Amistades, Inc.

Amistades, Inc. Prevention Division, a Hispanic American-owned, minority-owned nonprofit tax-exempt organization based in Tucson, Arizona, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering culturally responsive substance abuse prevention, youth leadership development, climate resilience, and community health services to underserved Latino-dominant border communities and immigrant populations. The organization competes exclusively as a prime grant recipient rather than through federal contracting vehicles; across its recent federal footprint, 95% of awards are prime grants with a single sub-award via the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Amistades' customer base concentrates heavily within the Department of Health and Human Services, which accounts for 74% of recent awards across multiple agencies and offices. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the dominant grantor, with five awards spanning underage drinking prevention coalitions and community capacity-building work. The Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention round out the HHS footprint. Secondary customers include the Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, the Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Division, reflecting Amistades' portfolio breadth across prevention, environmental justice, and immigrant services.

Representative work includes a $250,000 USCIS Citizenship Education and Training grant (CFDA 97.010) awarded October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2025 supporting the Movimiento Ollin (Project Movement) initiative, which delivers culturally responsive substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services to immigrant families alongside legal assistance and community outreach. Amistades received a SAMHSA Substance Abuse Prevention grant effective September 30, 2026 through September 29, 2030 for the Bisbee-Naco Youth Project, a youth alcohol prevention and leadership initiative expanding the Cochise County Coalition's capacity to reach youth ages 10–20 across two rural Arizona border communities through coalition expansion, youth leadership, parent education, and environmental prevention strategies. The organization also holds an EPA Region 9 climate resilience grant awarded May 1, 2024 (completion March 21, 2025) addressing heat severity in Latino-dominant Tucson neighborhoods through culturally centered climate resilience hubs, youth climate coalition development, and trained community advocates.

Activity has been episodic over the past five years — four awards in 2021, declining to one per year in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with two awards recorded in 2026 — reflecting the grant-based nature of Amistades' federal footprint rather than continuous contract vehicles. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $21.9 million. Only one award faces completion in the next twenty-four months, limiting near-term recompete pressure. Amistades' capability portfolio centers on evidence-based, evidence-informed, and trauma-informed prevention programming adapted for Latino populations, coalition capacity-building, community advocacy and mobilization, policy development to reduce youth access to alcohol and drugs, and environmental justice problem-solving with emphasis on fentanyl and opioid prevention in rural border regions.