Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, spoke to the members of Keystone and Leaders in Training at the Boys and Girls Club in Newhall on Monday about how he secured funding to implement an opioid and substance abuse prevention initiative in their program.
Matt Nelson, CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Boys and Girls Club, and Jay Duke, CEO of the Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club, proposed this initiative to Garcia to address the opioid epidemic facing today’s youth. The idea behind it was to disrupt the cycle of children abusing opioids or other drugs, who did not have the education, awareness, or support to choose differently.
“We’re chasing a lot of money to help this program grow and to help this program protect you guys from some dangerous stuff out there,” said Garcia to the club members.
He added that this topic is very important to talk about in the community and was proud they would be the youth to make a difference.
Garcia was able to secure $1.68 million in federal Community Project Funding for the initiative.
“This (funding) will help us provide trauma-informed practices and training for our staff and make sure that it is integrated into our programs,” said Nelson. “We can offer small group programs, support programs that teach and give kids the right help and social-emotional skills to be able to cope with things that may lead to substance abuse.”
It is believed this will reduce the risk that the youth will misuse drugs. The Boys and Girls Club is in a unique position to reach about 5,600 youth between ages 4 to 18 and equip them with the skills necessary to make healthy choices, said Nelson.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to save a life. It’s just a matter of how many lives it saves,” said Garcia.
Garcia said the Boys and Girls Club has a proven track record of making a difference in youths’ lives. To him, they are making it easy to advocate for this initiative to be implemented. He said he knows the funding will be used correctly and effectively.
“These are literally the optimists, right? These are the kids that we’re giving hope to, and they’re the ones that should be encouraged by their communities, but they’re actually encouraging their communities themselves,” said Garcia.
The Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club have started the process to implement these new programs, said Nelson. They signed the final paperwork last week and are ready to move forward.
