StandUP AJ
Sep 19, 2022
This is amazing news for the coalition and we are so excited to tell you all about it!
This is amazing news for the coalition and we are so excited to share all about it with you. This is a very competitive grant. Only 50 grants were awarded to substance misuse prevention coalitions across the whole country. It is a big deal and cause for great celebration!
What is it?
The Drug Free Communities grant is a five year grant. StandUP AJ will receive $125,000/year for 5 years without having to compete again. After those five years, we are able to apply again for an additional 5 years. After a total of 10 years, we will no longer be eligible. The purpose of the grant is to help new coalitions get up and running with best practices in prevention strategies. Training will be provided to help with that. There is also a match component to the funding. For years 1-6 of the grant we have to have a 100% match to the $125,000 in either donations or in kind services. As the years go on, the match increases. The hope is that by the time the 10 years are over and the money is no longer available, there will be other sources to fund the continued efforts of the coalition.
What will we do with the money?
As part of the application process, we turned in an Action Plan for the first year to address the 2 main goals of DFC funding: 1) Establish and strengthen collaboration among community stakeholders to address youth substance use (in other words to build the capacity of the coalition) and 2) Reduce substance use among youth and, over time, reduce substance use among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increases the risk of substance use and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance use (to reduce substance use by increasing protective factors in the community and decreasing risk factors)
We will be focusing on reducing the use of the following substances: counterfeit pills, fentanyl, marijuana, nicotine vaping and psychostimulants. Data used for this decision came from a youth focus group, AYS data from surrounding areas, crimes and probation data, and overdoses. Our full Needs Assessment is available upon request.
Check out the full Action Plan attached
