Friday, May 2, 2025
5/2/2025
Bethel's Drug-Free Community Coalition - Bethel’s Global Reach Drug Free Community Coalition (BCC) is targeting the southwest district of Houston, TX defined by Braeswood Blvd to the north, Beltway 8 to the west, Highway 90 to the south and I-610 to the east—Fondren Westbury. The 11.61 square mile target area is made up of two Super Neighborhoods including Greater Fondren Southwest (#36) and Westbury (#37). Greater Fondren Southwest is found at the southwest corner of Beltway 8. The area includes the neighborhoods of Braeburn Valley West and Glenshire. Much of the land was reserved for apartment construction, and thousands were built along the major thoroughfares. When the local economy collapsed in the 1980s, these complexes deteriorated rapidly. The total population of the target area is 79,435 based on the most recent estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS, 2023). The racial and ethnic make-up is evenly split between Hispanic/Latinos representing the largest group at 36%, African Americans at 32%, and Whites at 25%. Asians represent 7% of the total residents in the target area. The Median income is $55,310 and 55% of the residents of Fondren Westbury earn less than $50,000 per year. This is mostly due to 46% of the residents having a high school diploma (22%) or never graduated high school (24%). The unemployment rate moves between 10% and 15% depending on the season and poverty remains above 20%. Westbury High School is one of three high schools serving the area. Westbury has 2,393 students in grades 9 through 12 of whom 78% are At-Risk and 84% experiencing poverty. The data available on the youth substance misuse problem in Houston clearly establishes ALCOHOL and MARIJUANA as the drugs of choice for our youth. For these reasons BCC has devised an action plan that focuses on increasing awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol and marijuana use as well as in providing meaningful opportunities as an alternative to substance use. BCC has adopted the following OUTCOMES in response: 1) Reduce 30-day Alcohol use among 12th grade students from the current 2021 baseline of 23.5% to 18.8% (-20%) by 2029 as measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. 2) Reduce 30-day Marijuana use among 11th grade students from the current 2021 baseline of 18.1% to 14.5% (-20%) by 2029 as measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. To achieve this end, BCC will target middle and high school age youth and their families with the following strategies to be implemented in the first year and sustained through the 5-year project: 1) Securing the infrastructure and capacity to address substance misuse prevention through wide-ranging community collaboration, 2) Improving coalition competency through trainings and education, 3) Increasing awareness of the issues around alcohol and marijuana with multimodal communications, 4) Enhancing parenting skills to buffer exposure to negative influences, 5) Implementing a comprehensive prevention media campaign targeting alcohol and marijuana, 6) Enhancing school-based student prevention clubs with training and activity support, 7) Advocating for school drug and alcohol response policy reviews and updates, 8) Conducting outreach targeting under-resourced, underrepresented Spanish-speaking and migrant communities, and 9) Improving access to prevention resources for parents and their families.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).