$175,000 in grants will promote community partnerships, prevention programs

September 8, 2006 -
Congressman Greg Walden announced a major grant for Hood River’s drug prevention programs at an event at Hood River Valley High School in Hood River.  The Hood River County Drug Prevention Coalition has been awarded $175,000 in federal funds to continue their successful drug prevention work.
 
The Drug Free Communities Support Program Continuing Grant, awarded by The Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Dept. of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is in the amount of $100,000 – the maximum grant amount possible.  The Hood River Coalition was also awarded a Drug Free Communities Support Mentoring Program Grant in the amount of $75,000.  The grant is awarded competitively to prevention coalitions that have proven to be highly effective.
 
“Kids today face so many pressures, and drugs are an easy trap to fall into,” Walden said.  “As the parent of a teenager in Hood River, I can't say enough about the positive results these vital prevention efforts are producing in our local community.”
 
The purpose of the continuing grant is to continue to build the capacity of the Hood River Coalition so they can engage more community partners (churches, businesses, parents, law enforcement, media, service organizations, etc.) in promoting alcohol, tobacco and drugs abuse prevention.  The mentoring grant will allow the Hood River Coalition to mentor the Gilliam County Safe Communities Coalition in an effort to replicate the successes in Hood River.
 
“Our coalition is excited about the opportunity of mentoring in neighboring the communities of Klickitat, Skamania and Gilliam Counties,” Hood River County Prevention Coordinator Maija Yasui said.  “We know that illegal drug use knows no geographic boundaries, and its crippling effects are not stopped by the mighty Columbia River, four different county governments or eighty miles of wheat fields that separate our communities.  Helping our neighbors in their drug prevention efforts can only strengthen our own efforts.”
Walden, who held one of his seven Meth Town Hall forums in Hood River last year, said he recognizes how critical it is to reinforce messages to prevent illegal drug use, especially with children and teens.
 
Walden, who held one of his seven Meth Town Hall forums in Hood River last year, said he recognizes how critical it is to reinforce messages to prevent illegal drug use, especially with children and teens.
 
“Last year my seven Meth Town Halls around central, southern and eastern Oregon provided forums for hundreds of families, teachers, community leaders, local drug prevention groups and law enforcement agencies to discuss the destructive nature of meth and other illegal drugs.  These forums made abundantly clear how critical it is to attack the problem at every level through community-wide, collaborative efforts, which is what Maija Yasui and the Hood River Coalition does so well,” Walden said.  “These grants allow the good work of the Hood River Coalition to continue, and spread to other communities in need.”
 
Congressman Walden is in his fourth term representing the people of Oregon’s Second Congressional District, which includes 20 counties in southern, central and eastern Oregon.  In addition to serving on the House Energy and Commerce, and Resources committees, Walden is a member of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine and the Speaker’s Task Force for a Drug-Free America.