Hackensack anti- drug alliance to receive state grant

The Hackensack Municipal Alliance to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Abuse (HAPADA) proposed a grant in the amount of $15,279 for prospective 2013 funding under the New Jersey Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (GCADA), according to city officials.

BERNADETTE MARCINIAK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Marcella Davis and Wendy Christmas lead an after-school program at the Hackensack Housing Authority as part of the Hackensack Alliance to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Abuse. HAPADA has seven programs that are meant to eliminate and reduce alcohol and drug use within the community one of these seven programs is the After-School Homework & Support Centers. HAPADA has proposed a $15,279 grant amount for 2013 funding.

The municipality agreed to develop a comprehensive plan to provide matching funds equivalent to $3,819 in cash and $11,459 in in-kind match in addition to the $15,279, as per a resolution passed on Feb. 5.

Though grants are distributed amongst different counties and municipalities, award recipients are required to match the grants with a cash-match to the equivalent of 25 percent of the award and 75 percent in in-kind services.

"In-kind services includes rental space and time of assistants," HAPADA secretary Charlotte Panny said. "All of that is calculated into the in-kind services."

The matching of cash and in-kind services is meant as a way of doubling the impact of the initial GCADA grant in order to make a firmer impact in drug and alcohol prevention programs and activities, according to GCADA.

The grant amount for this year is roughly $500 less than last, Panny said.

According to Panny, every dollar amount counts since the funding is distributed among the seven different programs that make up HAPADA: After-School Homework & Support Centers, Latino Neighborhood Initiatives, Hackensack High School Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs (ATOD) including a Town Hall meeting and Project Graduation, At-Risk Karate, Tobacco Age of Sale Efforts (TASE), and a Hackensack Middle School ATOD Program.

Panny explained the importance of these programs, including TASE.

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Hackensack anti- drug alliance to receive state grant