MidCity Excellence hosts opioid prevention training experience

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- MidCity Excellence Community Learning Center leadership took time on Memorial Day to host the first YouthCity Health & Wellness Interactive Opioid Prevention Training Experience.

"As we thought about what to do on this holiday, it's very hard for our youth to, value other people's lives and the great sacrifices they made for our freedom if they feel that they don't have value in themselves," Kimberly Warren, CEO and Founder of MidCity Excellence explained. "They have pain inside and they just want to be numb."

Monday's interactive training had opioid-free prevention and intervention messages.

Warren said it was important to have positive activities to help counteract the negative things going on in kids' lives.

"It's an opportunity where we may not have families that are barbecuing at home. We have not family reunions today," Warren said. "There's many great memorials that are going on across our country, in our nation, but I feel that we're disassociated from that a little bit because of the present pain that our community is trying to heal."

Events like this are designed to help open dialogue for people that have experienced trauma.

"A lot of people have trauma that they're experiencing. However, they may not have the resources for counseling. Certain cultures, certain groups of teens may feel like 'what happens in this house stays in this house,'" Warren said. "This is going to open up the dialogue and present many different, positive ways of healing."

MidCity Excellence's opioid prevention training featured many positive activities including volleyball, a LEGO building contest, and much more.

"The saying is, it takes seven positive activities or events to counteract one trauma in our lives. So hopefully today we will have the young people leaving more hopeful and believing that someone cares about them as they go through life's struggles."

For more information on MidCity Excellence and its programs, you can visit their website here.