Ally McCabe - - Page 2

Learning Disabilities Awareness Month: Making the Connection to Substance Use

By Ally McCabe, Project Director, CANDLE Coalition

The Cortland County Coalition on Cannabis & Alcohol: Neighbors with Disability & Lived Experience, or CANDLE, is a peer-led community group working to prevent and reduce substance misuse within Cortland’s disability community.

As a peer-led coalition, our members know that disability and substance use disorders often occur together. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), people with disabilities are substantially more likely to develop substance use disorders than the general population, and we are also less likely to receive treatment for them.

Some studies have suggested that up to 60% of people in substance use treatment have some type of learning disability or difficulty. While research on the “big three” (dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia) and their relationship to substance abuse is limited, the connection is clear. One often-cited related statistic is that among adults with an alcohol use disorder, ADHD is 5-10 times more common than within the general population.

On the prevention side, people with all types of disabilities have historically been left out of traditional drug prevention efforts. That’s exactly what CANDLE is working to change! We are currently conducting a survey to gather information about local usage trends and community needs, the results of which will be used to develop comprehensive, universally accessible prevention campaign for people with all types of disabilities.

For more information about CANDLE, contact: Ally McCabe, Project Director | (607) 753-7363 | c[email protected].

CANDLE Launches First Community Survey

Two white women are holding CANDLE surveys and smiling at the camera.

By Ally McCabe, Project Director

As part of this five-year project, CANDLE will be conducting regular surveys to collect data around local usage trends and community needs. Information gathered will be used to guide our coalition’s prevention efforts.

CANDLE was very excited to launch our first community survey during ATI’s ADA Celebration on July 26! The current survey aims to analyze usage trends of alcohol and marijuana among people within Cortland County. The Rural Health Institute of New York is overseeing all of CANDLE’s surveys, and responses are voluntary and will be confidential.

We will be collecting responses on an ongoing basis through the fall, and those who take the survey will receive a $10 gift card for their time! Survey-takers can choose between a physical gift card to one of ATI’s favorite local restaurants, New York Bagel Café & Deli, or an e-gift card to their choice of 11 major retailers.

CANDLE is also looking for community partners to help push out our survey. Have a space where we can set up a table for a day? Let us know! Do you work directly with clients or patrons who might be willing to take it? Reach out and we’ll get you set up!

If you or someone you know can help with survey administration, or if you live in Cortland County and would like to take the survey, please contact Ally McCabe, Project Director at 607-753-7363 or [email protected].

ATI & CANDLE Participate in Fentanyl Awareness Day

By Ally McCabe, Project Director, CANDLE Coalition & Sara Watrous, Project Director, CACTC HEALing Communities Study

On Tuesday, May 9th, local opioid overdose reduction coalition Healing Cortland organized our county’s participation in the second annual National Fentanyl Awareness Day. ATI, CANDLE, and other local community agencies joined a broad coalition of nonprofit organizations, corporations, government agencies and schools to raise awareness and conduct street outreach around the dangers of fentanyl.

Fentanyl Awareness Day is designed to raise awareness about the presence of illicit fentanyl in the illicit drug supply. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl is used in medical settings to help relieve pain, but fentanyl is also manufactured illicitly. Contamination of street drugs with illegally made fentanyl is the primary driver of the recent increase in overdose deaths.

Healing Cortland staff and community volunteers offered Narcan trainings, handed out fentanyl & xylazine test strips, and provided information about safer use and local resources.

Thank you to Healing Cortland for organizing, and to Southern Tier AIDS Program, Inc., Family & Children’s Counseling Services, Catholic Charities of Cortland County, and other volunteers for making this important day of action a success!