STAND: Students Taking Action Against Negative Drug Influences. A youth-led initiative to prevent opioid, methamphetamine, and prescription drug misuse. - Pinnacle Community Development Corporation (PCDC) dba Together for Resilient Youth (TRY) Coalition is a Durham, NC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 20-4459428), former Drug Free Communities grantee (NH28CE002472-10, 2012-2022), and current CARA recipient (NH28CE003344-05, ending 2026) requesting $75,000 per year for five years to implement STAND: Students Taking Action Against Negative Drug Influences, a comprehensive, peer-led, community-wide prevention initiative targeting opioid, methamphetamine, and prescription drug misuse among youth ages 12-18 across nine Durham County ZIP code service areas. Durham County's confirmed overdose death rate of 40.7 per 100,000 (2023) is 90% above the national average. Current NC DETECT emergency department surveillance of overdose visits involving medications or drugs with dependency potential (ICD codes T40, T42, T43, T50.7 and T50.9; ages 15-65; May 2025 through April 2026) places Durham County in the 85.7 to 123.4 per 100,000 range, above North Carolina's statewide rate of 89.5 per 100,000 (NC DHHS, May 2026). Durham County Emergency Management Services (EMS) responds to approximately 750 overdose calls annually, most falling outside published statistics. Methamphetamine is actively trafficked and co-occurs with opioids across the service area. Youth ages 12-18 face heightened risk through adult and peer behavioral modeling, online distribution networks, and concentrated Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) exposure. STAND addresses both CARA goals through a socio-ecological framework - meaning to address individual, interpersonal, community, and societal/policy contexts at the same time. Under Goal 1 — reduce and prevent youth substance use, TRY will serve 100 unduplicated youth annually through three tracks of LIFT (Lead, Inspire, Flourish, and Thrive), TRY's peer-led youth coalition program: a standard community track, a 20-hour diversion track, and a 50-hour probation track. Parents and caregivers including bilingual Spanish delivery are required to participate alongside their child through Coping Together (50 families). TRY will train 10 youth Health Ambassadors reaching 500+ youth through peer outreach. Under Goal 2 — change the culture and context of acceptability (*required outcome), TRY will convene 2 annual community Town Halls with expert panels including Dr. Susan Spratt (Duke Population Health), Dr. Kendrick Kennedy (Duke Regional Hospital Emergency Department), NC Injury Prevention Branch, NCCU, and Youth Health Ambassadors; deliver one Search Institute Developmental Assets Train-the-Trainer event; and sustain youth-created digital prevention content reaching 500+ youth. Evaluation is led by external evaluator Dr. Selena Judon-Monk (NCCU Professor of Public Health). Core measures - past 30-day prescription drug misuse and perception of risk will be administered across grades 7, 9, and 11 with Wave 1 in December 2026 and Wave 2 in June 2027, submitted through the CARA National Cross-Site Evaluation system. TRY brings 25 years of continuous prevention; a 48-member coalition across 12 sectors; 650+ Good Neighbor Business Network partners; teen prescription drug misuse reduced from 25% to 6% over the full DFC cycle; 500+ engaged under the current CARA award; former CADCA Coalition of the Year; and leadership by Dr. Wanda Boone, Master Trainer in three evidence-based frameworks, co-author on peer-reviewed research in Health Equity (2026), and national presenter alongside the Deputy Director of CDC. STAND builds on this proven foundation to create lasting, measurable change in Durham County's youth substance use culture.
