At Upstream Prevention, we dig down to address underlying causes that impact us all. Our goal is to move upstream to help build resilience, decrease risk factors, build strengths and protective factors which we know will have impacts on our individual and public health downstream.
"Imagine a large river with a high waterfall. At the bottom of this waterfall hundreds of people are working frantically trying to save those who have fallen into the river and have fallen down the waterfall, many of them drowning. As the people along the shore are trying to rescue as many as possible one individual looks up and sees a seemingly never-ending stream of people falling down the waterfall and begins to run upstream. One of other rescuers hollers, "Where are you going? There are so many people that need help here." To which the man replied, "I'm going upstream to find out why so many people are falling into the river."
Saul Alinsky // in Shelden & Maccallair
Values
Through all of our efforts, we hope you’ll notice our organizational values:
Positive
We believe that everyone has strengths to contribute and lean on, and that the best prevention work is done from a place of strength and positivity, as opposed to fear and scare tactics
Collaborative
We believe that our efforts should support the whole community through strong community partnerships and meaningful “seats at the table” to ensure our efforts are inclusive, with the messages to a population coming from the population
Trustworthy
We strive to be data-driven and utilize prevention science best practices. You can always count on our information to be fact-based, and presented with integrity
We also follow and endorse the Prevention Think Tank Code of Ethics core principles of:
1. Non-discrimination
4. Nature of Services
2. Competence
5. Confidentiality
3. Integrity
6. Ethical Obligations
for Community and Society
We think our approach is best because it allows us to address root factors that have multiple downstream impacts. And the work we do benefits everyone. We all can use more support and protection in our lives. We can all benefit by understanding how we can be that supportive friend, and help build resilience in ourselves and those around us – moving upstream means making the whole community a safer and healthier place for us all to live.
If you’d like to learn more about Upstream, or have any questions on our approach or values, please reach out to Kathleen - she’d love to meet up with you for coffee to answer questions and talk about Upstream.