Cindy Schaider, Pinal County Anti-Meth Coalition coordinator and executive director of the Casa Grande Alliance, received an award Monday for helping a Maricopa-area anti-drug group launch.
The award, presented during a Casa Grande Alliance meeting at Glad Tidings Church, was given in recognition of Schaider’s work in helping form the MASH Coalition, a Maricopa-based volunteer organization that has been active for three years.
Joyce Hollis, a founding member of MASH and current member of the executive committee, made the presentation: “In 2006, the MASH [Maricopa, Ak-Chin Indian Community, Stanfield and Hidden Valley] Coalition was formed,” she said, “and we had 25 people who were intent on stamping out substance abuse and underage drinking. However, it was kind of like crickets on your patio. There were pests to be stamped out, but we had no plan. Enter Cindy Schaider with a plan, with focus, with her tremendous expertise and with her considerable help, we were able to get the MASH Coalition up and running.
“So this is for you, Cindy. It says: ‘We were perched on the nest, and you taught us to fly.’”
Rob Fleischner, president of Ameritec Lighting in Casa Grande, designed and handcrafted Schaider’s distinctive trophy.
After accepting the award, Schaider thanked Hollis. “Joyce was absolutely the power behind the coalition. She’s really a key community operator that seems to be on every board and commission in existence, so without key community members like Joyce, these kinds of programs cannot be moved forward, and I thank you for sticking around.”
The MASH Coalition Against Substance Abuse is a volunteer organization. In 2009 it received a federal grant that energized efforts to reduce substance abuse in the area.
“As part of my role as the Pinal County Anti-Meth Coalition coordinator,” Schaider said, “I helped the MASH committee get established and create their initial plan of how to reduce substance abuse in Maricopa. We then applied for funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Drug Free Communities support program, and we got a mentoring grant to mentor the development of the coalition, and we mentored them for two years.
“They then applied for their own Drug Free Communities grant and received five years of funding from the Drug Free Communities support program. So now their coalition is funded for five years, potentially 10 years, at $125,000 per year, and that is to be matched dollar for dollar with in-kind funding or donations to support their anti-drug efforts.”
The grantee is Casa Grande-based Against Abuse Inc., the organization that’s charged with hiring staff and supervising the grant, and the coalition is charged with creating and implementing the plan. Schaider continues to serve as a mentor and resource person at the request of the coalition.
The grant provides $125,000 a year, and it is renewable each year over a period of five years, with an opportunity to apply for another five years of funding.
The Casa Grande Alliance has been around for more than 20 years, and its role is to reduce substance abuse among youths and adults in Casa Grande and to support the growth and development of new coalitions across Pinal County.
