Project HEAL is funded through the Bureau of Health Professions and Health Re-sources & Service Administra-tion (HRSA). Project MARTIN is funded through the Center of Substance Abuse Prevention. The combined programs have been awarded $2.5 million to serve the community for a three- to five-year period.
Young T. Hughley Jr., executive director of RRC, said he was particularly pleased by the opportunity that the community would have to become educated about health promotion and drug prevention stra-tegies.
"Our people in urban and economically de-pressed areas suffer from a number of issues that affect their health and their safety," Hughley said. "We are eager to work with organizations such as Emory Univer-sity, the Fulton County Health Department and our local school district."
Ronald Braithwaite, program developer for both programs and Emory associate professor, said, "Emory University is excited about its involvement on the front lines with communities struggling to improve the quality of life. Critical issues that affect communities cannot be solved in the classroom or on the campus. Solving community and public health problems will require genuine collaboration between local residents, faculty, students, and health and human service providers."
Project HEAL will provide an opportunity for the community residents, Fulton County Health Department staff, university students and faculty to be involved in planning and implementing health promotion programs. "The Fulton County Health Department's goal of becoming more responsive to the needs of residents will be enhanced by the Project HEAL initiative," said Ecleamus Ricks, director of Physical Health for the Fulton County Health Department. Between Project MARTIN and Project HEAL, health prevention jobs have been created for 25 high school students and 12 adults from the involved communities. Project MARTIN will involve the following communities: Reynoldstown, Summerhill and three public housing communities of Capital Homes, Martin Street Plaza and the King Village. The participating youth will be recruited from the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. A youth mentoring program will be established by involving students from Southside High School.
Project MARTIN will enhance the ability of participating adolescents to resist participation in illegal drugs and other activities that contribute to destructive behavior. Rosa Hadley, principal of King Middle School, said she believes that Project MARTIN will enhance self esteem and provide support to students.
"Our children are faced with obstacles that are detrimental to their very existence," Hadley said. "Many are not provided with the support they need in the community to help them to resist the temptation to participate in undesirable activities. Project MARTIN will equip them and their parental guardians with the knowledge and the skills to move in a positive direction and to do more than `just say no.'"
Each of the grants will involve community people providing input to the projects through advisory boards. Participation from students and elderly members of the community will be encouraged. The boards will be comprised of people supportive of prevention programs.
-- Sarah Goodwin