DANVERS — DanversCares has won a $150,000 federal grant to share its expertise with a new coalition aiming to prevent teenage drug and alcohol abuse in Boxford, Topsfield and Middleton.
The grant is worth $75,000 a year for two years.
The money will help the newly formed Tri-Town Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition get going and get further funding. The coalition is a program of the Tri-Town Council, a Topsfield-based nonprofit.
Peg Sallade, the DanversCares coordinator, has been working informally with the Tri-Town Council for the past two years to help found the new coalition. The grant money will allow her to continue that mentoring, with the goal of adding a part-time program coordinator and eventually winning federal grants.
"We have a wealth of experience and some solid local successes to build on," Sallade said. "Why reinvent the wheel? We are happy to share our expertise with neighboring communities."
"It's a wonderful opportunity for us," said Lisa Teichner, executive director of the Tri-Town Council.
Sallade said there is a science behind the work of prevention and models to follow. Often, residents will come together with good intentions, but if their efforts are not focused, they can wind up spinning their wheels. The money will help the new Tri-Town coalition figure out what initiatives best fit with the needs of the three towns to keep kids safe. Sallade said there will be community surveys to identify areas of concern.
"They are not much different than what we see in other communities on the North Shore," Sallade said.
The Tri-Town coalition already has about a dozen members representing the police, schools, parents, nurses, clergy and others. A survey of adult perceptions about risky youth behavior has drawn 500 responses, Teichner said.
DanversCares is a community prevention coalition founded in the mid-1990s under a slightly different name, Community That Cares. It started out as school-based health advisory committee.
DanversCares is made up of police, educators, parents, students, clergy, community members, organizations and business owners.
"I think they are very effective in getting the word out about what is out there, especially on underage drinking," said Danvers police Sgt. Robert Bettencourt, who attends DanversCares monthly meetings and works closely with the organization.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673, by email at eforman@salemnews.com or on Twitter @DanverSalemNews.
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