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Partnership for a Positive Pomona

Our Drug Free Communities Coalition

We are youth, parents, residents, faith leaders, police officers, teachers, nurses, business owners and community agencies working together to save lives and support Pomona's youth in making positive, healthy choices free from alcohol and drugs. We are empowering and engaging our community by creating change, building skills, and developing tools for success.
We are a Partnership for a Positive Pomona.

OUR WHY

It has been 17 years since the incident that galvanized Pomona into action to respond to increasing incidences of gang and drug related violence occurred.

2004

In 2004 California Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Steiner was shot and killed while standing in front of the Pomona Courthouse after testifying in five traffic citation-related cases. His killer was a 16 year old boy who wanted to gain respect from a local gang.

2005

Mayor Edward Cortez formed the Mayor’s Youth and Family Task Force along with the Pomona Youth Commission. The task force initiated a planning process, hired consultants, and in 2005 chose the Communities That Care (CTC) process to address positive youth development. High School students completed a survey which helped to identify Risk Factors. Then under the guidance of the Consultants, concerned youth and community members held Community meetings and the top three Priority Risk Factors were identified: Community Disorganization, Academic Failure, and Favorable Youth Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior. (The fourth ranking risk Factor was Favorable Adult Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior.) Pomona Youth and family Master Plan was formed to address these Factors.

Because substance abuse was a common thread woven into each of these risk factors, the need for a specialized coalition to focus directly on reducing youth drug and alcohol use was identified.

2009

What was originally called the Pomona Alcohol Drug Prevention Coalition (ADPC) was created in 2009 to assist the various groups working in the field to collaborate. This coalition met monthly and has continued to grow and expand with a focus emphasis on prevention, policies, and broader-based environmental change.

2011

In 2011 the capacity of the coalition expanded tremendously with the award of a Drug Free Communities Support Grant. More community representatives were recruited and at a meeting at Ganesha Park Community center the coalition adopted a new, positive name to highlight the goal and solution rather than the problem: Partnership for a Positive Pomona (P³). An Executive Director and space was provided by the City at Garfield Neighborhood Center. Meetings were once a month at noon for lunch.
That same year, three member agencies (NCADD, Prototypes and Day One) also received funding from Los Angeles County Substance Abuse Prevention and Control to contribute another $3 million over five years in primarily direct prevention services for Pomona.

2014

In 2014 Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan (PYFMP) held a large Community Town Hall (about 250 attendees) to refocus the work on gangs, violence and drugs, and identify the current risk factors. Five areas of work were identified to impact the risk factors. At this time PYFMP reorganized, adopted a Collective Impact strategy, and changed its name to Pomona’s Promise. Its goal is to create safe neighborhoods, strong families and a healthy quality of life. P³ is an integral part of this work.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A

DRUG FREE COMMUNITIES COALITION

In October of 2019, P3 was awarded the Drug Free Communities Grant by the Federal Government. The Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a Federal grant program that provides funding to community-based coalitions that organize to prevent youth substance use.