NPGAW Participants (As of 3/26/2009): Do you have an NPGAW activity you would like added to our list? Email it toNPGAW@ncpgambling.org
Voices of Recovery
The following individuals have chosen to share personal accounts of their struggles with problem gambling and the road to recovery. We hope their stories will help others go beyond the statistics and provide a more personal and individual picture of this issue. Please click on the name to view the full story:
Amy G: Mother of two enters living nightmare when she finds her husband's body and discovers his gambling addiction
Ann K: She was the wife and the mother of a doctor, but her family didn't see this deadly addiction coming.
Ben S: A liar, a cheat, and a thief.......how the 'nice guy' next door almost lost everything to continue gambling
Caleb C: Its been nearly 20 years since this accountant's gambling addiction landed him on the front page of all the local newspapers-now hear his story and find out how he is helping others avoid his fate
Dorothy G: Gambling addiction has forced this great-grandmother to desperate measures-now read her pleas for forgiveness
Elaine E: Who says you can't start over- Find out why this gambling addict says her 37th birthday was the start of a new life for her
Jane S: Grandmother steals a quarter of a million dollars to support her Bingo habit
Jeff B: Former "high roller" exposes the real secrets behind glamour of gambling
Pam W: Gambling addiction forces Vice -President of credit union to exchange corporate suit for prison gray
Randy R: Gambling addiction engineer to face troubled past
Sandy Y: Fourth grade teacher gets taught a life lesson she'll never forget
Warren B: Cornell graduate learns the real odds of gambling the hard way
ZK: How would your parents react if you asked them to move in with you to take care of your children, then asked them to pay rent? Find out what happened when this gambling addict did just that!
NPGAW Participants Below is a list of activities that representatives in each state are coordinating for National Problem Gambling Awareness Week:
California Office of Problem Gambling updates to website to including addition of radio PSA and videos http://www.adp.ca.gov/opg/ . CLICK HERE for additional activities
California State Lottery: Outreach to consumers including
PGAW messages on Draw Game tickets and Hot Spot Monitors.
Updated message for Electronic Points Of Sale screens dedicated to 1-800-GAMBLER. Television PSA entitled ”Piggy Bank” in rotation the week of March 2nd
Sacramento Lawyer Magazine:
PGAW advertisement will run in the March/April issue of the magazine
California Department of Mental Health:
OPG Posters to county mental health providers
California Gambling Control Commission:
CGCC will host an informational hearing on Problem Gambling on Thursday, March 12, 2009. Dr Timothy Fong and Deputy Director Terri Sue Canale to present
California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control: BGC sent PGAW informational letters/OPG resource center publications order form to Casino/Cardrooms.BGC provided PGAW posters to there Field/Regional offices
California Horseracing Board:
TVG to air Public Service Announcement featuring National Helpline beginning Monday, February 23, 2009 thru Saturday, March 7, 2009. HRTV to air Public Service Announcement featuring National Helpline beginning Sunday, March 1, 2009 thru Saturday, March 7, 2009
California Council on Problem Gambling:
Presentation to Senior class at
Sacramento’s Luther Burbank High School . The presentation will include: Introduction to Problem Gambling, The Other Side of Gambling, Education to help students to make informed decisions regarding gambling.
CCPG board meeting will convene in to kick off PGAW.
Posted NPGAW messages on personal email signature.
CCPG will make presentations to several community organizations addressing Problem Gambling Awareness including:
“You Bet your life: Dealing with Gambling” , Desert Samaritans for the Elderly “When Gambling Becomes More Than a Win”
Problem Gambling Treatment and Research Center University of Denver: On February 28th, Dr. J. Michael Faragher appeared on Channel 9, the Denver affiliate for NBC, to discuss the upcoming Problem Gambling Awareness Week, On March 5th, Dr. J. Michael Faragher appeared in an investigative report on Channel 9, the Denver affiliate for NBC, to discuss gambling debt and its relationship to suicide, From March 1-7, Dr. J. Michael Faragher’s graduate students manned a table in the Student Center and distributed gambling awareness materials. On March 5th, Dr. J. Michael Faragher delivered a guest lecture at a University of Denver Law School class on problem gambling. Prior to Problem Gambling Awareness Week, one of Dr. Faragher’s graduate students provided a problem gambling fact sheet to all the Denver media outlets and offered our availability for interviews or consultations
Senator Andrea Stillman, the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the CT Council on Problem Gambling, host press conference CLICK HERE
Renz Addiction Counseling Center, in recognition of this week's National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, will offer free gambling assessment screenings on from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday at 2 American Way. The screenings, among other things, will assess signs and symptoms of problem gambling.
Indiana Council on Problem Gambling: Letters were sent to all of the bankruptcy attorneys in and around the two largest cities in the state, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. These contained information on available help for problem gamblers. A two hour meeting on problem gambling was held with several speakers discussing the issue in Indianapolis. The governor of Indiana and the mayor of Indianapolis issued proclamations designating last week Problem Gambling Awareness Week.
Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling: distribution of print and electronic media in our. Offering of weekend classes in Addiction Training Institute. Governors proclamation CLICK HERE
Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD) -MHSD Medical Director (Dr. Craig Coensen, M.D.) made appearance/interview on local TV (WWL-4) station morning show, along with LA Lottery staff. Discussed PG awareness, services available
Capitol Area Human Services District (CAHSD) -The Health Care Ministry at
Mount Carmel Baptist Church hosted a Community Health and Information Fair.
Capital Area Center for Gambling Treatment was spotlighted with a question and answer session and there were 61 participants in that session. Fifteen Health Providers from around the city also participated in the Health Fair. Information was distributed at the Capital Area Human Services District Public Forum and a PSA was submitted to Citadel Broadcasting. Note: The extent of activities was limited this year because of unplanned staff absences/illnesses. Ms. Virginia Ventress, Outreach Coordinator, is in the process of rescheduling the outreach services planned for NPGAW.
Region 3
River Parishes ADC: A bulletin board was set up in the lobby highlighting gambling awareness week. In the River Parishes metro section of Times Picayune, a small article was written about the gambling services provided by RPADC and the hotline numbers.
Terrebonne ADC: Held “Open House” on March 5, during the Gambling Group. Fourteen family members and friends were present. All that attended were really excited and expressed an interest in continued participation and activities.
Thibodaux ADC: A "Family Day Open House" session on March 2, with the gambling program clients. Counselor presented information to 5 of our other treatment groups explaining the program and possible resources to those who may need them. Outreach worker, Keecia Albert, provided local radio PSAs, submitted information on the Daily Comet public site, gave information to prevention classes during this week and sent out faxes to schools to announce during morning announcements.
Region 4
Flyers and posters were displayed in the lobbies of Treatment Facilities. Topics in groups focused on Gambling the entire week. Videos on Gambling were shown in the lobbies while clients and visitors were waiting for services
Gambling presentation for staff was conducted at New Life Foundation
Gambling brochures were placed in lobbies of OCS, OFS and Treatment Facilities.Flyers were posted in OCS, OFS and Treatment Facilities announcing National Compulsive Gambling Awareness Week.Outreach was done by staff which focused on Gambling Awareness and Recovery
Information about gambling was placed on clients' bulletin board at Gatehouse
Proclamation was signed by the Mayor of Ville Platte and a picture was in the Ville Platte Gazette
Ad regarding Gambling Awareness Week was placed in the Lagniappe Paper
Participation in radio talk show by two staff persons and one recovering gambling client
Gambling PSA was placed on Lafayette Radio Station
Clients were informed of Gambling Awareness Week by staff
Lesson on the Facts of Gambling was presented to Prevention Enrollees
Help Line number was posted at Prevention Facility
Gambling Awareness documents were distributed at area Senior Citizen Church Center
Documents regarding Family Issues were distributed to families of enrollees
Youth Gambling Awareness Documents were distributed to Prevention Enrollees
Region 5
and
McNeese State University (MSU)
Provided training inservice on "The Assessment and Treatment of Problem Gamblers" for all Region V clinical staff (including Briscoe, LCADC and contract clinics)
MSU ran front page recruitment advertisements in the Lake Charles American Press
MSU media services office released an article for the newspaper
Annette (MSU outreach worker) visited local walk-in medical clinics with brochures & provided basic training on the use of the lie-bet screening
Region 6
An article was published in the local newspaper and local TV aired some PSAs on PG
Region 7 (and Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling)
Met with four TV outlets---all three major networks plus community channel......appearances ranged from 1 min. to 30 min.
Distributed considerable data (including Governor's Proclamation) to several other TV stations within the Region and adjacent Regions, even into Texas
Met with three print media and sent information, News Releases and Governor's Proclamation to four more.
Appeared on two radio shows (ranging in time from five minutes to 1/2 hour).Sent major information on NPGAW (including Governor's Proclamation) to four more
Training done to Helpline/Suicide Staff on Intensive Outpatient Treatment and effective assessment as well as patient placement techniques
Training done at Addiction Training Institute on Suicide Prevention as evidenced by Pathological Gamblers and effective ways to deal with suicidal callers
Special staff training done at all programs on pertinent issues such as sports betting and other matters contained in National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.
Several Medical personnel and business firms contacted and methods of recognizing signs and symptoms discussed.
Additional Staff placed on "Standby Status" to handle call volume increases for Louisiana and other States.
Charts distributed to Contractors comparing NPGAW in 2008 vs. 2009.
Region 8
PSAs local newspapers, local radio stations and will have a booth at upcoming public forum.
Florida Parishes Human Services Administration:Robert Hetrick, LAC, CCGC and Milena Merrill, PG Outreach Coodinator, began the week with a meeting with Judge Childress, with the 22 JDC to promote the Gambling Treatment Referral Program.An assistant DA in
Slidell was also contacted, along with Ila Dietrich at the Youth service bureau in Covington, LA
Outreach was done at 3 universities: UNO, SUNO and SLU, by Robert Hetrick, LAC, CCGC, with an invitation to return at SLU by the Dean of the ofthe school of business. Also, Robert Hetrick did outreach in the Hispanic community in with gambling help handouts printed in Spanish.
Dr. Narro, Prof. SLU, arranged for Robert to appear as a guest on Rosa's show on KSLU radio and with Rick Settoon at The Southeastern Channel. Robert is also set up as a speaker for Dr. Narro's public affairs class where 20 students will interview, photograph and video Robert for use in a class project that will generate an investigative piece on college students and gambling. It will be published in the school paper, web site, on Nola.com, on UWire and will be sent to national wire services upon completion.
Upon receipt of Judge Childress' blessing, we made telephonic outreach to ALL other judges in the 22nd Judicial District advising of the diversion program and offered up our services to walk them through the forms personally. Also upon receipt of Judge Childress' blessing, we made telephonic outreach to a handful of more prominent local criminal attorneys advising of the diversion program.
Secured an open invitation by Jeff Crouere for Robert Hetrick to appear again as a guest on his talk show on WGSO
Secured an open invitation by Greta Perry for Robert Hetrick to be a guest on her talk show on WIST
Robert made contact with the Assistant DA in Slidell with whom I am following up.
Made a presentation that included video to a group of businesswomen in West St. Tammany on gambling
Jefferson Parish Human Services Administration (JPHSA) - New Orleans North and West: PSA placed in the Times Picayune (local newspaper). JPHSA staff (Joseph Bodenmiller, LCSW) appeared on the Fox 8 Morning News and spoke about problem gambling and identified key state and JPHSA phone numbers for individuals seeking treatment. See the video at http://www.fox8live.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=169 .
Educational materials were mailed to 44 medical doctors (psychiatrist, internal Medicine, and family practice physicians), 70 Churches, Judges, Attorneys, 9 Hospitals and Clinics in the Jefferson Parish area. The mail out included a letter, educational materials, and screening tools In addition, a program for the IOP participants and their families occurred on Thursday, March 5. The program lasted from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The presenter was Parole Agent Warren Perret, LCSW, BACS, LAC who was a former JPHSA employee. The plan is to continue marketing to the receivers of the mail out to increase referrals to the program.
Office of Addictive Disorders HQ: Secured Governors’ Proclamation.Coordinated with DHH for Press Release (CLICK HERE) regarding Problem Gambling Awareness Week and resources available for Problem Gamblers. Taped one interview with LSU Tiger Vision. Worked with LA Lottery and DHH BMAC to assist MHSD and JPHSA to each have a television interview regarding PG
Maryland Council on Problem Gambling: Training presentation to Univ. of Md. Medical School, Dept of Psychiatry, Fellows in Addiction studies. (rescheduled thanks to snow storm) Radio talk show interview: Morning zoo hour. Distribution of brochures to state addiction treatment providers. Distribution of poster and web links to ADAA. Distribution of press releases to local newspaper, TV and radio stations. Scheduling of extensive training program for: St. of Md. OETAS and Baltimore Behavioral Health
Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Drug Control Policy in Dearborn Michigan sponsor Michigan’s First Problem Gambling Symposium. 180 in attendance. Keynote speaker was David Ledgerwood, PhD. “Understanding Problem Gambling as a Behavioral Addiction”.
Michigan Association on Problem Gambling distributed rack cards to AA club houses and GA meeting sites. Taught a class of CMU students training to be counselors. Two information tables with many NPGAW and State handouts on gambling at two sites at CMU. Handed out 150 miniature brochures with problem gambling warning signs and HelpLine number. Information table at the Union on MSU’s campus. Submitted an article concerning gambling on campus to CMU and MSU student newspapers. Delivered State produced brochure; “Youth and Gambling” to the local middle and high school counseling offices
Minnesota State Lottery: Lottery director Clint Harris aired a 30 second message on problem gambling on the 70 station Minnesota News Network. We included an article in our March retailer newsletter about the role retailers play in promoting responsible gambling and problem gambling awareness. We doubled the frequency of a message promoting the problem gambling helpline that appears on TV monitors at more than 300 Minnesota retailers. We placed an article in our employee newsletter reminding staff how to respond if contacted by someone with a problem.
Montana Council on Problem Gambling: distributed press releases to all Montana radio and newspapers. As a result, 8 of our therapists were asked to do live presentations. We have been doing bimonthly Public TV shows regarding prevention and treatment. We have contracted to do 24 of these. We also had our Governor Schritzer proclaim Problem Gambling Awareness Week
Resolution passed by Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction. CLICK HERE
Council on Compulsive Gambling of NJ: Legislative resolution declaring March 1-7 NPGAW, and all of March as Gambling Awareness Month; Manning booth at College of New Jersey, Press conference with NJ Lottery prior to event; Presentation at New Jersey City University, Presentation to Seniors at Metro Baptist Church, Links to Press release on , NPGAW at Division of Addiction Services and Division of Human Services web sites, Posters for NPGAW hung at Rutgers University, Letter to Editor on NPGAW from President of Association of Professionals Treating Problem Gambling, Cablevision and Comcast to run NPGAW material on Community Bulletin Board, Council to address Casino Control Commission at open meeting, Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction passed resolution recognizing NPGAW, State Chamber of Commerce put NPGAW release in newsletter, NCADD-Middelsex ran article in newsletter on NPGAW, 10 treatment professionals will offer free assessments and distribute materials at churches, libraries, schools and hospitals
Northpointe Council Inc. hosts presentation as part of National Problem Gambling Awareness Week on. March 19 at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. The event will deal with signs and symptoms of problem gambling, current trends across the state and responsible gambling.
OPGAW 2009 Community Resource Guide--electronic and hard copies were sent to all treatment and prevention providers and key partners; the manual is also posted on the Helpline website (go to http://www.1877mylimit.org/resourcetoc.asp to click on and download it).
Governor's Proclamation--declares March 1-7 as problem gambling awareness week in Oregon; click to view electronic copy
DHS Public Affairs issued a statewide press release(http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/news/2009news/index.shtml click on "DHS seeks young artists..."); selected pieces are used in our annual problem gambling awareness calendar.
Educational display at the Capitol later in the month of March.
Oregon Lottery's outreach ads will be on TV and print and a new campaign will launch on the Internet to encourage people to link to MYLIMIT.com and will promote the Chat feature.
Local (county/program) level:
Marion County--presentation to Local Alcohol and Drug Treatment Committee for Marion County; article for Health Dept electronic newsletter; updating treatment pages on our website and adding a link to Spanish information; sending an op-ed to rural papers; continuing middle school art search with personal outreach to rural K-8 schools also this year with the youth video and flyer. Placing problem gambling ads in rural papers and theaters.
Douglas County--presentation on seniors and problem gambling to local community group.
Harney, Grant and Lake County: meet with 6-8th graders in certain schools in Grant, Harney and Lake counties-- powerpoint presentation on gambling prevention and awareness with a follow up session facilitated by the teacher. All will watch the youth gambling video with follow up discussion. All will be participating in the poster contest as well. Radio and newspaper ads regarding gambling education and outreach will begin for two weeks starting that week as well.
Linn County: distributing information on the poster contest to middle schools, placing ads in local newspapers.
Benton County: Art search contest in middle schools, presentations to Corvallis Lions Club, the Downtown Corvallis Association, radio PSA in Spanish to local station (March 1-7), presentation placed on public access TV (March 1-7).
Josephine County: A second annual PG Awareness Walk Mar. 6 in which we will wear green and special awareness buttons and carry helium balloons and handout cards; special invitation to the LADPC to join us in observance at their individual places of employment as we well as for the walk; PSAs on the local radio the week prior; requested that our Board of County Commissioners issue a Proclamation for Josephine County OPGAW; banner and helium balloons will be on display along Ramsey Avenue the entire week; Options staff will wear buttons for the week; event planned at the B&G's club for the poster contest.
Tillamook County: distributing information/brochures throughout the county, including some targeted contacts with banks/credit unions; newspaper articles, PSA's. The gambling treatment clinician is scheduled for a radio interview.
Department Of Health Highlights Available Assistance For Problem Gamblers CLICK HERE
Department Of Health Announces New Problem Gambling Outreach Mini-Grant Program. CLICK HERE for Announcement and CLICK HERE for Info on Mini Grant
Community Information Session on Problem Gambling held on March 4th. CLICK HERE for flyer.
Press Release “State Highlights Education, Treatment Services During ‘Problem Gambling Awareness Week” CLICK HERE
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will be setting up a booth at Washington Crown Center (shopping mall) in Washington, PA on February 26th; in the State Capitol Mini-Rotunda (with representatives from PA Lottery, Racing Commission, Department of Health and Council on Compulsive Gambling of PA) on March 2; and in Strawberry Square Shopping Center in Harrisburg, PA (with representatives PA Lottery, Racing Commission, Department of Health and Council on Compulsive Gambling of PA) on March 3. The booths will have information and handouts on problem gambling, 12 step programs, self-help programs and treatment providers.
The West Virginia Council on Problem Gambling displayed information in the Capitol building for legislators to review during problem gambling awareness week.
Potawatomi Bingo Casino (PBC), added its support to NPGAW. The week provided an ideal opportunity to remind casino employees and the local community of PBC’s on-going efforts to raise awareness about problem gambling.Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s NPGAW activities included educational displays in employee areas, introducing a new tagline for all PBC problem gambling initiatives (Make a Sure Bet – Know Your Limit), sending information to community leaders and committing a large sponsorship to the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling (WCPG).
