Drug-Free Tennessee Reaching Out to Parents

Drug-Free Tennessee provides materials to educate parents and their children about the hazards of drugs.

This past weekend, Drug-Free Tennessee participated in an annual event for parents of school children, where they distributed copies of The Truth About Drugs booklets to parents, teachers and children alike.

“We need to spread a positive drug-free message to parents and their children,” says Brian Fesler, regional coordinator for Drug-Free Tennessee, “This is vital to halt drug abuse and especially the opioid epidemic that is sweeping this state and country.”

DFT has been out in the community, handing out information and spreading the word. “Education is the best offense,” says Fesler.

DFT is the local chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World (FDFW), an international organization based in Los Angeles, and has as its mission to educate people about the dangerous effects of drugs so they understand and can make informed choices on the subject. At the heart of the campaign are the Truth About Drugs booklets, 13 fact-filled booklets that, without scare tactics, inform about drugs, empowering young people to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

Fesler says, “There is a need in our communities to educate everyone on drugs—drugs impact all our lives in one way or another. That’s why it is important for all of us to work together .” For more information on Drug-Free Tennessee, visit drugfreetn.org. 

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee Participates in Father’s Day Celebration

“Honor and Help Your Parents,” is but one precept from the common sense guide, The Way to Happiness, but it was with this in mind, that volunteers from The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee took to the Edgehill neighborhood for a Father’s Day celebration where they distributed copies of the booklet to parents and children alike.

The Way to Happiness, which was written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s, sparked a movement and has been reprinted and passed hand to hand to a wide variety of cultures and peoples.

In Tennessee, The Way to Happiness Association has been on an all-out effort to spread its message even further. The reason? Organizers for the group say where it is distributed crime rates plummet, as proven by statistics.

“This book spreads a calmness that is unparalleled by anything else. It contains common sense moral messages that anyone can agree with and apply,” says Rev. Brian Fesler, the regional coordinator for the program.

According to thewaytohappiness.org, “This code of conduct can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind.” In the three decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book passed hand to hand.

The Tennessee Association launched its campaign in 2009. During the Father’s Day celebration, dozens of copies of the booklet were distributed. For more information, visit twthtn.org.

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee Promotes Peace

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee was excited to participate in a large-scale peace event this April.

Organizers for The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee say their mission isn’t just peace, but a calm environment. The group was happy to participate in a large-scale event recently where hundreds gathered to form a human-made peace symbol.

The Way to Happiness Foundation, based in Los Angeles with chapters around the world, was formed to forward the booklet of the same name written by L. Ron Hubbard. The Way to Happiness booklet details 21 precepts that are predicated on the fact that one’s survival depends on the survival of others.

According to thewaytohappiness.org, “This code of conduct can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind.” The Way to Happiness aims at giving people back a sense of what is right and wrong in a way that is easy to understand. In the two decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book passed hand to hand.

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee distributed hundreds of copies of the booklets during the gathering for peace.

The Tennessee Association launched its campaign to distribute many copies of the booklet in 2009. Since that time, the group has visited local health fairs, festivals and community gatherings.

Rev. Brian Fesler, the regional coordinator for The Way to Happiness Association, says, “Our goal is a crime-free, healthy, and happy community. We will participate in events anywhere across the state to achieve this goal.” For more information, visit thewaytohappiness.org.

Criminon Tennessee Creating a Safe Community

Just over a year ago, Criminon Tennessee graduated its first class from the Criminal Justice Center (CJC) Correctional Facility in the heart of downtown Nashville. The Director of Criminon Tennessee, Tracy Fesler, was extremely proud to talk about the progress her students make during their time in the program.

“Some of these guys get in trouble because of a momentary upset—one thing sets them off and they make a mistake that puts them on the course for years of self invalidation and degradation,” says Fesler.

The Criminon program is an evidence-based intervention that creates safer communities through its education curricula for offenders.  Criminon means “without crime,” and Criminon Tennessee is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. According to criminontn.org, “[Criminon International] is the management body for the network of Criminon chapters and offices in over 20 countries that services over 11,000 offenders weekly.”

Fesler says most offenders begin a life of crime after they lose their own self-respect. “I worked with an inmate who told me the exact moment in her life when she lost her self-respect. She had stolen candy from a shop at a young age, and she was met with a group of adults all coming down hard on her for this—her parents, teachers—all people she looked up to were telling her she wasn’t going to make anything of herself, so she didn’t.”

The fundamental principle that underlies the Criminon approach in methodology is the restoration of the individual’s self-respect and common sense values to avoid relapse into antisocial patterns of behavior.

Fesler says another aspect is that many offenders learn by example. “They learned this lifestyle from the culture that surrounds them. They see being a drug dealer as ‘cool,’ because their role models do that. They are missing so many good opportunities because they can’t even imagine having another lifestyle,” she says.   

The Criminon curricula utilize the principles and methods of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard – who also had personal experience in law enforcement, walking the “beat” as a Special Officer in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1948. Hubbard wrote in detail about the rehabilitation of the criminal, once noting, “[Man] becomes a menace only when he has to compensate with dangerousness for his own loss of prestige.”

Criminon Tennessee works with inmates at every level. Fesler is excited to move the program even further in the coming year. “All that I do is help people restore their respect in themselves and others. This is incredible work, and I’m passionate about helping more and more people,” she says. For more information on Criminon Tennessee, visit criminontn.org.