GRANT HELPS LOCAL COALITION FIGHT DRUG ABUSE WITH SPORTS, SUMMER CAMP

Savannah Group Gets $100,000 Federal Grant To Help Housing Authority Children.

You could try to fight drug abuse with a series of lectures.

But a coalition, called Partners for Community Health, just received a
$100,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to beat drug abuse with football
practice, a computer lab and other activities for children in Savannah's
low-income, housing projects.

"This is an opportunity for participants to take advantage of things beyond
the concrete jungle," explained Vince Del Monte, executive director of the
Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club, one of six groups in the coalition.

The seven-year-old coalition is one of 31 groups in the nation -- and the
only one in Georgia --to receive a Department of Justice grant, said
Barbara Mays, the coalition's director and also director of the Office of
Grants for Memorial Health Trust.

The money will fund existing programs for housing authority children that
could have been lost in recent budget cuts, program officials said.

Federal funding will also underwrite the first Chatham County anti-drug
coalition since one disbanded five years ago, said Ron Alt, a manager with
the Savannah Housing Authority.

The coalition plans to sponsor anti-drug, educational events like "Red
Ribbon Week," and a 2003 "New Year Soberfest for Teens."

More than 2,000 children, ages 6 to 18 live in the Housing Authority's
simple brick, stucco and cinderblock homes on the edges of downtown
Savannah. Among the neighborhoods: Hitch Village on the east, Yamacraw
Village on the west.

Over the last seven years, anti-drug activities here have reduced the
number of its young people on juvenile probation, Alt said.

Some of the activities paid for by the new grant occur in Housing Authority
community centers, but some will take children to another world.

For instance, a "Sea Camp" run by the University of Georgia's Marine
Extension Service, will take participants to the ocean on its research
ship, Sea Dawg.

A Savannah coalition called Partners for Community Health just received a
$100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fight drug abuse.

Here's a tentative breakdown of where the money will go. (All breakdowns
are subject to change when a final budget is approved by federal officials.)

- - $12,000 -- Memorial Health Trust which is administering the grant

- - $4,800 -- Coastal Empire Boy Scouts to continue five troops or Cub Scout
packs in Housing Authority projects

- - $19,000 -- City of Savannah's Department of Leisure Services to continue:
homework assistance; a computer lab; a Kid's Cafe nutrition program; summer
camp; and sports for Housing Authority young people

- - $7,200 -- Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club for football and cheerleading
programs, basketball and summer camp for 81 students. Also homework assistance.

- - $5,000 -- Girl Scouts Council of Savannah to continue troops in the
housing projects

- - $2,450 -- University of Georgia Marine Extension Service for scholarships
so Housing Authority students can attend Marine Science Camp based on
Skidaway Island.

- - $49,450 -- Coalition expenses including the hiring of a coordinator and
all expenses for community-wide events like Soberfest for Teens.