The Million Dollar Deal

What would you do with $1.25 million dollars? Would you buy some new clothes, pay off debt, or maybe even save for the future? What about putting that money back into the community? For Impact Local, an organization that involves and engages the local community to prevent substance use among youth, bettering the community is exactly their mission. Recently, they received a grant of $1.25 million from the National Drug Control Policy, and all the money is going towards the goal of making Norwood a safe and drug-free place.
“The grant will be focused on substance use prevention,” explained Sigalle Reiss, Public Health Director and Impact Coalition Chair.
When applying for the grant, Impact Local was able to show that Norwood has a strong foundation to implement prevention strategies. Substance misuse and substance use disorder are serious diseases that can be prevented through proven evidence-based programs. In this way, Impact Local hopes to better the Norwood community and keep more kids from turning to drugs.
The Program Director will facilitate the activities of the coalition and work towards implementing prevention strategies that will work to change behavior and reduce substance use. As of press time, specific programs and strategies were yet to be determined.
“Prevention is a powerful tool to counteract drug use in our community, and Impact local will use this funding to help the youth in Norwood make healthy decisions about substance use," Reiss explained.
As drug use is a rising epidemic in our country, it is organizations like Impact Local that are integral to keeping kids safe. According to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 3,200 young people per day between the ages of 12 and 17 used drugs for the first time in the preceding year. Therefore, kids, parents, and educators of these communities have to be ready to guide this country’s youth in a safer direction.
, “we’re losing more than 60,000 people per year to drug overdose, but if we can stop young people from starting to use drugs in the first place, we can save lives," Richard Baum, Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy noted.
Local Drug-Free Community coalitions are a key part of this effort because they are bringing together parents, schools, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, businesses, and others to prevent drug use and improve the health of the community.”
Everyone needs to work together to prevent substance use, and Impact Local now has the funding to make that happen in a seamless and effective way.