Rock Hill substance abuse center gets grant to fund youth center

A long-awaited addition to Keystone Substance Abuse Services’ programming is closer to becoming a reality, thanks to another community organization.

Good Folks of York County selected Keystone as its 2014 charity and will give the organization $75,000 to fund a new $1.9 million, 9,000-square-foot youth and adolescent center on Herlong Court.

Since 2008, Keystone has wanted to operate a center geared specifically toward young people, said executive director Janet Martini.

“We need to provide and protect and find ways to do everything we can to prevent substance abuse problems to begin with,” Martini said.

Between 2009 and 2014, Keystone saw increasing numbers of young people needing treatment for substance abuse problems, some as young as 12 years old. Opiate use is on the rise locally, she said, with teens taking drugs from medicine cabinets in their homes.

When users exhaust their supply of pills, they often move on to a cheaper alternative: heroin.

Helping teens might reduce the number of people with substance abuse issues when they’re young adults.

Research shows one in 10 people of all ages have a substance use disorder, but one in 5.3 people between ages 18 and 25 have a substance abuse disorder, Martini said.

“That’s really, really scary,” she said.

Research also shows that a person’s brain isn’t fully developed until they’re in their mid-20s, so drugs and alcohol can be extremely damaging. A young person who begins drinking at age 15 is four times more likely to develop a substance abuse issue than someone who waited until they were 21 to drink.

“We’re telling parents to please talk early and often to their kids and set clear expectations and consequences,” Martini said.

The $75,000 from Good Folks of York County will go toward purchasing furnishings and equipment for the center, including furnishings for group rooms, offices, the kitchen and indoor and outdoor recreation.

The building will also have all the latest technology, Martini said, because that’s what young people want.

Martini said the goal is to open the center in the fall.

Good Folks of York County is a group of local people who meet once a year to give donations that are compiled and given to one or a small group of community organizations, like Keystone.

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Rock Hill substance abuse center gets grant to fund youth center."