Four W.Va. Agencies Addressing Substance Use Secure Federal Grants

Four West Virginia organizations that aim to prevent opioid use and support addiction recovery have secured a federal grant from the United States Department of Justice.

The Justice Department’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program provides financial and technical support to state and local governments “to identify, respond to, treat and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants and other drugs,” according to the program website.

The Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home, the Berkeley County Commission, the Tucker County Commission and West Virginia Sober Living will each receive tens of thousands of dollars in federal funding to support these efforts in West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Monday.

Morrisey announced the funding awards at a press conference outside the Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home in Parkersburg. He said reducing substance use disorder across the state was a key goal of his tenure as attorney general, and will remain a focal point of his term as governor.

“West Virginia has a very long history battling the perils of addiction. … I’ve always said that we can’t afford to lose another generation to senseless death,” Morrisey said.

Funding for the Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home is a residential recovery facility for individuals experiencing substance use disorder. Funding for the facility will go toward peer recovery resources for Wood County and surrounding communities, Morrisey said.

During the press conference, Wood County Commissioner David Blair Couch said he sees the added funds as an aid to the local community.

“We support this group and so many others and the addiction recovery space, and I hope that we can continue to do so,” he said. “I’m sure this 80 grand will be well spent.”

Jonathan Board serves as executive director of the West Virginia First Foundation, an agency created by the state to administer the majority of its settlement funding from opioid addiction-related litigation. He said at the press conference that providing groups funds is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Board said he is grateful state officials “have come together” to “change the trajectory of the state.”

Brandy Blatt, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home, said she hopes the new funding is an opportunity to better “collaborate” with the local community.

“We are really honored for what we’re receiving today,” she said during the press conference. “This is a big deal for people suffering from substance use disorders.”

Morrisey said that grants from the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program will be distributed as follows:

• Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home: $80,000 for peer recovery resources;
• West Virginia Sober Living: $80,000 to further fund current reentry and peer recovery resources from specialists in Kanawha and Monongalia counties;
• Berkeley County Commission: $60,000 to provide “evidence-based recovery services” to people convicted on charges surrounding substance use;
• Tucker County Commission: $56,000 to employ “prevention resource officers” in schools.