TSET Board of Directors Awards Healthy Incentive Grants to Eight Cities

TSET Board of Directors approved $280,000 in TSET Healthy Incentive Grants for eight cities across Oklahoma, aimed to enhance community health and quality of life.

Recipients include the cities of Chickasha, Hubert, Langley, Prague, Del City, Purcell, Tamaha and Wilburton. TSET emphasizes the importance of promoting healthy environments through these grants, which are part of its broader efforts to encourage active living and wellness across the state. Click HERE for a full list of awards.

TSET Healthy Incentive Grants are available to communities, school districts and individual school sites. 

New resource guides and application deadlines for FY25 are now available. Click HERE for communities and HERE for schools.

Oklahoma Father Talks About Quitting Tobacco for His Daughter

Brian Brower from Claremore tried to quit smoking many times over nineteen years. He finally found success with support from the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline. He recently told his story to 2 News Oklahoma over Father's Day weekend. 

"If you're looking to quit smoking, there's help out there," Brower said. "Find that reason. Find that reason to stick with it."

Brower's reason: his daughter. "When I saw cigarette smoke blowing into my daughter’s face during a car ride, I decided right then and there to give quitting an honest try."

Today Brower says his life looks completely different tobacco free. He is happier and proud to show his daughter that anything is possible.

Read more success stories from the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline HERE.

Perspective: Julie Bisbee in the Journal Record Outdated Laws Contribute to State's Vaping Epidemic Oklahoma’s vaping epidemic is closely linked to the state’s high density of vape retailers. The latest data shows 6.1% of Oklahoma adults and 21.7% of youth vape, placing the state among the top five for vaping prevalence in the nation. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has one of the highest number of vape retailers per capita. These rankings are largely due to Oklahoma’s lax and out-of-date laws regarding tobacco and nicotine products.

TSET Better Health Podcast Throwback: Youth Vaping and How to Reduce It

The TSET Better Health Podcast is published every other month. On the months without a new release, we invite you to revisit earlier episodes you may have missed.

Episode 45 focused on the rise of youth vaping and efforts that are underway to reduce it. State Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, spoke on bills she proposed to reduce youth access to vape products, and two high school students discussed how and why teens vape. Kelli Brodersen, director of TSET Strategic Communication, described TSET ad campaigns that speak to youth about the dangers of vaping and how to quit when they are ready.

"Vaping is new enough that we don't really know yet what the long-term health consequences are," said Roe. "I think by catching these kids earlier, we can hopefully reduce some of the long-term healthcare issues that they may have."

The podcast is available on TSET's website and everywhere podcasts are listened to: Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher, PodBean, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.

Click here to listen.

Meet the Team: Beashua Spearman

TSET is staffed by a dedicated and passionate group of people. This month, we would like to introduce Beashua Spearman. Spearman, M.Ed. is a grants manager for TSET. Prior to joining TSET, she worked at the Department of Commerce as a Case Management Program Officer/WIOA Title I System Administrator. Spearman has a Master of Education with an emphasis in Grant Management and Workforce Development from the University of Arkansas. She has a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Spearman is a member of the National Grant Management Association, The Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City; and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Read about the rest of the team HERE.