GOAL
To actively engage Ward 5 Coalition Sector Members and Partners to develop and implement strategies and events that promote healthy, drug-free life style choices for youth and their families.

OBJECTIVES

• Work with residents, community organizations, parents, youth, local businesses, schools, elected officials, and other leaders to provide healthy activities and alternatives to underage drinking and substance use and abuse.
• Update the community assessment & collect current core measures data
• Encourage members & partners to advocate for policy and environmental changes that promotes a healthy, drug-free and violence-free community
• Educate the community about the dangers of K-2 Spice (synthetic marijuana) alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.Use social media to create positive living alcohol & drug-free messages for youth
• Provide opportunities for youth through civic engagement to positively effect change in their community.

HISTORY OF COALITION
Starting out as an ad hoc group of APRA’s Citywide Youth Substance Abuse Coalition (2006 – 2009) and then building off of recent work of the Michigan Park CDC, the Ward 5 Drug-Free Coalition was formed in late 2013 to bring together key community leaders, parents, youth, businesses, schools, government officials and other stakeholders to collaborate on the prevention of youth substance use.  We received our first federal grant funding, the ONDCP/SAMHSA Drug-Free Communities Grant, effective Oct. 1, 2014.