The DeKalb County Board of Health's Division of Health Assessment and Promotion and the Prevention Alliance on Tobacco Control and Health (PATCH) announce the availability of approximately $120,000 in grant funds for innovative, community-based prevention programs aimed at reducing tobacco use among people living in DeKalb County.

Projects must address health behaviors and policies associated with reducing tobacco use through activities such as education, secondhand smoke campaigns, and promoting UNITE GEORGIA's tobacco cessation Quit Line.

Approximately 20 mini-grants will be awarded through a competitive process to eligible community-based groups such as PTAs, prevention coalitions, civic clubs, family and faith support groups, athletic leagues, non-profit organizations and media outlets such as newspapers, independent cable producers and radio stations.

To learn more, prospective applicants are encouraged to attend an application assistance workshop. Workshops will be held on Tuesday, August 20, from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the DeKalb Addiction Clinic, 455 Winn Way, Decatur and from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the Bohan Auditorium at the Richardson Health Center, 445 Winn Way, Decatur. Prospective applicants can access the grant application on the DeKalb County Board of Health's web site www.dekalbhealth.net or by attending the application assistance workshop or by contacting Walidah Nettles at 404-294-3853.

The Board of Health's Tobacco Use Prevention Unit is funded through the Georgia State Legislature's 2001 allocation of $20.8 million to the Georgia Department of Human Resources' Division of Public Health from the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and a group of tobacco companies. The project is part of the Division of Public Health's statewide Tobacco Use Prevention Program. There are similar efforts in each of Georgia's 19 public health districts.

For more information about the grants or application workshops, please contact LaTonia McGinnis, tobacco grants specialist of the DeKalb County Tobacco Use Prevention Unit, at info@dekalbhealth.net or (404) 294-3700.

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