Amy Karr and Lori Holman are well aware they don’t have all the answers.
They don’t expect to.
But they know their work as administrators of the Drug-Free Communities support network could provide keys to reducing, or preventing, alcohol, tobacco or drug abuse among local youths.
Karr, local administrator, and Holman, community mobilizer, have hit the ground running since they signed on in December.
They have two directives: increasing community collaboration, and reducing youth substance abuse.
They’ve worked nonstop to establish relationships with townsfolk young and old — particularly high school and middle school students — across Allen County.
Their goal is to increase collaboration with partners across different sectors of the population, from health care workers, government agencies, to the kids themselves, to come up with solutions to prevent kids from dangerous behaviors.
That’s because the most effective way to treat drug addiction is to prevent its use in the first place, Holman said..
The Drug-Free Communities network is funded by a federal grant acquired by the Allen County Multi-Agency Team (ACMAT), which started a local substance abuse task force.
Those groups teamed with Preferred Family Health to apply for the grant, which is good for five years, provided certain benchmarks are met each year.
“This process started a year ago,” Karr said.
Allen County can reapply for the grant again after five years.
By then, Karr and Holman are optimistic each of Allen County’s communities will have a strong network of players working in league with area youngsters to keep them from a life of drug and alcohol abuse.
The community response already has been positive, the pair noted.
Countywide, they count more than 70 high-school or middle-school students, who have agreed to meet on a weekly basis at their respective schools to discuss ways to combat substance abuse.
“These kids then are tasked with reaching out to their peers,” Karr said. “Instead of peer pressure, this is the positive type of peer pressure.”
