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A group of eight COPE Coalition members attended the National Mentoring Summit in September. The goal was to gain valuable insights into strengthening our bond with youth within our community, and the outcome was a new appreciation for the Mentoring field. All of the participants stated that they enjoyed the workshops and speakers that were at the Summit. An added bonus was the fact that the Summit was held at the Disneyland resort. Mickey Mouse was present at the beginning and at the end of the Summit.
Wake Up! All Night Rally
COPE Coalition organized this collaborative event for approximately 90 youth from the Phoenix area. The youth came from the Phoenix Police Wake Up! afterschool program, TERROS youth groups, the Phoenix Police Explorer group and other youth from the area around Isaac Middle School. Several agencies participated as well, such as Volviendo a Vivir, Touchstone Behavioral Health, the Boys & Girls Club, TERROS, the Phoenix Police and many more. The youth attended several educational workshops pertaining to substance abuse prevention, nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. The photo above is from a improv theater performance given by the Arizona Jewish Theater youth group. The event was a success, and the participants had a lot of fun!
CADCA National Leadership Forum XIX
A delegation of Arizona coalitions and agencies attended the National Leadership Forum this year in Maryland.The setting for the forum was stunning on the shores of the Potomic River. COPE Coalition sent seven members this year to the conference. The attendees gained valuable insights on the latest strategies to fight substance abuse and heard from nationally-known experts and policymakers. We met face-to-face with Arizona Senator John McCain outside his office on Capital Hill, and spoke with his staff about the importance of supporting policies that aid substance abuse prevention.
DEA presents on Current Drug Trends in AZ
During our February coalition meeting we invited the Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Doug Coleman, from the Phoenix DEA office to speak on the current drug trends in Arizona. The presentation was very thorough.ASAC Colman provided detailed information on the drug cartels in Mexico, the amount of specific drugs apprehended in recent years, and emerging trends related to drug use.
COPE Coalition hosted its March meeting at Cinema Latino. The event had over 90 participants from the community and local agencies. The coalition began the event with community announcements, and also provided a series of workshops on a variety of topics. The topics were: Returning Veterens, Foster Children, Police Activity in Maryvale, Traditional Media, Social Media and Marijuana (4:20). The meeting ended with an option of watching one of two movies, Coreline & Paul Blart: Mall Cop. The attendees learned valuable information while eating popcorn, and ended the meeting with a movie! Can you think of a better format for a community meeting?
This year's Cinco de Mayo celebration had a great turn out!The popular DJ from 95.1 Latino Vibe, El Cubanito, came out to MC the event and address the crowd. Several agencies from around the valley participated and provided information to the public regarding their services. The celebration also had a series of workshops that educated the participants about alcohol and drug awareness and prevention. The highlight of the event was most definitely the music and dancers, such as those in the photo above. 
COPE Coalition Alcohol-Free Quinceanera
September 5th, 2009 at Carl Hayden Community High School
On Saturday, September 5th, COPE Coalition hosted the 1st Annual Alcohol-Free Quinceañera at Carl Hayden Community High School for 13 young ladies. The focus of the event was to demonstrate that a Quinceañera can be celebrated successfully without the influence of alcohol. Alcohol is the drug that is abused most by youth in Arizona. Youth that start drinking in their early teens are much more likely to become involved with illegal drugs, as well as increase their likelihood of becoming an alcoholic as an adult. read more
Maryvale Youth in Action is one of COPE Coalition's active youth groups. They seek to improve their community and health of their peers through drug and alcohol-free alternative activities. They decided to host the Peace Festival as a way to highlight local artists and to promote positive social activities for youth within the community. It was called the Peace Festival because it was held on the Universal Peace Day. The youth really did a great job planning & organizing for this event. The entertainment component of the festival included an open mic where youth were given the opportunity to express their desire to lead drug-free lives through different means of artistic expression: rap, break dancing, drawing, singing, etc. A very special guest, Arizona-based internationally renowned artist Zarco Guerrero performed his acclaimed Face to Face one man play. This is a play designed to show the errors of stereotyping individuals based on appearance, culture, personality, and past. Members from Volviendo a Vivir closed the event with messages of their personal experience with drugs and alcohol, their recovery, and their new affirmation to promote prevention. The event also hosted a health & awareness fair in which several agencies attended. The whole event drew approximately 400 people from the community.
In an effort to reduce the impact on the environment and to keep unprescribed medications out of the hands of youth, COPE Coalition partnered with Golden Gate Community Center/Arizona’s Children Association, Cricket Pavillion, Phoenix Police, U.S. D.E.A.(Phoenix Office), TERROS and several community agencies and local businesses to host the "Medication Collection & Disposal Day". The outcome was very successful!
People from Phoenix and surrounding communities, such as Surprise and Sun City, dropped off a variety of unwanted or expired prescription and over-the-counter medications, including painkillers, cancer treatment drugs, nitroglycerine, cold medication, ointments, patches, diabetes medication, vitamin supplements, pet medications, antibiotics, and more. Approximately 250-300 pounds of drugs were turned in.
Maryvale Police Precinct Community Action Officers were on site to take possession of the narcotics. All of the medications collected will be safely disposed of by the Police Department. Volunteers ranged from community members to pharmacists from Cigna and CVS Pharmacy who gave of their time to make this event successful. In addition, kudos to the seven kids at the Jerry Colangelo Branch of the Boys & Girls Club for their creative, winning entries in the art poster contest; Wal-Mart awarded gift certificates to each child.
"The most moving visitors were several widow/widowers that had not known what to do with all their spouses meds that they took and who were glad to have a place to bring it." -Phyllis Habib, Director, Golden Gate Community Center
In the place of the regular meeting for the month of January, the COPE Coalition hosted a Retreat that was meant to bring the community together to discuss relevant topics related to the structure of the coalition, sustainability of the coalition & concerns within the community. It was also a great event for getting better acquainted with one another!
We had about 35 attendees that participated in the retreat. We were glad to have a large representation of youth at this meeting, as several youth members provided valuable feedback to the coalition. One youth member commented that parents should be more responsible for creating an open conversation with their kids regarding drug & alcohol abuse. This youth member thought that the coalition should focus more on encouraging parents to take more of an active approach with their kids to prevent drug & alcohol consumption, rather than the coalition focusing on educating kids. (comments are paraphrased, and should not be considered quotations).
Four members of COPE Coalition braved one of the harshest winter storms by attending the 20th Annual CADCA Leadership Forum in National Harbor, Maryland. They attended informational workshops related to the theme of "Restoring Communities." A couple of web-based resources that were brought back from the conference are CADCA-TV and the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training program; each of which provides free online training videos related to drug & alcohol prevention.
February 15, 2010 at Cinema Latino, Desert Sky Mall
For the 2nd year in a row the COPE Coalition has had the pleasure of hosting a community meeting with our partners at Cinema Latino. This year we increased our attendance and reached over 100 community attendees. Our guest speaker this year was Ricardo Jasso, the CEO of Amistades, Inc., which is a substance abuse prevention organization in Tucson. Ricardo provided his presentation on the Aztec Alcohol Prevention Story. His presentation stated that the Aztec civilization had set up strick drinking regulations that included a prohibition on public intoxication as early as 1140 A.D. At the end of the meeting all of the attendees were able to enjoy a free screening of Tooth Fairy.
On Friday, May 15, 2009, the Canyon Corridor Community Coalition and the CC Weed & Seed hosted the Family Movie Night in Little Canyon Park.They had around 200 participants. "We had a great turn-out and great enthusiasm from all who attended." -quoted from Jak Kaiser, a local community leader.
Montebello Block Watch members helped to clean the streets and allys within their neighborhood on Saturday, Feb. 28th, 2009. The community takes pride in maintaining a clean neighborhood.
