PUTNAM — In order to expand their reach and resources, Putnam PRIDE joined forces with Griswold PRIDE and United Services to implement a new prevention campaign in their region.  The three organizations each received a Community mini grant from Northeastern Communities Against Substance Abuse, administered in conjunction with CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.  The State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Community mini-grant provides communities with funding to build their capacity to develop and/or enhance local opioid addiction and overdose prevention and response efforts.
As one component of the grant, recipients were provided materials to implement the “Change the Script” media campaign, a statewide program intended to help communities deal with the prescription drug crisis. It includes a Tool Kit of materials that can be adopted and tailored for local community use.   
“Change the Script” connects everyone whose lives are affected by the prescription drug crisis:  healthcare professionals, treatment professionals, and the general public and offers resources to   help rewrite the story about how we deal with this issue, including prevention measures,  treatment and recovery programs, prescriber education, safe storage and disposal information, and much more.
Putnam PRIDE continues to address the current opioid crisis and has worked extensively with the NECASA sponsored Opioid Action Group over the past two years to provide a comprehensive “one stop shopping” fact sheet that describes the various treatment resources in the area.  
 Since 2006 Putnam PRIDE has been the Substance Abuse Prevention Organization within the Town, making Putnam a “Safe, Friendly and Healthy Community.”  
PRIDE works with leaders in the community to identify and address local youth substance use problems and create sustainable community-level change through the use of the Seven Strategies for Community Level Change.  
Community coalitions connect multiple sectors of the community, including businesses, parents, media, law enforcement, schools, faith organizations, health providers, social service agencies, and the government.
By acting in concert through the coalition, all of the partners gain a more complete understanding of the community’s problems.
Together, the partners organize and develop plans and programs to coordinate their anti-drug efforts.
The result is a comprehensive, community-wide approach to substance abuse and its related problems.