We are committed to a comprehensive approach in early drug use prevention awareness and education for all teens. Our mission is to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to resist drug use, make healthy lifestyle choices, and avoid risk behaviors. We firmly believe in empowering teens, building their competence, confidence, and resilience for a bright future.
Positive Teen Development: Nurturing Healthy Self-Awareness
We believe in fostering positive teen development, encouraging healthy self-awareness to motivate behavioral change. By empowering teens, we provide incentives to reward positive lifestyle choices and create an environment of love, acceptance, and encouragement. Our goal is to inspire confidence in their decision-making and build a strong sense of self-worth.
A Life Free from Drug Use: Supporting Teens and Their Families
We are dedicated to providing every teen and their family with a life free from drug use and addiction. We understand that recognizing and addressing mental health issues like depression and anxiety is essential in preventing teen drug use. That’s why we offer access to a network of support services and mental health professionals in the Upstate, ensuring our teens and their families receive the assistance they need.
The Reality: Youth substance use is rising due to increasing pressures and easy access to substances like nicotine, THC, alcohol, and deadly opioids. For many, substance use is a form of self-medication for untreated emotional pain.
Key Statistics:
22 adolescents die every week from overdose in the U.S.
Fentanyl deaths among youth rose 565% between 2018–2023.
90% of addictions begin in adolescence.
The Solution: Prevention is cost-effective and transformative. By building protective factors—trust, belonging, and hope—we reduce future harm and help youth rise to their full potential.
Prevention isn’t just compassionate—it’s cost-effective and transformative. Each young person who delays or avoids substance use reduces future strain on schools, law enforcement, and healthcare.
RIZE Prevention builds protective factors—trust, belonging, and hope—so youth can rise into their full potential as healthy, resilient community members.
Expertise Statement: Our signature Recovery-Informed Prevention© method combines evidence-based prevention science with compassionate mentorship. Unlike traditional scare tactics, we utilize the Break Through – Follow Through© approach.
How It Works: We help youth feel seen, heard, and valued. By connecting “connection before correction,” we empower students to make confident choices rooted in self-worth rather than fear.
Join The Movement
For Schools:
Explore the iRIZE Program. A curriculum-integrated approach that improves student wellness and reduces substance use.
Bring iRIZE to Your School
For Churches:
Learn about our Beyond Genesis 3 Program. Stand with us in the battle for our youth through faith-based support.
Partner With Us
For the Recovered:
My Recovery is Their Prevention. Turn your story into hope. Join our movement of mentors who use their lived experience to guide the next generation.
RIZE Prevention is making a measurable impact in schools and in the lives of youth. Partner schools consistently report lower rates of substance use, improved academic performance, fewer behavioral issues, and a stronger, more positive school culture.
91.8% feel more comfortable saying “no” if offered substances
93.1% were inspired to have conversations with family or friends about drugs or alcohol
Over 90% reported greater awareness of the risks of drug use, recognition that drugs are not a way to “fit in,” and knowledge of where to turn for help.
At RIZE Prevention, we believe that recovery isn’t just about finding freedom—it’s about lighting the way for others. “My Recovery is Their Prevention” empowers those in recovery to give back.
Addiction often begins long before the first use—it starts with pain, pressure, and lack of hope. By connecting recovery stories with prevention education, we bridge the gap between those who’ve walked the hardest roads and those who still have a choice ahead of them.
Your recovery can be their reason not to start.
Join the Movement and help us bring awareness, education, and faith-based support to youth in our community.
