Without Lead On America, the citizens of Snohomish County would not be as safe as they are. Through their leadership and expertise thousands of citizens have been able to access and understand the criminal justice system more effectively. Countless drug houses have been shut down and neighborhoods restored to normal because of Lead On America.

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As the elected Snohomish County Clerk of the Superior Court and Juvenile Court systems, and a member of the county’s Law and Justice community, there is a critical need for the education and prevention tools that Lead On America provides. The Juvenile Court system is burdened with the direct impacts of methamphetamine on our youth – from the juvenile offender for using the drug, to the dependent children who have been abused and/or neglected by their adult caretakers using the drug. Through the work of Lead On America, both adults and youth in our community are given much needed information and encouragement. They are empowered to take action and help break the cycle of the vicious impacts of methamphetamine in our communities and law and justice systems.

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March 15, 2006
The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force has a mission specific agenda that requires that we focus on upper level drug dealers to make our community a safer place to live. We have developed an attitude of cooperative work to enhance our effectiveness in meeting the mission of this unit. It is through this cooperative effort that we met Lead on America and Susan York and Travis Talbot.

The SRDTF and Lead on America have combined resources to offer a solution to neighborhoods that are reaching out in desperation for a solution to take back control. The SRDTF must constantly perform a balancing act on a daily basis to meet the needs of the community that it serves and the requirements of the mission of the organization. We know that individuals that are targeted by the SRDTF may only be associated with the county by address and that their illegal activities have a direct effect outside of this county. As time permits, the SRDTF looks to organizations, such as Lead on America, to identify local problems that the SRDTF can focus resources towards in a more effective manner. It is the efforts of Susan and Travis and Lead on America that are the greatest asset for the SRDTF.

Susan York and Travis Talbot are genuine individuals that care about empowering neighborhoods to take back what they have fought so hard to earn in the first place. They devote countless hours toward the goal of making neighborhoods a better place to live. It is their real life experience in their own neighborhoods that afford them tremendous credibility when they deal with the public. It is that credibility that has allowed them to be embraced by the SRDTF as an invaluable resource to offer the citizens of Snohomish County.

Lieutenant John Flood
Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force

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I am a supporter Lead On America because of the outstanding contributions it has made to our community. Through the committed efforts of Lead On America’s founder Susan York and Travis Talbot, citizens now collaborate with law enforcement, prosecution, health department, and other entities to effectively tackle the meth and other drug house problems in our community. As a direct result of Lead On America’s efforts, Snohomish County is a safer place.

Lead on America and their “Don’t Meth Around” bracelets have brought a tool for awareness to communities devastated by Meth. Addicts are now craving the bracelets like they craved Meth. Absolutely priceless.!!

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Lead On America led a community of over 200 homes through an educational presentation, resulting in an arrest just one week after the community was activated. The community has since grown in size and has taken back the sense of what a community was like in the 1930’s. Many smaller neighborhoods have joined forces all because of the unite in the fight that Lead on America gave as a challenge. If all neighborhoods could experience this powerful presentation, there would be no demand for supply and we could put the drug dealers out of business-

Sharon Heine
Coordinator of the Storm Lake Community Tree

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Lead On America has had a tremendous impact in Washington educating citizens and mobilizing communities against meth, and I am very appreciative that they are playing an active and important part in our office's "Operation: Allied Against Meth.

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Lead On America is the bridge between citizens and law enforcement, which allows us to take back our neighborhoods one at a time.

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Our neighborhood has one house that has been a cancer for over 17 years. During the past 8 years the drug and other illegal activities associated with this house have increased and at times have been intolerable. As neighbors, we thought the only tool at our disposal was to call 911. Due to the fact this house sits on a private easement road, there was very little the sheriff’s office could do for most of our calls. This was very frustrating to us and at times tempers would flare towards the occupants of the drug house, which only endangered us. In June of 2005, we again found the activity at this house had escalated and their activities were bringing a criminal element into our neighborhood that we viewed as threatening to our homes and family. I remembered hearing a story about Susan York and her neighborhood a few years ago and set out on a mission to find this woman. After a goggle search, I located her contact information. I know for a fact, if we had known of Lead on America and Susan last year, this house not be a concern now. Susan and Travis have helped us organize our neighborhood watch group and it has brought neighbors together in this fight to get this house closed down. We were given excellent tips of who to contact to get other agencies involved as well as providing us with direct one-on-one law enforcement access. We feel we have made substantial progress working together, using the tools Lead on America provided in getting resolution with this neighborhood.

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