Coalition Seeks Big Drug-Free Grant

DAYTON - More than a dozen concerned citizens and civic leaders packed into the Delany Room at the Day­ton Memorial Library last Wednesday morning to voice their support of programs aimed at reducing drug and alcohol use in Columbia County.

The Columbia County Co­alition for Youth and Families is looking in the next three months to apply for a Drug-Free Community Grant, which could bring $1.25 million into the Touchet Val­ley

for programs aimed at preventing substance abuse among youth.

"We're looking at about 400 hours investing in apply­ing for this grant," said coali­tion president and county prosecutor Rea Culwell. "If the community doesn't think it's a problem (youth drug and alcohol use), then why do it?" The consensus at last week's breakfast meeting was, yes. City and county leaders, business owners and residents from Dayton and Starbuck are worried about it. Culwell, with help from local colleagues like Peggy Guitierrez from Blue Moun­tain

Counseling, presented bleak data about the abuse of substances among valley youth. The percent of middle school smokers in Columbia County is higher than the state's overall percentage. Among high schoolers, drinking is practiced more in the county than the state average. In Columbia County, 71 percent of students think it's easy to get alcohol. Statewide, that number is 38.3 percent. In Columbia County, 48 percent of 12th grade students drank fiveor more alcoholic drinks in a row during a two-week period. Statewide, that number is 1.7 percent.

"The problem here is bigger than law enforce­ment," said Jennie Dick­inson, manager of the Port of Columbia and a guest at last week's meeting. "The problem is an attitude of being above the law."

The coveted grant is fed­eral money in the amount of $125,000 per year for five years, with an option to reapply for another half decade of funding.

The grant requires that members of all sectors of the community be part of the coalition, includ­ing

representatives from youth 18 or younger, par­ents, businesses, the me­dia, schools, organizations serving youth, law enforce­ment, religious or fraternal organizations, civic and volunteer groups, health care professionals, gov­ernmental agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse, and other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse.

The coalition itself has been operating as a non-funded policy board for Community Mobilization Programs. In Washington, these mobilization pro­grams

work on the premise that effective prevention of alcohol, tobacco, drug use, and violence requires communities to become or­ganized and strongly moti­vated to meet the challenge. Successful prevention efforts require that a com­munity

find a structure and process that encourages a variety of independent, lo­cal organizations to cooper­ate effectively in the deliv­ery of prevention services. "I hope we don't waste all this effort, either," said Greg Bye, pastor at Re­deemer Lutheran Church in Dayton and a representative of the valley ministerial as­sociation. "Even if we don't get the grant, we should move forward on ideas we come up with while apply­ing for the grant." Dayton resident Ann Passmore, who has been part of committees to deter­mine

eligibility for Drug-Free grants in the past, said the most successful communities have fami­lies

involved. And county commissioner Dick Jones suggested the coalition try to get Waitsburg and other valley communities involved. Other help is needed in applying for and secur­ing this grant. The next coalition meeting will be Thursday, Dec. 16, at 7:45 a.m. in the Delany room. Free breakfast is provided. Help is needed in many ar­eas. For more information about the grant, visit www.ondcp.gov/dfc.