Nicole pictured above with rescue dog Annie, was a volunteer for 4 years and received a Pride of the Hudson Valley Award. 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed citizens can change the world, Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

AWARENESS served 200 youth in 2015/2016 spending only $10,000.00 with statistics showing 90% of them identified a need to change their behavior, reducing or ceasing use. We did this with devout volunteers to prove it can be done. AWARENESS needs your help to obtain funding to compensate youth who have a passion to help others and have graduated from the program so we can expand to save more youth from addiction. This helps them gain life skills and builds their resume while saving their peers. 

AWARENESS Education program brings kids and animals together engaging adolescents from the ages of 16-25  in an early intervention program. We utilize a peer to peer environment with a therapy dog to create a safe nonjudgmental atmosphere where youth can reflect on their behavior. 

AWARENESS high risk 18 - 35 years olds and their families struggling with addiction needing support, we connect you to a youth in solid recovery and help you get the help you need in detox, rehab, aftercare.

My name is Marie Klementis Shultis and I grew up in Zena, Woodstock on a small farm with my parents and two brothers. After losing my brother in a tragic car accident in 1988 it inspired me to help youth in the community in hopes of them never having to know what it's like to lose the closest person in their life. 

In 1985 I married Michael Shultis and had five children, four daughters and one son. 

In 2006 my husband and I received a call at 1am from the police that there were over fifty drunk teenagers at our house and more alcohol then they'd seen, what should they do?  Our 16 year old daughter had invited a few friends over in our absence. This brought to light, two things. First we had a huge problem with underage drinking and second, there wasn't an Alcohol Awareness Program educational program for Judges to use. There hadn't been one for ten years and Ulster County had the highest rate of underage drinking and driving and driving in NYS.

In 2007 after the loss of one of my daughters classmates where drinking and driving was involved, I helped youth in the community create the AWARENESS peer to peer education program, a not for profit. 

In 2013 after utilizing the AWARENESS program for several years Assistant District Attorney John Rusk dubbed AWARENESS a one of a kind program and a proven success in the New Paltz Court.  We expanded to help youth identify all addictive behaviors and teach them strategies and tools of how to over come them.

With the increased heroin epidemic it became more important to help youth identify how experimenting can sneak up and quickly turn to addiction.

 In 2014/2015 a formative study showed 90% of the youth identified a need to change their behavior by the end of the 8 week program.

In 2016 AWARENESS Inc was approved to be used by Judges as an official Alcohol Awareness Program by NYS Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services. We also have a Substance Education Program and assist youth in finding treatment and have a Recovery group to help them transition out of detox,rehab and jail.

Jo Coppola, GHA,MA,LMHC,  is not only an amazing counselor but also utilizes a unique tool for engaging youth. She has a Masters Degree in Handwriting Analysis. She tells the youth amazing things about them by reading their brain through their writing. We provide journals which has been proven to be highly therapeutic, something they can do daily to express their feelings.