The Coalition for Orcas Youth has been selected as a recipient of a $625,000 federal grant from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. This grant program, which will be distributed over the next five years, is managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and represents an opportunity to strengthen ongoing efforts in preventing youth substance use.

ONDCP’s DFC program is the nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent and reduce substance use among youth. The DFC program provides federal grants to community coalitions to identify and respond to the issues unique to their community and change community conditions tied to youth substance use. With this grant, COY will be able to continue building a safe, healthy and drug-free community.

“Preventing substance use today is critical. We are thrilled to award this grant because we know the outcomes DFC-funded coalitions are capable of achieving when implementing evidence-based prevention strategies at the local level,” says Helen Hernandez, administrator of the DFC Program at ONDCP. “Through the DFC program, CDC is empowering community coalitions to implement local solutions to unique, local conditions, with the common goal of preventing youth substance use,” adds Allison Arwady, MD, MPH, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC.

“COY is grateful for the support of and partnership with ONDCP and CDC,” says Alison Sanders, coalition coordinator for COY. “We are proud to share this mission and effort to prevent youth substance use and protect the well-being of our community. Furthermore, this grant will allow us to better collaborate with our partners. By focusing our collective expertise and resources on this critical issue, we will ensure a positive impact on our youth and community.”