Join the fight against drug abuse

To the editor:

Last year I wrote a letter to the editor calling for more community participation in the Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition.

I am happy to report this year that we were pleased to have increased that participation significantly.

We are still soliciting additional involvement by those community members interested in taking a stand on the abuse of drugs and alcohol in Jay County. We meet in room 106 at John Jay Center for Learning on the third Monday of each month. We invite the public and other organizations to join us. I look forward to seeing some fresh faces at our next meeting on the 17th of this month.

We are now joined by new resources to address the problem.

In late September, we received a federal Drug Free Community grant to tackle the concerns of the youth in our county related to drugs and alcohol for the next five years, with the potential for funding for another five years.

Additionally, we also secured a grant to launch a pilot program that models an effort to directly reach out to the victims and their families who have overdosed on opiates to persuade them to seek recovery and rehabilitation help. This model program could significantly affect many aspects of life in the Jay County community not related to the drug abuse issue only.

We will be launching a major effort to influence our young Jay Countians to make positive choices in their lives and remain drug free. We will be teaming with numerous community-wide organizations to implement our plans — Jay School Corporation, Head Start, Meridian Health Services, IU Health Jay, Purdue University – Jay County Extension Office, Jay County Youth Service Bureau, Community and Family Services and our courts, law enforcement and fire departments.

We are working in tandem with our recovery community, churches and service organizations, as well as other community members throughout all our communities and county. 

The enemy persists in their attack, but we continue our effort to make Jay County drug free.

For more information on making a difference contact us at (260) 251-3259 or visit us in the new year at our office at 205 N. Meridian Street in Portland.

Nick Miller

Chairman 

Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition