“This funding will go along way toward steering our young people away from drug abuse,” Ross said.  “This grant program will help to educate our youth and provide them with wholesome activities and mentors who will help them make wise decisions as they are faced with the social pressures associated with drug use.  The war on drugs is best fought through our children, I am pleased to see this worthwhile program take on this fight in Pine Bluff.”

The Community Resource Agency is the fiscal agent for the Communities Against Drugs coalition, serving Pine Bluff.  The grant project has two goals: to reduce substance abuse among youth and to strengthen community anti-drug coalitions.  Communities Against Drugs will use a number of strategies to implement these goals, including:

· Providing mentoring activities to at-risk youth; 
· Engaging in environmental strategies to help keep drugs from area youth; 
· Using social marketing strategies to help convince youth not to use drugs; 
· Providing experiential prevention education activities to at-risk youth; 
· Organizing alternative activities for youth; 
· Providing life skills training to mentors of Pine Bluff children; and
· Increasing the coalition’s membership by recruiting representatives from local businesses, government, schools, and media.