Updated on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024 at 4 p.m.
The foundation responsible for distributing West Virginia’s opioid settlement funds is giving applicants a second chance to obtain funding to fight the state’s drug epidemic.
Of the 174 applications received, the West Virginia First Foundation approved awards amounting to $10.4 million in Initial Opportunity Grants at its annual meeting on Thursday, Dec. 12.
“Each applicant will be hearing from us, those that are approved,” Jonathan Board, the Foundation’s executive director said. “They’ll be hearing from us individually. They will have an agreement to go through and confirm, and once that is conducted, certainly we will notify the public and everyone else of that acceptance and are just very excited.”
While the application period for the Foundation’s first grant cycle ended on Oct. 5, the Foundation will hold a “supplemental round” for applicants who met the deadline but were not awarded funding.
“This would give those applicants who maybe were just short, an opportunity to cure their application,” Board said. “If they were, for example, missing articles of incorporation, they could make sure that, that was sorted.”
The Foundation allotted $19.2 million to this grant cycle in September. During the supplemental round, the foundation will work with applicants to award the remaining $8.8 million, reaching its original goal for this grant cycle.
The 2024 Initial Opportunity Grants focused on four target areas that were identified by the Initial Opportunity Committee, formed during August’s board meeting. Those four areas are considered critical in the fight against the opioid crisis and are prioritized for funding.
The 2024 Initial Opportunity Grants focused on four areas deemed critical in the fight against the opioid crisis: diversion and interdiction programs, youth prevention and workforce development, child advocacy centers and PPW (Pregnant and Postpartum Women) Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) programs, and transitional/recovery housing expansion.
In an email, Danin Cather, the Foundation’s chief marketing officer said details on individual awardees will be provided in the coming weeks after all required paperwork has been signed and awardees have formally accepted.
“The applications for the Initial Opportunity Grants went through a rigorous review process by the Initial Opportunity Committee and Expert Panel, using a detailed scoring rubric that was outlined in the application process,” Cather wrote. “The recommendations from these reviews were presented to the Board, and the Board voted on the total funding amounts to allocate to each target area.
During the annual meeting, board Treasurer, Jeff Sandy presented the Foundation’s most up-to-date financial information.
“This is for the period ending Nov. 30, 2024,” Sandy said. “The income to-date from the First Foundation’s investments is $10,163,387.37. The expenses to date (are) $1,250,039.30. Funds that are available to the Foundation are $226,413,248.07.”
The board voted to approve and publish the financial report ending on Nov. 30, 2024, to its website within 24 hours.
West Virginia is expected to receive about $1 billion after all its opioid settlement lawsuits are paid out.
The board also elected officers for 2025. Those elected were:
● Chair: Matthew Harvey
● Vice-Chair: Dr. Matthew Christiansen
● Treasurer: Jeff Sandy
● Secretary: Dora Stutler
**Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include the West Virginia First Foundation’s November 2024 Financial Report.