FACING FACTS

Drug Strategies

Facing Facts

Workplace Programs

Students KEEP Away From Drugs. It is illegal to selling drug paraphernalia, such as rolling papers and bongs, when one knows they will be used to consume illicit drugs. That's why residents of Anacostia took action to deter merchants from selling these items. The Associates for Renewal in Education and Kramer Middle School developed Project KEEP (Kramer Elevating Education about Prevention). In 1995, Project KEEP identified stores that sold loose cigarettes and cigars to minors, who would later fill them with marijuana. Kramer students designed posters illustrating the products they discouraged stores from carrying. The Anacostia Coordinating Council held a community meeting attended by business owners, city officials, police officers and concerned citizens. Community organizations donated the posters, as well as certificates of cooperation and multilingual flyers for a community-awareness rally. Merchants who agreed to stop selling the targeted items were listed on the promotional posters as campaign participants. For more information, call (202) 610-7263.

Cooking Up Jobs for Recovering Addicts. Beyond feeding the city's homeless, D.C. Central Kitchen offers recovering addicts just what they need to prevent relapse: job training. In a 12-week course, the group turns homeless recovering drug abusers, into certified safe food handlers ready for food service careers. During the course -- which includes random drug testing-- chefs and guest speakers instruct the trainees on everything from food sanitation procedures to punctuality. Two hundred participants have graduated from the training program since 1990. Nine out of ten obtain full-time jobs upon graduation. Graduates also staff a mobile kitchen that provides meals and drug abuse counseling at three emergency shelters. D.C. Central Kitchen prepares 3,000 meals for the needy every day. Individuals, foundations, businesses and the United Way support D.C. Central Kitchen, which recently won a grant worth nearly $2 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to open job-training sites for 1,275 District welfare recipients. For additional details, call (202) 234-0707 or visit the Kitchen's web site at www.dccentralkitchen.org.

Fighting Drugs Is Child's Play. Washington's businesses and communities are joining forces to reclaim drug-infested neighborhoods through KaBoom!,a national project that builds playgrounds. KaBoom! brings corporations, architects, construction consultants and community organizers together to create safe playgrounds which provide alternatives to drugs. Each company adds its own touch to the playgrounds. Nike, for instance, has donated safety surfacing from recycled shoes, and Home Depot has provided building materials. Corporate partners participate in park clean-ups and help celebrate the ground-breaking of new playgrounds. The project also helps sponsors build employee teamwork. KaBoom! has built 50 playgrounds in Washington, funded by Black Entertainment Television, the Children's Defense Fund, the Freddie Mac Foundation, the Enterprise Foundation, Home Depot, Nations Bank, the Neighborhood Design Center and Nike. KaBoom! will build 1,000 playgrounds nationwide by the year 2000. Contact KaBoom! at (202) 659-0215 or visit the organization's web site at www.kaboom.org.

Ready to Work, Able to Recover. The blue-uniformed workers in Georgetown, Adams Morgan and other D.C. neighborhoods are recovering addicts; their work for Ready, Willing & Able, a work and housing program for the homeless and unemployed, helps them stay clear of drugs. Funded by private contributions and city, federal and corporate contracts, the program enables participants to earn up to $6.50 per hour in construction, food service, data management, mail delivery and housing maintenance jobs. Kenilworth Parkside Management, P & R Enterprises, Velocity Grill in the MCI Center, and Ronald Reagan National Airport have all hired workers from the program. Participants live in group homes, attend 12-step drug recovery meetings, and are tested for drugs throughout the program. Ready, Willing & Able matches up to $1,000 of personal savings if workers maintain sobriety, find private employment and secure unsubsidized housing; two in three participants complete the program. A year later, 85 percent continue to be employed. To learn more, call (202) 986-3800.

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