San Rafael Alcohol and Drug Coalition Expands Citywide Outreach with Drug-Free Communities Grant

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The White House Drug Czar office has announced that the San Rafael Alcohol and Drug Coalition will be renewed as a grant recipient in the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program. Alcohol Justice will receive $125,000 per year for the next five years to continue involving and engaging the Canal Neighborhood and the greater San Rafael community in the prevention of substance abuse among youth. This is a five-year renewal of Alcohol Justice's original 5-year DFC grant award made in 2013.

"Since our first grant awards were made in 1998, the DFC Program has continued to expand its reach in communities across the country," stated James W. Carroll, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). "It is a testament to the great work DFC coalitions are doing, together with community partners that include parent groups, schools, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, businesses, and others to prevent drug use and improve the health of communities."

The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation's leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use. Directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use.

"We have an obligation to challenge drug and alcohol use among young people in our own backyard," said Maite Duran, Drug-Free Communities Project Coordinator and community organizer at Alcohol Justice and the founder of the Youth for Justice program. "The evidence is that prevention is the most effective tool to reduce the terrible consequences of drug and alcohol misuse. This new funding will allow our community coalition to continue to grow beyond the Canal and help place more kids on the path toward to healthier and safer lives. It will also allow our successful 'Alcopop-Free Zone' campaign to spread to other parts of San Rafael as well."

In addition to receiving this news, Alcohol Justice learned that a group it had mentored run by Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) will also be receiving its first DFC Support Grant.  The coalition is called the Alcohol, Marijuana and Prescription Drug Coalition and is currently working on limiting the sales of single servings of alcopops and malt liquors to make youth-oriented malt beverages less affordable and less accessible.

For more information about the San Rafael Alcohol and Drug Coalition, contact Maite Duran at 415 257-2499. For more information about the Office of National Drug Control Policy or the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, visit: www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp  

Contact: Michael Scippa 415 548-0492
Jorge Castillo 213 840-3336
Maite Duran 415 257-2499

SOURCE Alcohol Justice