Executive Director of Prevention Services, Karianne Lesperance, says they were initially told they’d received a five-year grant renewal, until that award was suddenly pulled just as the new fiscal year began.

That loss represents $600,000 over five years, covering roughly 75 percent of the department’s operations. Lesperance says the team has been scrambling to find alternative funding.

Lesperance says the department is now relying on a sustainability fund built over two decades of community support; but that money will only last about nine to twelve months without new funding.

She adds that fundraising and donations will be essential to keep both coalitions operating, and that their work preventing youth drug and alcohol use must continue.

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