ACT empowers communities to act in collaboration to prevent youth substance use and reduce substance use across all ages and promote greater wellness and long-term health in the greater Bennington area.
Bennington Youth Thrive is a directory and calendar of programs, activities, events, and other opportunities for youth in the Bennington area. Bennington Youth Thrive connects youth and families to offerings from local organizations that create safe and fun spaces for young people to grow and connect, help youth build skills and supportive relationships, and empower them to make healthy choices!
How to use this directory: Scroll through to view all organization listings, or use the Search or Filter tools in the top menu to sort programs by youth age, offerings (events, clubs, afterschool, drop-in programming, etc.), or theme (sports, arts, LGBTQ+, etc). Click on a box to expand and find more details.
With the guiding vision that everyone is a part of a healthy, safe, and supportive community and a mission to empower healthy youth, families, and communities, The Collaborative has been operating as a 501c3 nonprofit serving Windham, Windsor, and Bennington counties in Vermont since 1999.
Resilience Through Understanding (RTU) is an educational program for middle- and high-school aged youth that teaches the health risks of substance use and offers access to fun, healthy activities. The Collaborative has expanded its traditional program offerings to include a spring/summer RTU program season, in addition to the longstanding fall/winter program season.
Kanthaka is a not-for-profit organization specializing in equine-assisted therapies and learning experiences for people of all ages. Our activities are conducted by equine specialists and mental health specialists who hold nationally and internationally recognized certifications for providing therapeutic and learning opportunities in conjunction with horses.
United Counseling Service (UCS) has locations in Bennington and Manchester and offers an abundance of programs and support for community members, families, and youth. Their Teens 4 Change program is a peer-led group that helps youth interact with each other and build community connections while learning social-emotional and leadership skills.
Click the photo or heading above to see a list, broken down by age range, of books that help parents have conversations about substance use in their family.
A graphic medicine built to foster conversations with and among young people around vaping, choices about substance use, and social factors. This graphic novel-styled story of five teens going through high school incorporates behavioral science of substance misuse prevention with the stories, interest, and ideas of members of the Tobacco Free Rhode Island Youth Ambassadors. The novel has questions to help guide the discussion, a strong research base, and roots in risk and protective factors.
This resource provides a list of books that discuss or potray youth using substances and includes questions to support discussions on the topic.