|
(Washington D.C.)- The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced today that the Madison Heights Community Family Coalition and the Southeast Oakland Coalition are both the recipients of $125,000 Drug Free Community (DFC) grants for their efforts to facilitate active citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts.
“DFC grants have shown their ability to help communities lower their instances of youth drug and alcohol abuse,” said Rep. Levin. “The coalitions awarded today have demonstrated leadership in bringing together schools, local governments, and police departments to engage the community on drug prevention efforts. These grants will strengthen their efforts.”
“We have been working diligently to bring substance abuse awareness to the forefront of our community, and this money will greatly enhance that effort,” said Richard Lewis, Executive Director of the Madison Heights Community Family Coalition.
“We’re very excited for the opportunities of the Drug Free Communities Support Program,” said Donnis Reese, Executive Director of the Southeast Oakland Coalition. “Other communities have benefitted from the DFC expertise and resources to implement strategies that reduce alcohol and illicit drug use. Because of our partners within the geography of Ferndale School District, we now have resources to do the same.”
To qualify for the grants, awardees must have at least a six-month history of working together on substance abuse reduction initiatives, have representation from 12 specific sectors of the community, develop a long–term plan to reduce substance abuse, and participate in a national evaluation of the DFC program. The DFC program provides matching grants of up to $625,000 over five years.
In addition to the grants awarded to the Madison Heights and Southeast Oakland Coalitions, continuation grants were awarded to the Tri-Community Coalition (Berkley, Huntington Woods, and City of Oak Park) and the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families. The awards, which continue previously awarded DFC grants, were in the amounts of $100,000 and $125,000 respectively.
The DFC program was created by the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997 which was co-authored by Congressman Levin and Former-Congressman Rob Portman. Congressman Levin is a principal advocate for the program in Congress, leading the fight to improve funding levels since the program’s creation. Since its inception, the DFC program has awarded funding to support the drug prevention work of approximately 1,700 coalitions.
(####)
|
