The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, along with the GE Foundation, HRiA, Epicenter Experience, and The Herren Project, launched the website and registration for Project Here on October 30. The public-private initiative will provide educational resources to schools to protect young people from substance use and address the opioid epidemic. HRiA serves as fiscal sponsor and program manager to Project Here.
Substance use prevention resources, including teacher guides, lesson plans, educational resources, video content, and outreach materials are available in a hard copy and online toolkit to all public middle schools that register with Project Here. Students will be able to access a support network staffed by licensed professionals at The Herren Project, and a mobile app to promote healthy decision-making skills is under development.
Project Here is funded by a $1.5 million contribution from the GE Foundation and $500,000 in settlement funds from the Attorney General’s office.