Jackson Prevention Group Gets Grant

The Jackson County Prevention Partnership has been awarded $10,000 from the Prevention Alliance of Tennessee as part of the state’s mission to create more coalitions across the state.

Jackson County Prevention Partnership Board Member Nora Anderson said Jackson County is one of only a few counties that received funding. Anderson said the partnership plans to use the funding to acquire more funding to provide more substance abuse and mental health assistance to the county.

“What we actually want to do is not spend this money,” Anderson said. “Because this will allow us to seek additional funding like reimbursement grants. One of the things that you run into when you are a new coalition is sometimes you have to have money to ask for money.”

Anderson said Jackson County used to have a coalition but it closed. Anderson said the Jackson County Prevention Partnership is trying to fill that gap.

“What we are trying to do is reduce and prevent substance use in Jackson County,” Anderson said. “In the most immediate sense what that looks like is underage drinking, underage binge drinking, and addressing the use of vaping. I know that’s one of the really significant issues we are facing in Jackson County and a lot of other counties is the vaping of nicotine called THC and they are seeing that a lot in schools.”

Anderson said the next step is applying for more grants to better the county’s long-term coalition efforts.

“We are going to apply for the Opioid Abatement Funding this fall,” Anderson said. “We will also be applying for the Drug-Free Communities Grant early next year when that opens up which is a federal grant and that is the holy grail for prevention coalitions because that is up to ten years of funding that helps you build sustainability.”

Anderson said the partnership started from a grant awarded to Putnam County. Anderson said the partnership has come a long way and the funding it has received will take the partnership to new heights.