MCAP History
How it began…
Medfield Cares About Prevention began in 2004 with two parent chairpersons, the Medfield Police, Medfield Public Schools, school guidance and nurses, youth, Selectmen, the District Attorney’s office, the Parks and Recreation department, and Medfield Youth Outreach (a program of the town that serves youth and families). Several months after the coalition began, the community experienced a tragic drug and alcohol related death of a Medfield teenager. Following the loss, involvement in the coalition increased significantly. Initially, the coalition was loosely structured and focused mainly on education for parents and youth.
Our Challenges…
One of the most significant challenges the coalition experienced in becoming a viable coalition was missing the cutoff scores for the Drug Free Communities grant by just two points. In 2011, 2013 and 2014 the coalition applied for the DFC grant and twice fell short by only a few points. Determined to not lose the great work the coalition had done to date, the coalition decided to put the pursuit of grant funding aside and focus on the work it could do with the resources it had.
Raising Awareness…
During this time, the coalition created outreach materials, a website and established a presence on social media to connect with the community at large. The coalition also borrowed a Hidden In Plain Sight display (a mock teenager’s bedroom that helps parents and caregivers identify signs of youth risk taking behavior and drug use and abuse) and began a local tour of the display to educate the community. The support for Hidden In Plain Sight was so great that the coalition was able to raise community funds to create their own display. Another coalition accomplishment that significantly impacted Medfield was to unite the community to successfully opt out of all commercial marijuana sales.
Success!
In the fall of 2018, the coalition successfully wrote for a mini grant from the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund to hire a consultant to help them organize to write the DFC grant. With the success of the mini grant and the hiring of a consultant, the coalition began to build significant momentum and gained multiple new members including a strong parent and youth contingency. Over the next few months, the coalition worked together to create a logic model and write an action plan. The grant application was successful and the coalition secured a five-year DFC grant in the amount of $625,000.
