GRANITE FALLS — The house is a little run down. It could use a coat of paint, new plumbing and new landscaping.
But unlike a handful of other residences that have given this town a reputation as a drug haven, the 97-year-old house at 206 N. Alder Ave. is going to be put to more constructive use.
Call it the anti-meth house.
The Granite Falls Community Coalition was just awarded a $100,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Justice to expand its efforts to fight the use of methamphetamines and other drugs. The award was announced Tuesday.
Part of the money will go toward setting up the Alder Avenue house across the street from Granite Falls Middle School as a family resource center.
The community’s all-volunteer anti-drug coalition will now get a paid, full-time director, a part-time secretary, computer equipment and educational materials. The grant is renewable for up to five years, with the potential — but no guarantee — of up to $100,000 each year.
Kathy Grant, spokeswoman for the Granite Falls School District, said the news was a pleasant surprise, because coalition members expected to hear about the grant in July and were starting to wonder.
"We were literally jumping for joy in this office," Grant said.
"It’s a big thing," Granite Falls superintendent Joel Thaut said. "It’s a really big thing. It’s an opportunity for us to do something really important."
The grant represents a sort of vindication for the many people in town who have struggled to change Granite Falls’ reputation — as presented by Rolling Stone magazine — as "the meth capital of the world."
Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said winning the grant reflects the community’s willingness to acknowledge its problem and get involved in finding solutions.
"My county youth task force is comprised of 75 percent Granite Falls kids," Bart said. "If it wasn’t for their assistance, and a few other schools like Cascade High (in Everett), I wouldn’t have much success. I wish I could get all the other school districts to do as much."
Earlier this spring, after 1,000 people attended a meeting asking what they could do, the coalition invited Bart’s deputies and a group called Lead on America to help form neighborhood watch groups to put pressure on suspected meth houses.
So far, those efforts have helped police shut down 14 meth houses in the Granite Falls area, Bart said.
The grant writers had some less visible but important success stories in Granite Falls to attract the grant money.
A "life skills training" research project from the University of Colorado has shown some initial success, including a 25 percent reduction in 30-day drug use trends for grades six through eight in Granite Falls.
The coalition also has maintained an active presence in the community, promoting the removal of ephedrine (used by meth manufacturers) from store shelves, offering open gyms and a new skate park for area youths, starting parent education classes and mentoring programs, and well as inviting anti-drug speakers to town meetings.
The Granite Falls School District will continue to play a central role in the administration of the grant. Vervia Gabriel, the school district’s human resources director, will continue doing double duty as the grant manager until a new director can be hired. And Mike Sullivan, the district’s business manager, will handle the grant’s finances.
School district administrators credited another school district employee, Bridget Perrigoue, for sparking the ideas that evolved into the community coalition. As a drug counselor in 1997, she was shaken by the drug-related double murder of a student and his father by another former student.
Many people in town shared her concern, so Perrigoue elicited the help of many local leaders in forming the Granite Falls Community Coalition.
Now, for the first time, the coalition will have a centralized office and staff for people to go to with their questions. City Councilman Lyle Romack optimistically bought the Alder Avenue house with the intent of renting it to the coalition if it received the grant, and volunteers have already been helping him fix up the two-story house.
Reactions in town were generally positive.
"I think that’s a good idea," said Betty Boyer, who works at Omega Pizza and Pasta. "But I also think there should be something in town that keeps kids busy and off the streets."
At Country Nook, owner Trish Osgood, a coalition member, said the news about the grant was "fantastic." Osgood said the money should be used to expand existing mentoring and parenting programs.
Across the counter from Osgood, two customers, Tammy Yaskus and her 13-year-old son Jeff, were checking out Osgood’s paintball supplies. Osgood introduced the paint-gun game to local families at an exhibition this summer as an alternative for keeping kids busy, and the Yaskuses said they like it.
"I like the adrenaline rush," Jeff said.
Tammy Yaskus said parents would probably be more willing to visit the new office rather than a school counselor if their kids were struggling with drugs.
"That’ll probably be a big help in this community," Yaskus said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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