The proposed STOP Act project of the Project Lazarus Wilkes Youth Coalition (PLWYC) is to continue building capacity in Wilkes County, North Carolina to prevent and reduce underage drinking, as well as its related negative consequences, by youth aged 12-20 years old. Wilkes County is steeped in a history of substance use from moonshine, to tobacco, to marijuana, to methamphetamine to prescription opioids and heroin. Given this history, increasing the capacity of Wilkes Countians to tackle youth substance use, and specifically underage drinking, is paramount to the overall health of the community.
Wilkes County is a rural community nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the southeast portion of the Appalachia Region in North Carolina. Wilkes County's ethnic diversity is limited with 92.9% of the population listed as white; however, the cultural and economic diversity is extensive. Wilkes is a geographically large county, ranked 13th largest out of 100 counties in NC in square miles, according to Index Mundi. Wilkes is divided into 3 municipalities, 7 census-designation locations, 7 unincorporated communities, and 22 townships.
Because of the county's rich history of substance use and abuse, the population of focus for the PLWYC for the STOP Act project is Wilkes County in its entirety, which is approximately 69,000, with special emphasis on community stakeholders, parents, and youth. The first goal of the project is to increase community collaboration and coordination to create an environment where youth are more supported and more aware of the risks of youth alcohol use. Objectives for increasing capacity are to increase coalition participation and community collaboration by 15% and to increase the number of partnering agencies by six agencies by 06/29/23. Also, as measured by the Community Readiness Assessment using a model developed by the Tr-Ethnic Center of Prevention Research, increase community readiness to address underage alcohol use by at least one level (on a scale of nine levels) from 06/29/20 to 06/29/22.
The second of the STOP Act is reduce and prevent youth alcohol use in Wilkes County by implementing activities that address behaviors that may lead to initiation of alcohol use. Through the STOP Act project, the PLWYC will work to further strengthen capacity and collaboration among adults and key stakeholders as strong partnerships will be vital to the success of the project. Special emphasis will be placed on youth ages 12-20 which accounts for 7% of the overall population, or about 5,000 youth, which will be served annually. The PLWYC will also utilize its excellent relationship with the Wilkes County School system to further engage with youth in underage drinking initiatives. The coalition will serve about 3,700 middle and high school youth annually through work done in the public schools. Furthermore, the PLWYC will continue to engage the additional 1,300 youth by outreaching to the local community college as well as local church youth groups, youth-oriented groups, and the local Christian school.