Heroes grow up
right here.
Artist Hebru Brantley paints kids as the heroes of their own story. So do we. SSAY — Substance Solutions for Amador Youth is neighbors, parents, teachers, coaches, and kids — working together for substance-free childhoods.
Substance Solutions for Amador Youth
The SSAY Coalition brings together youth, parents, educators, healthcare providers, law enforcement, and community organizations across Amador County with one shared goal: preventing and reducing youth substance use and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our young people.
We believe local problems need local solutions — and that young people belong at the center of the work.
Our Mission
Supporting Amador County youth and their families to reduce and prevent youth substance use by:
Using a whole-community approach to change the environments where young people live, learn, and grow
Implementing local solutions for local conditions
Working toward substance-free childhoods for every young person in Amador County
What the SSAY Coalition Does
We create positive community change through:
Education — accurate, age-appropriate information about substances, mental health, and prevention for teens, parents, and educators
Skill-building — helping youth develop refusal skills, coping strategies, and leadership
Support — connecting families to local resources and services
Youth engagement — putting young people in leadership roles, because prevention works best when youth help design it
Who We Are
The SSAY Coalition includes leadership representation from the 12 community sectors required by the federal Drug-Free Communities program, along with dedicated community members — and we rely heavily on youth input and involvement.
The coalition was founded by the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA), whose staff spearheaded the community organizing and membership-building needed to secure Drug-Free Communities funding. Now in our third grant year, the coalition continues to grow under ATCAA’s stewardship.
Michelle Saar serves as Program Director for the SSAY Coalition, leading day-to-day operations, coalition development, and community partnerships.
Our Home: ATCAA SSAY — Substance Solutions for Amador Youth is a program of the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA), a public community action agency that has served the families of Amador and Tuolumne counties since 1981. ATCAA’s mission is to promote the economic security, self-sufficiency, and wellbeing of local families. That mission and ours are deeply connected: young people thrive when their families are supported, and supported families are the strongest foundation for prevention.
Learn more about ATCAA’s services at atcaa.org.
Part of the Nationwide Drug-Free Communities Support Program
HOW DFC COALITIONS WORK
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use. The program is administered by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and managed through a partnership between ONDCP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and use a variety of strategies to address local youth substance use. Learn more about the DFC program at the CDC’s Drug-Free Communities page.
Coalition members conduct ongoing community assessments to identify and prioritize the substance use issues facing local youth. These assessments drive data-informed, community-wide prevention strategies.
DFC coalitions use environmental strategies — broad initiatives that change community-level policies, practices, and norms around youth substance use. By addressing the whole environment rather than one person at a time, coalitions make the most of every resource.
The program’s two core goals are to strengthen collaboration among community partners and government agencies, and to reduce youth substance use by addressing local risk factors and building up protective factors.
Part of a national movement
SSAY Coalition is one of thousands of community coalitions across the country working to prevent youth substance use. Nationally, coalitions like ours are represented by CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America), which helped secure passage of the Drug-Free Communities Act in 1997 and today supports more than 7,000 coalitions worldwide with training, research, and best practices. When you join SSAY, you’re joining something much bigger than Amador County — while keeping the work rooted right here at home.
Prevention is a community effort — and there’s a seat at the table for you.
