By Mary O’KEEFE

CV Alliance announced on Friday that it will be transferring the organization to the YMCA of the Foothills.

It was about eight years ago that a group of concerned residents from the Crescenta Valley, led by then-Glendale Community Police Officer Matt Zakarian and parent Susan Dubin, began the conversation on drug abuse in the CV area. GPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. had been seeing an increase in youths smoking heroin. As drug use increased, law enforcement also saw more vandalism, vehicle burglaries and drug arrests.

It was the mission of CV Alliance, which at the time was called CV Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition, to reach out to parents and kids and to educate them on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

The organization applied for and received a large federal five-year grant totaling over $525,000. This grant helped the organization expand and hire an executive director and an assistant as well as support programs like the National Drug Take Back program and host various educational events for youths and parents.

CV Alliance recently found out its grant had not been renewed and, because of this, representatives looked for a way to continue their important work. The YMCA of the Foothills stepped in.

Y CEO Tyler Wright joined CV Alliance Board President Bill Flanders on Friday in making the announcement at the organization’s strategic partners meeting.

“What [the Y] does and what we do are very compatible. We will be passing on the leadership to the Y,” Flanders told the audience of about 50 people.

“The foundation that [CV Alliance] built we want to be able to continue and to expand,” Wright said.

CV Alliance will continue its work under the Y’s leadership. The next strategic partners meeting is on June 3 at 8 a.m. at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

  Mary Okeefe