Staying drug and injury free means making safe choices that help to keep your body and mind healthy. This includes things like wearing a seatbelt, using a helmet, and saying no to drugs and alcohol. It’s all about protecting yourself and others from harm.

Getting hurt or using drugs can change your life in big ways. It can affect your health, your work, your relationships, and your future goals. That’s why it’s important to learn how to avoid risky situations and take care of your body and mind. Public health works hard to help people stay drug and injury free. They teach kids, families, and communities how to make safe choices. They also support programs in schools and workplaces that encourage healthy habits and drug-free living. All of these efforts help people live in places where they can grow up healthy and safe.

Helping everyone stay drug and injury free is a team effort. Public health works with local schools, clinics, and public safety to share resources and tools so people can make healthy choices. When we all work together, we can create a healthy and safe future for everyone!

Human Services of Faribault & Martin Counties

The Stronger Together Community Leadership Team in Faribault and Martin Counties knows how important it is to stay drug and injury free.

The Stronger Together team was asked to use what they know about their community to decide how they can help those who face addiction. This meeting helped guide local leaders to find the best ways to support the needs of the community through funds that are now used through community grants. These funds go towards programs that identify, prevent, and treat drug misuse. Finding the best treatment options for the community was also a priority, and this process has helped guide what projects and programs receive money for support.

Everyone deserves the chance to access help for drug misuse. Local voices play a key role in helping the community stay strong and healthy. This improves access to treatment and other recovery resources.

Renville County Public Health

Towards Zero Deaths is a coalition that works to decrease deaths on MN roads. Emergency services, law enforcement, engineers, and many more work to teach and prioritize safety on the roads.

This car seat program for Renville County provides parents and families who do not have car seats a chance to get the right seat for their child. This is done in two ways, when there is a traffic stop and after accidents to help those who were in a car wreck get home safe with their child. This program is especially important because Renville County does not have a store that sells car seats, making it a car seat desert. Through these efforts, Renville Public Health was recognized with a Traffic Safety Innovation Award for making car seats available to everyone in the community.

Together, we continue to work towards zero deaths on MN roads and keeping kids and families safe as they travel.

Countryside Public Health

At the Benson Farmers Market, Countryside Public Health staff helped everyone learn about safe cannabis use.

With adult-use cannabis now legal in the state of Minnesota, one of public health's goals is to teach people how to safely store cannabis, making sure to keep it away from kids and pets. New ways that cannabis is packaged can also cause confusion about what someone may be taking. Public health staff shared tools to help people better understand what they are taking and how much. The goal of this event was to reduce emergency room visits caused by taking too much cannabis.

By promoting awareness around new cannabis laws and health risks, community members know what to look out and how to stay safer if they choose to try cannabis products.