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Addiction Recovery Partners
A UMNS graphic by Hugo Martinez
From the General Board of Church & Society:
Health and Wholeness
Alcohol and Other Addictions
The elected members of the General Board of Church and Society have voted to join the following coalitions and organizations. The staff person responsible for maintaining a liaison with each group is listed.
General Secretary's Office
Faith and Politics Institute – James Winkler
The Faith and Politics Institute provides occasions for moral reflection and spiritual community to political leaders, drawing universal wisdom from a range of religious traditions. The Institute encourages civility and respect as spiritual values essential to democracy and strives to strengthen political leadership that contributes to healing the wounds that divide our nation and our world.
website: http://faithandpolitics.org/
Alcohol and Other Addictions and Healthcare Work Area
Alcohol Policies Project, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) – Cynthia Abrams
A coalition which focuses on public and policy maker attention to leverage policy reforms that reduce the devastating health and social consequences of drinking.
Faith United Against Tobacco (FUAT) – Cynthia Abrams & Jim Winkler
A faith-based political action coalition dedicated to mobilizing the faith community to support proven solutions to reduce smoking. The coalition supports federal and state legislative priorities which promote tobacco prevention and cessation.
Faithful Reform in Health Care (FRHC) – Cynthia Abrams
A faith based coalition dedicated to health care for all as a moral value. They seek to do this by:
- expanding the depth and breadth of support for health care reform within the religious community,
- educating people of faith about the issue, and
- activating the prophetic voice to promote affordable health care for all in the United States as a moral value.
Website: http://www.faithfulreform.org
Health Care Now! (HCNow) – Jim Winkler and Cynthia Abrams
A coalition whose aim is to support the growing movement for a quality, national, single-payer, guaranteed, healthcare system for everybody in this country. They believe this can only be attained by removing the insurance companies from control of our healthcare.
Website: http://www.healthcare-now.org
Coalition for the Prevention of Alcohol Problems (CPAP) – Cynthia Abrams
A diverse coalition of public health, public interest, and faith-based organizations which promotes national policies to reduce alcohol problems and combat the political influence of alcoholic beverage industry interests in our nation's capital.
National Alliance for the Prevention of Underage Drinking (NAPUD) – Cynthia Abrams.
A coalition of public health, education, consumer, law enforcement, religious, child and family welfare, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and other national organizations dedicated to building and sustaining a broad societal commitment to reducing underage drinking. The National Alliance’s goal is: "To support and promote implementation of a comprehensive science-based national strategy to reduce underage drinking" as set forth in the National Academy of Sciences' September, 2003 report to Congress entitled, "Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility." The recommendations form the basis of a comprehensive national strategy to prevent underage drinking.
Partners for Effective National Tobacco Policy (PARTNERS) – Cynthia Abrams
A group of more than 60 public health and faith-based organizations dedicated to pursuing federal policies to reduce the death, disease, and disability caused by tobacco use.
National Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (TFK) – Cynthia Abrams
A private, non-profit organization committed to protecting children from tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke. The Campaign’s primary goals are to:
- Inform the public about the toll tobacco takes in health, lives and money.
- Change public policies at the federal, state and local levels to reduce tobacco use.
- Educate young people about the dangers of smoking.
- Support youth in becoming advocates for their own good health.
- Expose tobacco industry marketing practices that addict kids.
Website: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org
National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG) – Cynthia Abrams
The National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG) is a grassroots educational and resourcing organization dedicated to informing the public about the dangers of gambling. The coalition compiles information on the adverse personal, social, economic and public health impacts of gambling and disseminates it to citizens and policy-makers at the local, state and national levels. NCALG reaches out to other national, state and local groups for support, especially in the faith-based, retail business, entertainment, mental health and law enforcement.
Website: http://www.ncalg.org
National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion (NCAGE) – Cynthia Abrams
Sister organization to the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, (NCAGE) is a political action coalition which opposes all forms of gambling at every level, (local, state, federal, international, and Internet) using every tool available. NCAGE representatives travel to states across the country to assist in grassroots organizing, and provide support for challenging local, state, gambling expansion initiatives and lobbies Congress to enact tighter restrictions and prohibition on gambling.
Website: http://www.ncalg.org
National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC) – Cynthia Abrams
The broadly representative alliance working to improve America’s health care. The coalition is comprised of almost 100 organizations, employing or representing about 150 million Americans. Members are united in the belief that we need – and can achieve – better, more affordable health care for all Americans.
Website: http://www.nchc.org
Pathways to Promise – Cynthia Abrams
Pathways is an interfaith coalition focused on mental illness issues. They provide technical assistance and resources which offer liturgical, educational materials, program models, and networking information to promote a caring ministry with people with mental illness and their families.
Website: http://www.pathways2promise.org
Biography
Rev. Cynthia J. AbramsDirector of Alcohol, Other Addictions, and Health Care
Telephone: 202.488.5636
Contact Cynthia Abrams
The Rev. Cynthia J. Abrams serves as Program Director of Alcohol, Other Addictions, and Health Care for the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS).
Cynthia was born and raised on and near the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians in Western New York state. She moved to California as an adult and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at the California State University at Long Beach in Broadcast Journalism and her Master of Divinity at the Claremont School of Theology.
Cynthia is a clergy member of the California Pacific Annual Conference. She served local pastorates from 1993-1999 and served nationally in the church as a board member of the General Board of Discipleship and United Methodist Communications.
From 1999 through 2003, Cynthia served as the Executive Director of the National United Methodist Native American Center. On staff as a layperson at the Native American UMC of Southern California, she administered the church-sponsored outreach center for American Indian substance abusers in the City of Los Angeles.
Cynthia considers her formative years within the Four Corners UMC, her staff work at the Native American UMC, and her 1984 Ethnic Local Church Young Adult Internship at GBCS to be instrumental in teaching her to live a life grounded in a deep faith and close relationship with Jesus Christ. She believes that life is lived out by working for systemic God-centered change in our world through acts of justice and mercy.