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Date: 11/20/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Recent continued funding from a national grant is continuing to help the West Springfield CARE Coalition educate residents and prevent substance abuse among the town’s youth.
Coalition Coordinator, Nikki Lewis, told Reminder Publishing the funding was first announced in September of 2018. In total, the Drug-Free Communities Grant will award the coalition $625,000 over the course of five years. Since the 2018 announcement, the CARE Coalition has been awarded two $125,000 installments of the grant.
Lewis described the coalition as a “youth substance prevention organization” and said their mission is to “provide education and prevention efforts to address and eliminate underage alcohol and substance use and promote safe, healthy lifestyle choices.” She said the way they do this is through “our collective voices, leadership expertise and resources” to work towards achieving their vision of a “substance-free youth in West Springfield.”
The collective voices of the community are reflected in representatives from 12 “diverse sectors” including youth, parents business, media, schools, youth serving organizations, substance abuse organizations, law enforcement, religious organizations, volunteer groups, health care professionals and state agencies.
One of the goals of the grant, according to Lewis, include establishing and strengthening collaboration within communities to support community coalitions, such as the CARE Coalition, that work to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth.
The second goal of the grant includes reducing substance abuse among young people and adults over time by addressing factors within the community that may contribute to the increased use and misuse of substances. Part of the goal is to promote the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse and misuse.
Lewis said the grant has given the coalition opportunities they may not have been able to experience otherwise, such as training opportunities.
“In this first year of funding, we have been able to complete a variety of training opportunities so that we can most effectively utilize our funds to create a powerful and sustainable impact,” she said. “These trainings provide us with the opportunity to collaborate with fellow substance use prevention community coalitions from across the country, as well as to attend educational sessions held by leading prevention specialists to enhance our skills and provide us with strategies to bring back to West Springfield.”
Some of the trainings they were able to attend and learn from include the National Coalition Academy, the National Leadership Forum and Mid-Year Training Institute. Lewis said the funding also allowed for the hiring of a coalition coordinator, increased data collection efforts within the community and expand the ways in which they’re able to provide education resources to the town.
Lewis said when the five-year period is up and all installments of the grant have been awarded, the coalition will have the opportunity to apply for another five years of the same grant. “We have the possibility of being awarded through this program for up to 10 years,” she said. The coalition hopes to continue to use the money to achieve and support the goals of the grant which Lewis said “closely align” with their mission and organizational goals.