$1-million grant will go toward antidrug efforts

ST. PETERSBURG -- A $1-million federal grant will help the city's drug treatment center take in women and its community support group expand drug prevention programs.

Pinellas Bridge, which opened in July at 1735 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. S, will get $500,000 this year to finish renovations on the 21/2 story building, said Watson Haynes, the executive director.

In addition, the Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free St. Petersburg will receive $500,000, Haynes said. The coalition's role is to stop drug use through intervention and prevention programs, concentrated in economically depressed neighborhoods such as some in Midtown.

Part of the outreach will be to encourage social and economic development.

"The concept is to be a holistic one where we basically deal with the individual in terms of chemical dependency, but also in life skills. GED, counseling, job readiness, for example," said Goliath Davis, the deputy mayor for Midtown.

Haynes said the grant's impact will be "huge."

After three years of working to get the center anchored at its current location, the building finally will be completed, while the coalition will receive much-needed operating funds, Haynes said.

"We'll show other areas how a coalition can work to provide services and make the services match the needs of the community," he said.

The coalition will look at needs other than drug treatment -- including exploration of what the community's young people need.

"We're going to have a youth summit coming up in March that's fairly major," Haynes said. "It's in March. It will be what they say needs to happen on this side of town."

Currently, Pinellas Bridge has 81 clients, all men, six more than the center's projected capacity of 75. Clients are referred from drug court. They are required to be nonviolent and can live in the center or be treated as an outpatient as an alternative to prison.

"They come for six months and can do another six months of aftercare vs. spending an average of five years in prison," Haynes said.

Ten clients are from Broward County. The remaining 71 are from Pinellas County, he said, adding that when the 10 Broward men leave the program in about a month, no more out-of-county clients will be accepted.

Bridges of America is the umbrella organization. The Department of Corrections told it that clients from around Florida can be served at Pinellas Bridge. But doing so opened the center to some criticism.

"We had to take those guys because Bridges of America was losing money by waiting for guys to come to the facility," Haynes said. "We took those guys to fill up the numbers.

"The reason we want to serve Pinellas residents, we want to serve the families involved. Get churches involved. Work with spouses, children, significant others."

Haynes said not having women is the other area in which Pinellas Bridge has received criticism.

But the federal money means the center's second floor will be renovated. Male clients, now on the first floor, will move upstairs. The first floor will serve women and accommodate social service agencies, which will lease space.

Haynes said negotiations are ongoing with some agencies, but he wouldn't name them. He did say one is a "major mental health institution in Pinellas County. The other is a national health provider specializing in residential care."

Davis, the city's former police chief, has worked on getting a drug treatment center established since 1989. He said he's happy with Pinellas Bridge's progress.

"I'm loving it so far," he said. "I'm going to talk to as many people as I can about why it's important for the community to continue to fund drug treatment."

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