BP awarded $1M grant for drug prevention

Positive change appears to be on the horizon for Blooming Prairie as the community has been awarded a $1 million grant over the next five years for drug and alcohol prevention efforts involving youth.
Annette Duncan, president of United Way of Steele County, announced this week that Blooming Prairie received a Positive Community Norms state grant to facilitate youth substance abuse prevention efforts.
“The United Way was awarded this grant in large part due to the significant amount of support shown by the Blooming Prairie community toward the health of its youth,” said Duncan. “United Way is excited to partner with the Blooming Prairie community on this very important endeavor.”
With the grant being awarded, Duncan is on a fast track to hire a positive community norms coordinator that will be stationed at Blooming Prairie High School beginning this fall. Duncan is taking applications until July 23 and hopes to have the position filled by Aug. 15.
Duncan said Austin High School has a similar position offered through the same five-year grant. Bill Spitzer, a retired Winona County sheriff’s deputy, has been coordinating Austin’s program for the past several years.   
In March, Duncan revealed she was seeking a grant to help with what she referred to as a serious drug and alcohol problem in the community. She pointed to the most recent Minnesota Student Survey completed in 2019 when Blooming Prairie was about 2 ½ times higher than the state average for alcohol use in the freshman class and nearly double the state average in the junior class.
To be eligible for the grant, Blooming Prairie youth had to be using at least one substance above the state average, and the community had to demonstrate that it was willing to support the youth.
Despite the unflattering results from that survey, Duncan said one positive thing she has found is that most Blooming Prairie students are not using substances. “While there is concern that there are youth who use substances, the reality is that most youth are not,” she said, adding the strongest risk factor associated with youth use is the misperception of the number of students that use substances.
Duncan is also forming a Positive Community Norms coalition made up of representatives from various sectors of the community. Thirteen people have reached out wanting to be on the coalition. She hopes to bring the coalition together for regular meetings beginning in September. 
“It’s all about the positives to make change,” Duncan said. “I am super excited. I have seen the significant impact other coalitions can have on a community.”
 
Positive Community Norms Coalition
Parent                           Melissa Madden (Hormel)
Underserved                 Jim Barnes (Exchange Club Center)
Business                       Emily Glaser (BP Chamber)
Media                           Rick Bussler (Steele County Times)
School                          John Worke (BP High School)
Youth Organization      Autumn Van Ravenhorst (BP Youth Club)
Law Enforcement        Greg Skillestad (BP Police)
Justice/Corrections     Sonja Trom Eayrs (Barnes &Thornburg)
Religious                     Rev. Heidi Heimgartner (First Lutheran)
Healthcare                   Kay Zellmer (nurse) and Pam Clark (Pharmacist)
Government                Andrew Langholz (BP City)
Civic                            Daren Ryg (Yellow Ribbon)
Other                           Nancy Vaillancourt (BP Library)