The Montgomery County Drug Free Coalition recently awarded $28,532 to support local programs that address substance misuse issues in the community. Funding for the grants comes from drug user fees collected by the county and is utilized in the areas of education/prevention, intervention/treatment and criminal justice/law enforcement.
Recent grant recipients and awards are as follows:
• Montgomery County Probation Department received $4,050 for its substance abuse assessments. This will help when probationers who need substance abuse assessments need financial assistance.
• South Montgomery Junior High School received $500 for a book club. Funds will be used to purchase books for every grade level involved in the club that address avoiding substance use.
• Integrative Wellness received $900 for their Walk for Recovery event. Funds will go towards supplies for the event.
• Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau received $2,000 for positive youth programming. Funds will support the Inspire and Youth as Resources programs.
• Recovery Coalition received $2,644 to support the Recovery Rec Center.
• Crawfordsville Fire Department QRT received $3,000 for its Resources for Recovery. Funds will be used to purchase draw string bags and gifts cards to give to those in need. These bags will contain substance use and mental health resources.
• Montgomery County Probation Department received $2,600 for the Juvenile Cognitive Behavioral Programs. These funds will be used for their Moral Reconciliation Therapy Group.
• Montgomery County Probation Department also received $1,000 for the Veterans Treatment Court. These funds will be used to purchase the incentives including sobriety tokens, notebooks/datebooks, gas cards and store gift cards.
• Through the Gate received $1,500 to have three employees become peer recovery coaches.
• Cummins Behavioral Health received $994 to have employees be trained to work with couples treatment.
• Crawfordsville Police Department received $1,064 to go towards the Law Enforcement Youth Camp. This will allow youth to have a more positive experience with our law enforcement officers.
• Crawfordsville Police Department also received $600 to help purchase equipment for investigations.
• Montgomery County Probation Department also received $3,000 for Drug Court. Funds will be used to purchase incentives for positive reinforcement for those involved with Drug Court.
• Montgomery County Probation Department also received $1,680 to reduce the cost of drug testing for youth and young adults in Montgomery County.
• Montgomery County Probation Department received another $3,000 to assist probationers with emergency housing or transitional housing costs.
Grant recipients must agree to complete a report on their activities at the end of the grant period, promote drug free living consistently in their programs and organizations, attend at least three Coalition meetings during the year and attend the Red Ribbon Breakfast in October.
The purpose the Coalition is to bring together a cross section of the community in an effort to reduce youth and adult use/abuse and the negative impact of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs through multiple strategies across multiple sectors. Its goals are to increase knowledge and skills while changing behaviors, attitudes and the environment of our community. The Coalition has been in existence since 1990, serving as the local coordinating council for the Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana. The Coalition is governed by an executive board and leadership team who are responsible for guiding the organization.
The Coalition meets bi-monthly. These meetings are open to the public and are held in February, April, June, August, October and December at the Youth Service Bureau.
