PORTLAND RECEIVES $100,000 DRUG AID

Grant Will Help NOW Group Fight Susbstancesubstance Abuse

A Portland group received a $100,000 federal grant yesterday to help keep
the neighborhood's pre-teens and young adults from abusing tobacco, alcohol
and drugs.

Because Portland is such a tight-knit community - generations of families
often live side-by-side and go to school together - it had an edge in the
competition among this year's 582 applicants, federal officials said.

"It wasn't an easy application to write or to win. Congratulations," Mary
Ann Solberg, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
told 30 well-wishers and residents gathered at Portland's Neighborhood
House community center for the announcement.

"You understand the connection between drug abuse and community problems ..
and know that local problems require local solutions," she said.

The 2-year-old Portland NOW neighborhood group is one of 183 recipients to
receive up to $100,000 through the federal Drug-Free Communities Program.

Because the grant is renewable for four years, the group could receive up
to $500,000.

The money will be used to train community leaders for Creating Lasting
Family Connections, a family-based prevention program. Formed by the
Council on Prevention and Education Substances, a 25-year-old
Louisville-based agency, the Family Connections program will be offered to
adults and children at three or four Portland sites.

Plans also include the creation of a task force that will devise a
long-range plan to reduce the use of tobacco and other drugs.

U.S. Rep. Anne Northup of Louisville, who attended the gathering, said
residents' special love of community and family makes the neighborhood
deeply committed to reducing drug activity.

"Groups in the Portland community are serving as great partners as we
assess in Washington how to deal with this problem across the country,"
said Northup, R-3rd District.

A big part of the game plan that helped Portland win the grant came from
surveys by the Portland NOW Prevention Partnership, a group created by
Portland NOW to deal specifically with abuse issues, said the Rev. Joseph
Fowler, president of Portland NOW and pastor of the neighborhood's St.
Cecilia Catholic Church.

Of the 445 students and 63 adults polled, the surveys found that:

a.. 73 percent of 12th-graders in public schools believe there is only a
slight risk or no risk in smoking marijuana regularly.

a.. 51 percent of 10th-graders in public schools believe there is only
slight risk or no risk in consuming alcohol regularly.

a.. 83 percent of 12th-graders and 77 percent of 10th-graders in the public
schools believe that marijuana is easy to obtain.

a.. 41 percent of 10th-graders in public schools believe that other drugs,
such as cocaine, are easy to obtain.

"We found that there is a lack of awareness at the middle and high school
levels about the dangers of drugs and alcohol," Fowler said. "We want to
help them look at the basic good in their lives and give them the tools to
fight peer pressure."

Debbie Seng, a longtime Portland resident and Portland NOW member, said she
thinks the program could change lives.

"I'm thrilled. I think kids need to learn some real information about drugs
and alcohol, not just the information on the streets," Seng said. "Think
about how much drugs affect the community ... it can make better lives
possible for our children."

Even some people who don't live in Portland left yesterday's gathering
feeling good about the group's plan.

Lucile Leggett, a resident of the adjacent Russell neighborhood, said she's
optimistic about the program's potential impact on her community.

"I'm concerned about the problem - we have some of the same things going on
in Russell," she said. " I came to get ideas."

The two neighborhoods "have people who know and communicate with each
other" across neighborhood lines, she said. "This could have an indirect
impact on us."