Thursday, October 1, 2026
The North Shore Coalition Against Substance Abuse is preparing for its annual CASA Cares Golf Outing fundraiser, the latest of the organization’s events this year. According to Co-President Sean Trager, the Aug. 24 outing at Brookville Country Club is CASA’s largest fundraiser that allows it to carry out its mission throughout the year.
CASA was founded in 2017 to help create sustainable behavioral and environmental changes to abate youth substance abuse. Within the last few years, it has added initiatives focused on mental health. The nonprofit offers initiatives and events for students and parents within the North Shore School District.
Six years ago, Trager and his wife, Alexa, also a CASA board member, organized a golf outing to support Glen Head resident and father Paul Salinas, who was battling pancreatic cancer and struggling with his mortgage and medical bills. After Salinas’ death in 2021, the Tragers decided to organize a golf outing for CASA. Trager said they wanted to find a way to raise money for something meaningful each year.
“I stand up every year making my speech about CASA,” he said, “thinking about my friend.”
According to Trager, CASA has already raised nearly $30,000 ahead of the outing, and the goal is to raise roughly $50,000. The event consists of a golf scramble, a style of team golf, followed by a cocktail hour.
Trager said that more than 120 people are expected to attend this year’s golf outing, and the cocktail hour is usually well-attended. He added that in addition to raising money to support CASA functions year-round, the event is a way to bring the community together and destigmatize the discussion around substance abuse and mental health.
“People stand together, and they’re not talking about sports and alcohol,” Trager said, “and instead they’re thinking ‘How can we be most effective in helping our kids find a better future?’”
CASA Co-President Jolie Silva added that the outing creates a sense of community and is “lighthearted and fun.”
“I would hope to see more of that community engagement,” she said. “People joining together with a common goal and positivity.”
Trager said CASA has had to evolve over the years to include more programming focused on mental health, social media and digital devices. He added that children face many risks and technology is often necessary but must be managed effectively.
Silva, a psychologist, speaks at many of CASA’s parent education events about child and teen mental health, including topics like anxiety and parent stress management. She said that over the last two years, she has been advocating for more focus on screen and social media addiction.
“We have a generation of young adults and teens who don’t really know how to cope with negative emotion,” Silva said, “because they immediately turn to a screen to avoid negative emotion.”
CASA has held several events throughout the first half of the year, including discussions, trainings and pickleball tournaments. The organization conducted a panel aimed at parents titled “Protect Our Teen Athletes” in the spring, featuring Northwell Health doctors who discussed mental health challenges student athletes might face and how parents can help.
Trager pointed out that student athletes may feel their sense of identity is tied to the role they play on a sports team.
“There is a mental health crisis that comes along with sustaining an injury in the sense that they lose their sense of purpose and belonging,” he explained. “So, we want to figure out a way to fill that void with something positive.”
Panelists also discussed the role parents play in helping their student athletes recover from an injury, including administering medication and lead the decision on whether taking a narcotic is appropriate. One pain management specialist on the panel offered information on alternatives to opiates that are safe and effective.
Silva echoed the idea of teen athletes’ identities being tied to their sports and pointed out that coping with depression and anxiety related to an injury can also be a challenge.
“The panel was really helpful,” she said, “in educating parents on how to identify the signs of when athletes might be at risk to abuse substances after an injury.”
CASA conducted a Narcan training at the Gold Coast Public Library in the spring, during which organizers addressed several ideas, Trager said. Among these ideas were the risks of opiate use and overdose, the risks of taking a prescription not provided by a doctor and that Narcan can do no harm in the event it is used when not needed.
The organization has held several Narcan trainings over the years, targeting different age groups. The most recent training was open to all North Shore residents.
“I saw a kid this weekend who had attended one of our seminars two years ago,” Trager said, “and he told me that he actually saved someone’s life.”
Trager said that CASA leaders are exploring ideas for more athletic and creative arts-driven initiatives. To learn more about CASA’s mission and initiatives, visit NSCasa.org.
