SALISBURY — YSUP Rowan (Youth Substance Use Prevention Rowan) was awarded a Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant for $125,000 by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The grant is renewable for five years for a total grant award of $625,000.

The goals of YSUP Rowan (pronounced Wise-Up Rowan) are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use.

A strong supporter and advocate for YSUP Rowan, Rep. Ted Budd (NC-13) announced the award and said in a news release, “I’d like to congratulate Rowan County Youth Services Bureau on securing this grant funding. YSUP Rowan does tremendous work to help keep kids away from harmful drugs so they can stay healthy and safe. I will always do everything I can to help end the scourge of drug abuse in our communities.”

The coalition will use individual and environmental strategies that target underage drinking, marijuana use and tobacco use, including the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping devices, and which build upon their previous and ongoing substance use prevention efforts. YSUP Rowan provides information and supportive resources to young people and adults through their Safe@Home campaign and other events and activities in the community. A key initiative of the coalition is The Network, a mental health peer support group created and implemented by YSUP’s Youth Council.

The network connects young people to their peers to provide them with mental health resources and to promote positive mental health and emotional resiliency in their schools, reducing the need to rely on substances to cope with stress. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue our important work of youth substance use prevention,” said Karen South Jones, executive director of Rowan County Youth Services Bureau and the fiscal agent for YSUP Rowan. “Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that our community uses a holistic, collaborative and comprehensive approach to keep our young people from using and misusing substances.”