Friday, January 3, 2025
1/3/2025
Nexus Coalition for Drug Prevention (Nexus) serves the central and southern region in Navajo County located in eastern Arizona. We recognize the value in developing and implementing environmental strategies to achieve broad, population level change. To further address and change social norms around underage drinking across our region, STOP Grant funds will support all seven strategies to achieve community change: • Use traditional and social media to provide information on the risks of alcohol misuse and the importance of parents: talking to youth underage drinking; modeling appropriate alcohol behavior and establishing clear family rules about no underage drinking. • Provide information, support, and enhance skills on the risks of alcohol misuse and abuse through evidence informed presentations and town halls targeting youth, young adults, parent and community members. • Change consequences and physical design of the environment by working with local alcohol retailers to increase signage for no sales to anyone under 21. • Using a multi-faceted approach, increase community collaboration, diversity, and participation in the coalition by providing education, information, outreach, and engagement through recruitment efforts as well as support data collection resulting in reducing barriers and changing policies in addressing underage drinking. • Increase shared leadership by enrolling and assigning tasks to each relevant community organization/agency to achieve goals in reducing youth substance use and problematic drinking, increasing support and changing consequences. Nexus engages over 100 community volunteers working towards accomplishing its mission: A community collaboration striving to build a healthy, substance free environment for youth. Rural, Southern Navajo County is the focus for our STOP grant project, Communities Working to Reduce Underage Drinking in Southern Navajo County. There are approximately 30,000 residents in this area, with a significant American Indian population. The overarching goal and primary objectives for the application are: Goal: Prevent and reduce underage drinking and young adult problem drinking in ages 12 - 20; Objectives: 1) Increase youth participation in workshops and events; 2) Decrease youth perception of risk in drinking 1-2 alcoholic beverages by 2%; 3) Increase adult disapproval of youth alcohol use by 5%; 4) Expand outreach to ensure engagement with underrepresented demographic groups; and 5) Decrease youth perception by 2% that parental attitudes and community norms promote alcohol use. Annually, STOP Act Funding awarded to Nexus would allow the implementation of outputs reaching at least 20,000 people; intermediate outcomes positively influencing 1,000 youth and parents, and over time a reduction in underage drinking in our twelve to twenty year old population.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).