Niagara Falls: Project Runway announces community outreach effort

Project Runway, a new program to prevent and reduce substance abuse among girls and women 14 to 25 years of age, has scheduled three public sessions to increase awareness and seek public input.

The sessions will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and will be held:

•June 24 at Cataract Elementary School, 6431 Girard Ave., Niagara Falls

•July 11 at the Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club, 725 17th St., Niagara Falls

•July 25 at the Doris Jones Family Resource Building, 3001 Ninth St., Niagara Falls

"In order to create an effective strategic plan for Project Runway, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center is calling on business owners and employees, social workers, health care professionals, youth group leaders, teenagers, and other Niagara residents to learn more about our objectives and share their ideas about how best to achieve them," said Community Outreach Coordinator Sarah Obot.

Funded by the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation, Project Runway aims to increase community awareness of the issues surrounding substance use and abuse by girls and young women and to train health care professionals, including physicians, to effectively evaluate and treat those who use alcohol and drugs.

For more information, call Obot at 716-278-4516.