an
honor student at the University of Hartford. In
September of 1996, Ian died of a heroin overdose at
the age of 20 years old.
Shortly after his death, Ginger Katz founded
The Courage to Speak Foundation, Inc. Speaking as a
parent who has experienced a loss every parent
fears, Ginger inspires people to step forward,
assess their situation, and address their problems.
Rather than speaking from a place of sadness,
however, Ginger speaks words of hope and promise
that the courage to speak - about fears, drug
dependence, or any troubling issue - presents an
ideal opportunity for healing. Ginger chose the
sunflower as a logo because the sunflower looks up
to heaven.
Through Ginger's story, students and parents
begin to recognize the telltale signs of alcohol and
other drug use. She also describes the veils behind
which those signs hide: anger, denial, fear, pain
and deception.
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-Mission |
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“Saving Lives by Empowering Youth to be Drug Free”
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-Goals
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- Inspire and empower youth to decline the
offer of alcohol and other drugs
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Encourage every person to take
responsibility to combat substance abuse
and addiction
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Create a safe environment for an honest
dialogue between parents and children
about the danger of drugs
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Support youth to find adults they can
trust and confide in
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Offer support for family members who
have lost a child to substance abuse to
come together and heal
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Create a speaker's bureau consisting of
individuals who's children lost their
lives to substance abuse
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-Programs
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Live Prevention Presentations
To date the organization has
made over 1000 presentations to a variety
of audiences: students in middle
schools, high schools and colleges;
parent groups; civic organizations;
churches; corporations; federal agencies
and national conferences.
Educational Outreach Program
Parents and family members
who have lost a child to drug abuse are
recruited and trained to use
The Courage to Speak
Video Presentation
and Facilitator's Guide to inspire open
and honest discussions between adults
and children in their schools and
communities.
Community Information Campaign
Disseminates information to children,
parents, educators and others through
print, radio and television. The
Foundation is an important media
resource for information related to drug
prevention at the local, regional and
national level.
Referral Help-Line
Provides families seeking aid for
addicted children with a broad base of
information about treatment facilities,
counseling, support and other relevant
data.
Basketball Classic Event
A continually evolving basketball
tournament that reaches thousands of
people with the Courage to Speak's
message and helps raise funds for its
programs. It has received extensive
local and national media coverage
including NBC's "NBA Inside Stuff." |
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Innovative Drug Prevention Programs for
Elementary, Middle Schools and High Schools
These school based programs target
fourth, fifth,
seventh and ninth graders—age groups
particularly vulnerable to using drugs
such as tobacco, alcohol,
inhalants, marijuana and
prescription drugs. Based on national
standards for effective prevention
programming, the programs are carefully
designed to empower students to resist
drugs and help them make healthier
decisions. Read more
about Innovative
Drug Prevention Programs here.
Courage To Speak Family Night
A unique and very special
feature of
The Courage To Speak Curriculum Programs.
Children, parents, teachers and
community leaders come together to see
what the children have learned in the
programs and talk together honestly—
perhaps for the first time—about the
dangers of alcohol and other drugs.
Please click the
following links to read about
sponsorship information and
Ginger's letter.
The Courage To Speak
Video
This award winning video covers the
impact of addiction on the family; the
code of silence and how it presents a
dangerous problem when someone is in
trouble; what to do when you know there
is a problem; why parents need to learn
about alcohol and drug use among youth;
and how parents, youth, and communities
can save lives.
Please click here
to watch The Courage To Speak Video.
The
Courage to Speak Support Groups
Support groups meet monthly and are
available for parents and family members
who have lost a child to drug abuse.
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The Courage To Speak Board of Directors 2007 |
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Board Chair
Charlie Yost
Vice President and Co-founder
Larry Katz
Members
Peter Corbett
Gary Curto
Pat Vigillio
James Sibley
Student Members
Max Barrand
Eric Genuario
Mac Donoghue
Jessie Knopp
Katie Ratay
Board of Advisors
William Butka
Lawrence Cafero,
ESQ (Minority Leader of Connecticut)
Louis Colangelo, ESQ
Herb Jay
Richard Moccia
(Norwalk Mayor)
James Tucciarone
Harry Rilling (Norwalk Chief of Police)
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Secretary
Kileen Doyle
CEO and Founder
Ginger Katz
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