Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. As part of our effort to prevent substance misuse among young people, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation today announced a $1.15 million investment to help 29 Marion County K-12 schools implement drug prevention programs. The five grant recipients are the Metropolitan School Districts (MSD) of Warren and Washington Townships and public charter schools Urban ACT Academy, Ignite Achievement Academy and Indianapolis Academy of Excellence. These grants are part of our Prevention Matters initiative, which the Foundation launched in January 2018 as a three-year effort to help Marion County schools identify, implement and sustain evidence-based substance use prevention programs. The […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In Indianapolis, tobacco retail outlets are concentrated in areas with high poverty, low levels of education, and high levels of poor mental health. These are also the areas where smoking rates are higher, on average and among pregnant women specifically. These are the key findings from a report issued yesterday by The Polis Center at IUPUI entitled: “Unequal Access: Tobacco Retail in the Indianapolis Metro Area.” This is troubling news for a city where the adult smoking rate – at about 21% – is already well above the national average. Statewide, there are additional indicators of concern […]