Tucson, Ariz. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today hailed the announcement of two grants from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to Amistades Inc., a Tucson group that runs an alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse prevention program targeted toward the city’s underserved Hispanic community.
The group has received a five-year extension of its previously awarded Drug-Free Community Support Program grant. Amistades is the only group in Pima County and one of only two in the state to receive the extension for the sixth through tenth years of the program, which is awarded competitively nationwide in five-year increments for up to 10 years.
The group is also one of only six nationwide to receive a mentoring grant this year of $75,000 for each of the next three years, which it will use to help the Tucson Urban League and its partners create and expand a drug abuse prevention program for Tucson’s African American community.
The group also recently received a $50,000 grant from Avance, a Texas-based education nonprofit group, to create an education program that combines enrichment for children up to three years of age (when Head Start begins) with life and parenting skills for adults. The program increases parents’ involvement in their children’s upbringing and educational careers and seeks to prevent children from becoming at-risk.
Amistades places an emphasis on prevention, rather than treatment or law enforcement assistance, to reduce societal costs and help families avoid drug abuse and other destructive habits before they start.
“These are some of the best investments we can make as a government, as a city and as a community,” Grijalva said. “Amistades plays an important role in making sure Hispanic youth and adults get the help, training and advice they need to life better lives. They’re doing good work, and I salute their determination to get these competitive grants and put them to good use for Southern Arizona.”
For more about this year’s ONDCP grants, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/Drug-Free-Communities-Support-Program.