The Herald Bulletin

The Chemical People Task Force of Madison County has announced recipients (from grant applications) of Madison County Drug-Free Community Funds for the 2008 program year.

Projects eligible for funding from the Drug-Free Fund had to address recommended actions that are targeted to reduce or eliminate the use of drugs, alcohol or tobacco, said Bill Warmke, director of the task force, in a press release. Around $125,280 was provided for agencies in the areas of education and prevention, treatment and justice.

The following agencies requested and will be awarded funds for their projects, according to the Chemical People Task Force’s Grant Review Committee, consisting of Dr. Bruce MacMurry, Kim Townsend, Ronald L. Kimm and County Commissioner Paul Wilson:

• Madison County Sheriff’s Department, to provide educational instruction in the public schools of Madison County, pertaining to health risks related to the use of drugs and alcohol through the D.A.R.E. program — $21,246.

• Individual police departments, for their own projects, patrols for special events and to purchase special equipment for these purposes: Chesterfield — $3,603; Edgewood — $3,603; Elwood — $4,885.

• Community Justice Center, working with incarcerated or high-risk offenders who have been sentenced to the correctional complex, justice center or Indiana Department of Correction and are on probation or parole and providing counseling, monitoring, work release and treatment — $14,686.

• Sowers of Seeds Counseling, which provides clinical treatment related to drug and alcohol abuse and provides education in this area and the areas of conflict resolution — $10,353.

• House of Hope, a halfway house residential program that provides food, shelter and treatment for low income or under-insured residents who have been referred by detoxification centers — $8,813.

• Alternatives Inc., for their Safe and Drug-Free Women and Families Project, which provides a safe and secure environment for abused women and their children — $6,503.

• Madison County Just Say No Clubs, for after-school programs that emphasize peer-related drug-free social activities and anti-drug and alcohol education — $5,490.

• Healthy, Tobacco Free Madison County Tobacco Agency, to assist in efforts to call for “smoke-free” facilities, to provide anti-tobacco education within the community and in Madison County schools — $4,600.

• West Side Hope Community Development Center, to enable them to establish a re-entry program, providing jobs, training and counseling to those having difficulty adjusting to society — $4,005.

• Wilson Boys & Girls Club, which provides anti-drug instruction and recreation for young students, during the critical hours of 3 to 6 p.m., when children are without parental supervision — $4,000.