Extra Effort Earns Honors for Prevention Specialist

Laura Bruce’s title might be a little misleading.

As a “prevention specialist” at Tri-County Mental Health, she does work hard to prevent substance abuse among young people. Under age drinking, drug abuse and even tobacco use are also among her targets.

But in many ways Laura and her Tri-County prevention team partners are enablers—at least when it comes to enabling positive peer pressure and a culture of wellness throughout the Northland.

Laura’s upbeat outlook may be one of the reasons she was recently named Tri-County employee of the quarter. Her supervisor, Prevention Services manager Vicky Ward, said her efforts have brought accolades from the many communities in which she works. “Not only is she exceptional in the community, working with her team programs, but she has been quick to take on multiple projects within the department as well as taking on grant writing,” Vicky noted. “Laura went far beyond any expectionations in working to ensure that our prevention programs and the teams she works with will have the funding they need to ensure safe and healthy communities.”

Laura works with Tri-County groups such as the Northland Coalition and Youth With Vision, focusing primarily on 10 of 18 groups in Clay and Platte County. Although the efforts include several areas that are almost careers in themselves, she said one of her favorites involves grassroots efforts to ban synthetic drugs or provide community disposal sites for prescriptions drugs so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

“I call those the ‘big difference makers,’” she said. “It’s all important, but those have a lot of impact.”

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