JEANERETTE — A community drug prevention program in Jeanerette has received $20,000 from the state.

The Alpha Community Outreach Center Inc. has received the grant funding through Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Safe and Drug Free Communities Program. ACOC was one of five organizations statewide that received a share of $87,000.

The Rev. James Proctor, the sponsor of ACOC, which is affiliated with his church, the First Church of God in Christ, said the grant money will be used to fund the salaries of seven part-time staff members who work with the center’s Youth Connections program, which is now getting started.

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Proctor said the goals of the program, which is geared toward fifth-graders through high school seniors who have been referred by both the school and juvenile justice systems, are to promote self-esteem, conflict resolution without resorting to violence and keeping parents involved with the lives of their children. It uses a research-based curriculum called Positive Influences.

“It is designed to help students develop positive self-esteem,” Proctor said. “This will enable them to feel good about themselves and therefore they will hopefully not become involved with drugs or alcohol.”

Program classes will meet twice a week and will include field trips.

“It helps us to reach out into the community,” Proctor said. “We are certainly appreciative to Gov. Jindal and his staff for selecting our program.”

Darlene French is the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities specialist for Iberia Parish Schools. She is “thrilled with the grant.”

“It takes a whole community to get the message to kids,” French said. “We need to have messages come from different entities, such as churches, parents, businesses as well as schools. This grant will help the schools cement the drug free message that we promote in our system.”

The other four programs that were announced on Friday to receive grant money include the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council for South Louisiana of Houma, and For Today and Tomorrow of Baton Rouge, which also received $20,000 each, according to a press release from Jindal’s office. Additionally, $13,500 each was awarded to Mary Springhill Foundation Inc. of Shreveport and World Impact Ministries of Winnsboro.

A total of 41 programs are being funded across Louisiana at a total of $1.23 million. Jindal said the program provides valuable assistance.

“The funding will support organizations that offer mentoring and substance abuse programs, providing positive role models for our state’s children and making both our schools and our communities safer for Louisiana families,” Jindal said in a press release.