As part of the Comprehensive Community Approaches to Preventing Substance Use (CCAPS) program, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) awarded Taos Alive a grant for $227,088 in February of 2022. NACCHO awarded over three million dollars to address substance abuse issues throughout the country and Taos Alive is thrilled to be one of the eight recipients of this grant funding.
Taos Alive was founded in 2010 by Julie Bau as a program of Holy Cross Hospital. It is a grant-funded, community-based coalition that implements strategies to prevent and reduce substance misuse and its consequences among Taos County youth.
The NACCHO grant funding will be used to increase opportunities for healthy social connections and deepen education around substance misuse. Taos Alive is working in the community to increase positive childhood experiences, decrease the stigma surrounding substance use disorders, and build a community culture that allows every child to thrive.
The NACCHO funding has also allowed Taos Alive to expand its staff. The new team has started to focus on reducing the barriers that families and young people experience when trying to enroll in sports, theater, or other positive extracurricular activities.
“Substances are easily accessible, what we are trying to do is make other positive experiences easier to access so that children can develop positive memories,” said Miles Bonny, Co-Manager & Youth Empowerment Coordinator of Taos Alive.
Ashley Gaillour, the new Youth Service Navigator at Taos Alive, will be focusing her efforts on helping families access these positive activities. The goal is also to help reduce financial & travel barriers for families. Since the grant funding won’t last forever, the team is also focused on collaborating with local governments and organizations to provide long-term support for this initiative.
Taos Alive is also excited to expand its outreach efforts to include community presentations that focus on how adverse childhood experiences influence negative and abusive behavior later in life.
For more information on Taos Alive and to learn how you can join and support the coalition, visit TaosAlive.com or call (575) 737-8404
