by Alex Brooks
HAPPY, the Hoosick Area Partnership for Parents & Youth, has recently announced that they have been awarded a three year grant from the U.S. Department of Education for implementation of a mentoring program. The grant is for a total of $369,000 over the three years.
The program, designed to develop positive relationships between youth and adults, will recruit volunteer mentors from the community and match them with young people to provide an extra level of personal guidance for the young people, steering them away from drugs and alcohol and towards more positive pursuits. The funding will be used to pay the salaries of Project Director Aelish Nealon and two “mentoring coordinators,” who will recruit, train and supervise the mentors, and for various other general expenses. The program will be for fourth to eighth-graders for the first year and expand to include ninth and tenth-graders in the second and third years. The project leaders are looking for adults in the community who would be willing to volunteer to serve as mentors. They will be looking for about 35 mentors in the first year, and they are looking for a three year commitment from the volunteers.
The program was planned in cooperation with the Hoosick Falls Central School, St. Mary’s Academy and the Hoosick Youth and Community Center and will be implemented in cooperation with them. Mike Benoit, the Chairman of HAPPY’s Board, said, “It is truly a community effort.” He said they hope to have the program up and running by January.
HAPPY’s Other Activities
HAPPY is now in its fourth year. It is funded by a five year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HAPPY is applying now to fund the program for another five years when the current grant runs out. The mission of the program is to use proven strategies and community partnerships to reduce alcohol and drug use among the youth of the community and to create healthier communities for kids to grow up in.
Presentation To School Board
HAPPY Board Chairman Mike Benoit and Vice Chair Maryann Strauss recently gave a presentation to the Hoosick Falls School Board describing their activities.
Benoit says the group uses only proven strategies that have been shown to work in other communities across the nation. He also emphasized that the program relies a great deal on partnerships with other groups in the community. HAPPY works in close cooperation with the Youth and Community Center in the Village, the schools and churches and other organizations in Town. The group contributes to a number of programs for youth and their parents, such as the Character Education program in the schools, the Strengthening Families Program, the Positive Parenting program, Youth Summit, Youth Court, after-school tutoring and others.
A hallmark of the program is accurate community assessment. Toward this end, Happy does a Communities That Care Youth Survey every two years to get a picture of the prevalent attitudes and behavior in the community concerning drugs and alcohol. HAPPY reports that their surveys have shown that alcohol use has declined 10% in the period from 2002 to 2008 and marijuana use has declined 8.4%.
Joyce Davis, HAPPY Executive Director, said, “We’re obviously thrilled with these results. It’s proof that our efforts, including restoring programs and giving youth a safe place to be after school, initiating a mentor program, developing a town-wide code of conduct and many more strategies are having an impact. I’m grateful the schools and the community have embraced our efforts, and we look forward to reaching out to even more members of the community in the months and years ahead.”
Following the presentation by Benoit and Strauss, HFCS Superintendent Ken Facin reaffirmed the School District’s commitment to doing their part as a partner in HAPPY’s coalition. He said research has shown that the summer between sixth and seventh grades and that between seventh and eighth are critical moments in regard to beginning substance abuse. The school has added a sixth grade health course to raise students’ awareness about what is at stake if they should start using drugs or alcohol. He also pointed to the school’s initiative this year to make Hoosick Falls a “Smoke-Free School.”
Prospects For The Future
Davis said she was feeling very secure about the renewal of HAPPY’s grant funding until recently, when the country’s economic troubles have thrown so many things into doubt. She said the coalition building that is happening in Hoosick Falls has received favorable notice at the State and National level. Two years ago a staff person at the NYS Office of Alcohol & Substance Abuse Services called attention to HAPPY’s success at bringing so many different groups in the community into their coalition. Last summer, twelve people from Hoosick Falls, eight kids and four adults, traveled to Nashville to make a presentation at an annual national conference sponsored by the US. Dept. of Justice on efforts to stem underage drinking. They described HAPPY’s efforts to develop and promote a Town-Wide Code of Conduct. Davis said she is confident that if the funding at the national level continues as before, HAPPY will be able to make a strong case for continued funding. She said, “Sometimes I think of our program as ‘the mouse that roared’ when the things we are doing in this small town are being seen as a model for others in the State and nation to follow.”