in 1996, Sun Street Centers formed PARTS- aka Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma in Salinas. This grant is to expand our previously funded DFC grant program, which covers all three regions in Monterey County, to prevent the use and onset of alcohol related incidents. In the 2016 Community Health Needs survey conducted by Community Hospital for the Monterey Peninsula respondents listed Substance Abuse as a “major problem” in the community. Alcohol was identified as the biggest problem (67%) followed by prescription drugs and methamphetamines (11%). Monterey County was identified as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). Monterey County's 2014-18 Community Health Improvement Plan for Monterey County has identified Prevention among its top three priorities for improving community health and safety. Sun Street Centers has sponsored and facilitated the Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma (PARTS) Coalition in Salinas, CA, since its creation in the early 1990s, working to provide education, awareness, advocacy and policy enforcement to reduce youth substance abuse. All of our prevention strategies target youth ages 8-20 with the overriding goal of reducing and Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma, Such as binge drinking, access to alcohol, social hosting, Driving under the influence, and juvenile alcohol arrests. The South County Coalition targets the low-income indigenous farm worker populations in Greenfield and King City, and the Seaside Coalition targets the low-income youth in African American and Hispanic communities in Seaside and Marina. The Salinas and South County communities face significant gang participation and Salinas had the highest incidence of teen murder in California in 2009.
STOP grant funding will bring our two fledgling coalitions in Seaside, CA and South Monterey County and our Salinas PARTS coalition under a single roof to create the foundation of a truly Countywide coalition to prevent underage alcohol use for the next five years, and serve an average of 15,000 people per year, totaling 75,000 per year.