Youth & COMMUNITY Coalitions

Engaging Community in Advocacy and Policy

Our team, Engaging Community in Advocacy and Policy (ECAP), is composed of youth and adult coalitions throughout the Bay Area, working together to engage local communities around nutrition advocacy, and youth alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention. We believe it isn’t enough to “just say no.” We believe youth and adult community members should be central to designing solutions to the challenges faced in their communities. Our team is driven by a strong belief in building community partnerships to reduce health disparities by dismantling structural race-based barriers to health, amplifying the voices of young people, standing for social justice and strengthening communities. Read below for more information on the youth and community coalitions collaborating on Be Blunt.

About DROC

Since 2002, Discovering the Reality of Our Communities (DROC) has been engaging youth high school youth in West Contra Costa County to collaborate around strategies to reduce underage drinking and drug use through policy, systems, and environmental changes.

Racist housing and zoning policies, coupled with the War on Drugs have devastated communities of color across the United States. DROC youth learn about current and historical dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression and learn how to use their own identity, knowledge and power in order to upset existing power structures and to create the community change they want to see.

DROC youth work to:

  • design & carry out media campaigns

  • conduct community outreach

  • advocate for local city council to design a more equitable retail landscape

About AMPD

Established in 2014, the West County Alcohol Marijuana and Prescription Drug Coalition is a group of West County residents and local organizations committed to reducing the impacts of alcohol and drugs on youth.

AMPD brings together broad representation of the West County communities to:

  • PROVIDE a voice for the residents to express their concerns about the impact of alcohol and drug related problems

  • EDUCATE residents and local officials about the relations between alcohol availability and alcohol related problems

  • FIND SOLUTIONS and resources to combat illegal and nuisance activity associated with sale and use of alcohol and drugs

  • BUILD the leadership skills of our residents through trainings from leaders in public health

  • CREATE policy, systems and environmental change

  • CONDUCT outreach and education to local community-based organizations

  • DEVELOP strategic plans to identify problems in the community

AMPD Mission: Uniting West Contra Costa County in reducing underage substance use through prevention education, awareness, training, policy, and enforcement.

We shall build a collaborative, respectful coalition to:

  • Reduces alcohol, marijuana, prescription drug abuse; opiate use and abuse

  • Limit sales of youth oriented alcohol and/or single serve cans

  • Form youth and adult partnerships 

  • Use community education to further the work of environmental prevention strategies, use of social media marketing

  • Builds youth leadership

About MYDAC

The Monument Youth Drug & Alcohol Coalition is a group of Concord residents, volunteers, and local organizations committed to changing social norms and policies that contribute to youth access to alcohol and drugs in the Monument Corridor. 

 Mission

To reduce youth alcohol and other drug use in the Monument Community through community education, policy change, and advocacy.​

Goals

  • To advocate for public policy to address youth access to and misuse of alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs. 

  • Empower the community by raising awareness about the harms of drug use and promoting healthy coping strategies through education and advocacy. 

  • Build and maintain a healthy community by supporting preventive and wellness services, environmental safety, youth development, and mental health.