Media Contact: Becky Vance, CEO
Phone: 972-518-1821
Email: bvance@dpri.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
(Irving, Texas) - The IMPACT Coalition in Waxahachie is one of only two grant recipients in Texas to receive $625,000 in Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant funds to involve and engage Waxahachie and Ellis County in preventing youth substance use, including alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs and synthetic drug use.
“The evidence-based prevention work led by local DFC community coalitions is critically needed to reduce youth substance use and misuse, particularly in the midst of the national prescription opioid and heroin epidemic,” said ONDCP Director Michael Botticelli.
“The Drug-Free Communities Support Program is the sustaining force behind our prevention efforts in Waxahachie,” said Shari Phillips, IMPACT Waxahachie coordinator. “We’re grateful for these new monies so we can expand our work throughout Ellis County over the next five years and for the first time, address the teen use of synthetic drugs, identified as a problem by local law enforcement.”
IMPACT Waxahachie will evaluate and report their progress every two years, including past 30-day use, perception of risk or harm, perception of parental disapproval of use as well as peer disapproval of use.
“Our goal is to make Waxahachie and Ellis County a safe and drug-free place for youth,” said Becky Vance, president and CEO, Drug Prevention Resources, which oversees IMPACT Waxahachie. “Prevention is a powerful tool to counteract youth substance use and we will use this funding to establish and strengthen collaboration among communities and to reduce substance use among youth and, over time, among adults.”
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use, the DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use.
Drug Prevention Resources unites students, families and communities in a common desire to power change and flourish in positive, drug-free environments. It is the oldest prevention non-profit in Texas. For more information, visit DrugPrevResources.org.
