Council approves $124,128 appropriation for Drug‑Free Communities mini‑grants

The Allen County Council approved a $124,128 appropriation on Wednesday to fund the Drug‑Free Communities grants administered by the county’s Drug and Alcohol Consortium.

Monique Johnson, executive director of the Allen County Drug and Alcohol Consortium, told the council the 2025 funding covers three categories—justice, prevention and intervention/treatment—and an administrative category used to collect and report data, create and monitor memoranda of understanding, and run the review process. Johnson said the county’s review committee includes four staff members and four community members who score applicants on a rubric.

Johnson said this year’s award pooled more money than in the prior year and allowed the consortium to fund nearly all applicants, adding roughly $4,000 more in each funding bucket compared with the previous year. She identified several applicant changes: Maryland SPAN’s listed applicant was actually the Salvation Army (which was not funded), McMillan Health returned as an applicant, Star Care Services was not funded for prevention because it functions primarily as a recovery home and will be guided to apply for intervention funds, and Amani returned to the applicant pool.

A motion to approve the appropriation from the Drug‑Free Communities Fund carried 7-0. The council packet showed the appropriation amount as $124,128.