Hood River County Coalitions Helps Reduce Drug Use Rates

Hood River, Ore. is known as a tourist attraction for its wind surfing and its lush natural beauty. However, it's also an economically challenged area, where more than 14 percent of people live below the poverty level and 17 percent of children under age 18 live in poverty. It's also a place with high marijuana, alcohol and tobacco use among youth. That is, until the Hood River County Prevention Network – also known as Hood River Prevents – mobilized the community to address their drug use and other associated problems.

Hood River Prevents is a network of three coalitions, Si Se Puede, Faith Connections, and countywide Hood River County Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention Coalition under the guidance of Hood River Country Commission on Children and Families. Despite its staggering above national averages for children on free or reduced lunch and poverty rates for children under the age of 18, Hood River Prevents managed to reduce its marijuana use rates among 8th graders from nearly 19 percent to about 6 percent; and its binge drinking rates from 20 percent to 8 percent. They also reduced the county’s tobacco use rates among 8th graders from 12 percent in 2004 to 1 percent in 2009. Drug use in general among 8th graders was reduced dramatically from 40 percent in 2004 to just under 25 percent in 2009.

Among Hood River Prevents’ main strategies was to increase community service and volunteerism in their community, and to create alternative activities for youth, particularly for their growing Hispanic population.

High school and middle school youth contributed service to the community through school, churches, clubs and groups across the entire country, averaging four hours per week at the 6-12th grade levels and one hour a week at the K-5 grade levels. In total, K-12 age youth in Hood River Country contributed 600,000 hours of community service in one year. Youth helped in a wide variety of areas – everything from Hospice Care, Big Brother Big Sisters mentoring, music performances for fund raising events, trail building, Relay for Life Cancer Prevention, March of Dimes home repair and house building to park building, tutoring, blood drives, drives to raise donations for food and clothing, teaching English, writing grants, providing translation and teaching drug prevention/healthy lifestyles.

The coalition then honored the youth for their service. “It’s important to recognize young people for their contributions to community because by engaging young people in activities throughout the community, they are less likely to get involved in risky behaviors. We feel this has a direct relationship to our ability to manage drug use rates in the community,” said Maija Yasui, Hood River County Prevention Coordinator.

The coalition works with a variety of partners, many of which contribute their time, money and other resources to Hood River Prevents. One of them is St. Francis House where one staff person, Rebecca Brochu, who is part of the CADCA Ambassador Program, builds youth capacity through leadership opportunities, Girl’s Circle groups and volunteer training and coordination. Rebecca has been involved with the Hood River ATOD Prevention Coalition since 2006, where she helped to involve coalition youth in leadership opportunities surrounding substance abuse prevention.

Brochu, who has been a CADCA Ambassador since 2009, said the Ambassador Program has helped her connect the dots in all of the levels of work that she does with the coalition. “Since becoming an Ambassador, I have a better understanding of the wider picture of prevention. I prefer direct service, and this experience has helped me to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the administration side of coalition work. I am also able to bring a greater level of intention to my work with youth because I am aware of the goals our coalition has set,” she said.

Hood River Prevents also engages churches in the community to reach their Hispanic population. Through Hope and Life, a Spanish-language ministry targeting Hispanic immigrants, youth perform hip hop dance, drama and singing shows throughout the community with a message of healthy choices, drug and alcohol abstinence, service to others. Their work generates $150,000 of in-kind prevention services annually. The coalition also partnered with St. Mary’s Catholic Church to develop a soccer league that engages 600 youth annually, primarily Hispanic.

Like many coalitions, Hood River Prevents has a strong group of youth that play a major role in the coalition’s work. For example, youth present to boards at the County Fair, County Commission, City Council, School Board, State Legislature and Congress to change laws and practices relating to use of alcohol, underage drinking, marijuana legalization and tobacco use. Youth have petitioned businesses, parks, church grounds to go tobacco and alcohol free, and have petitioned school boards to increase their enforcement policies of drug and alcohol free activities on school grounds.