Bolland, director of the Institute for Social Science Research at UA, hopes to use a new $3.75 million federal grant, awarded to UA by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, to change five impoverished Mobile area neighborhoods - from within.

Many agencies offer services to the needy, but Bolland said he hopes a new, collaborative approach will bring greater results. “Agencies open their doors to people in need, who in turn are expected to seek services they need and receive them in the offices of the professionals or volunteers,” Bolland said. “But to effectively address problems of substance abuse, there has to be some sort of community buy-in.”

The first step, Bolland said, is for the neighborhood, as a whole, and the individuals living there, to acknowledge that a problem exists. “In low income neighborhoods, there are all sorts of disincentives to acknowledge the problem of substance abuse,” Bolland said. Residents who fear admitting to a drug abuse problem will lead to their arrest, eviction from their rental property, loss of their children and/or an increased police presence in their communities do not readily admit their problems or actively seek help, he said.

Bolland hopes to bring help to them through the creation of substance abuse treatment centers located within five of the Mobile metropolitan area’s poorest neighborhoods. The program will focus on the neighborhoods of Alabama Village, Gulf Village and Snug Harbor, all located in Prichard, and Trinity Gardens and Roger Williams Homes, both located inside Mobile.

Estimates, based on extensive adolescent surveys coordinated by Bolland throughout inner-city Mobile last year, show that about 275 youths between the ages of 10 and 20 who are living in these neighborhoods may be abusing drugs and/or alcohol. Of that number, almost 60 are between 10 and 13 years old, the surveys indicate.

“Very few youths in each of these neighborhoods currently receive any form of substance abuse treatment,” Bolland said.

Four of the five neighborhoods, based on 1990 census data, have median annual household incomes of approximately $5,000, while Trinity Gardens’ is approximately $12,500. More than 8,000 people live in the five neighborhoods, including more than 1,700 adolescents.

Bolland said the grant would also be used to develop a supportive community that can become a partner in the substance abuse programs, through the establishment of a substance abuse policy coalition. The coalition will include residents from the inner city neighborhoods.

Funds from the grant will be used to hire an outreach supervisor and eight outreach workers. This group, which will likely include neighborhood residents, will work to increase interaction between residents, Bolland said.

Most of the outreach workers’ time will be spent knocking on residents’ doors, getting to know them and their concerns. “This is an innovation,” Bolland said, “in that most service programs require residents to come to them; in this project, outreach workers will go to the residents.”

Members of the outreach team will work with residents to establish organized activities to help residents help themselves. The types of activities will depend on what residents express interest in, but Bolland said examples could be anything from aerobics class, to tips on hair-styling or word processing or other job skill classes.

“Residents who interact with their neighbors in a safe and supportive environment feel comfortable talking about things that are on their minds,” Bolland said. “Some of these topics are mundane, perhaps no more than gossip, but others concern the neighborhood, its problems and its potential for improvement. When the latter topics are discussed, the process of neighborhood change is initiated.

“A huge problem for substance abuse programs is the whole idea of after care. We hope by having a more supportive community environment, we will reduce the overall potential for relapse. We want to create an environment where people are not spending most of their thinking time, figuring out a way to get out of there.”

The effort, Bolland said, has the support and active involvement of such Mobile groups as the local DHR, health department, district attorney’s office, drug education council, ReVive Mobile, the United Way of Southwest Alabama, the school district, the housing board, the juvenile court, area churches, and the support of both the Mobile and Prichard mayors’ offices. Bolland has spent some 10 years studying inner-city neighborhoods.