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W.Va. Institutions To Receive Money For Opioid Response Program

The program helps make treatment for substance use disorder more accessible by funding rural health organizations. West Virginia University is set to receive $1 million, while the other million is going to Boone Memorial Health, a healthcare company based in Madison.

The federal Rural Communities Opioid Response Program is sending $2 million to fight West Virginia’s opioid epidemic.

In a joint statement, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito say they will continue to advocate for resources and support to combat the drug epidemic and help West Virginians struggling with addiction.

“The opioid epidemic has touched all of us in one way or another, and I will continue to advocate for the support our local leaders need to pursue solutions that will help West Virginians struggling with addiction get the help they need,” Capito said.

“Combatting this heartbreaking epidemic continues to be a top priority of mine, and I am pleased the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investing in Boone Memorial Hospital and West Virginia University as they continue to offer these essential healthcare services,” Manchin said.

The money comes from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Huntington Receives Grant To Curb Substance Use Disorder, Create Support Network

The grant was awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and will fund a network that will help case navigators improve outreach to those who have fallen out of care.

The city of Huntington will receive a $2 million dollar grant to help curb the substance use epidemic.

Director of Huntington’s Council on Public Health and Drug Control Policy Jan Rader says the project will help the city cast a broader net and help those slipping through the cracks.

“We have a lot of wonderful people doing wonderful work. But we’re not able to keep up with people who drop out of the system,” Rader said. “We want to be able to capture that person again, and maybe plug them in somewhere where they feel more comfortable.”

The project, called the Training Responders to Assess, Initiate, and Navigate project, or TRAIN, is also set to help train first responders and other community agencies on how to treat substance use disorder.

These agencies include the Huntington police and fire departments, the Provider Response Organization for Addiction Care and Treatment (PROACT), the Quick Response Team (QRT), the Cabell-Huntington Health Department and Harmony House, a Huntington-based group that provides housing and services for the homeless.

“There are a lot of new first responders who haven’t had extensive training. And we want to provide that training for them. But not only for them, but for people in the public,” Rader said. “You know, it might be on just Naloxone administration, but also like on things like motivational interviewing, and ways to get people engaged in a program that can assist them with their substance use disorder.”

TRAIN plans to train more than 550 people within the next four years.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Southern W.Va. Business Hub Tackles Workforce Challenges With Addiction Recovery Training Program

A fourth Fruits of Labor Cafe and Bakery will open later in August in Beckley. The company formalized a program focused on helping employers create workspaces that are recovery friendly.

A fourth Fruits of Labor Cafe and Bakery will open later in August in Beckley. The company formalized a program focused on helping employers create work spaces that are recovery friendly.

The program is called Communities of Healing. It was started by Fruits of Labor owner Tammy Jordan, as a way for her business to employ and support people in recovery.

The Communities of Healing project brings in partners like West Virginia Hive Network to share the program with other businesses in the region.

Judy Moore, deputy director of operations at the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority and president of Country Roads Angel Network, said in addition to helping navigate people through recovery, the Communities of Healing Program is also helping the economy.

“It is a deep need, especially for southern West Virginia,” Moore said. “We have a true workforce problem. And we have found that, embedded within that is this opioid issue. And in order to break down the issues surrounding the workforce, this is a big problem that we have to tackle.”

The West Virginia Hive is a business hub that works to help businesses succeed.

In addition to helping businesses learn how to hire and support people in recovery, the Communities of Healing program is addressing the stigma surrounding drug abuse.

And Moore said, it takes more than a willing heart.

“That’s where it has to start,” Moore said. “They have to have passion. They need to understand that they’re working with individuals that have been through a lot, and they are really restarting. The businesses have to have patience. It’s so very important that the businesses go through this program and learn about all of those resources and tools and skills that they truly need to make this successful.”

This is the second year businesses can apply for acceptance into the Communities of Healing program. To date, 24 businesses have graduated from the program. The fourth cohort of nine businesses just began. The initiative has been funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Us & Them: The Stigma of Sobriety

America has faced a pandemic, a polarizing election and racial equity battles in the past year. But there’s been another crisis continuing to fester — the opioid epidemic. Deaths are up with more than 1,200 West Virginians dying from overdoses last year. The fight for sobriety now deals with its own tragic divide — When is someone sober?

The road to recovery comes in many forms. For some abstinence works. But others, especially those addicted to opiates, find they need help to get off of such powerful drugs. For their recovery they turn to medication-assisted treatment. That approach has split the treatment world and created a stigma around sobriety.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the CRC Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in tonight, June 24, at 8 p.m., or listen to the encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Clarksburg Mission is a Christian-centered treatment facility located in Clarksburg, W.Va. that supports people in either abstinence-based or medication assisted substance use disorder recovery.

The neon cross outside the Clarksburg Mission delivers a simple, straightforward message as to the spiritual underpinnings of their recovery program.

Lou Ortenzio is executive director of the Clarksburg Mission, Clarksburg, W.Va.

Melissa Carter is recovery coach here at the Clarksburg Mission in Clarksburg, W.Va.

Angela Knight is a program manager at the Clarksburg Mission, Clarksburg, W. Va.

Dr. James Berry, Director of WVU Medicine’s Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

Gabriella Dahalia-Jarrett with her “murphing” dog Sid.

Small Businesses In Southern W.Va. Prepare To Hire People In Substance Use Recovery

A new program called Communities of Healing is working with Southern West Virginia communities and businesses to connect them with those who are in opioid substance-use disorder recovery.

The demand is high. Between 1999 and 2015 West Virginia’s labor force fell to 3.3 percent for men and 4.2 percent for women because of opioids, according to the American Action Forum (AAF), a center-right think tank.

The Communities of Healing recovery-to-work program is focused on helping employees create a space that’s recovery friendly. The idea is to address the stigma that surrounds hiring people who are in recovery. It’s modeled after a culinary program based in Rainelle called Fruits of Labor. The company has years of experience in working with those in recovery, helping them to attain job skills and confidence for their futures.

Managers or owners from 10 small businesses recently completed four months of training as part of the recovery-to-work program. Organizers say they are looking for 10 more businesses or social enterprises that are interested in participating.

Those involved in the current program include:

· Chris Adams, Appalachian Furnishings, Rockview, WV

· Samantha Phillips, Sage and Lila Company, Beaver, WV

· Maxine Johnson, Appalachian Artistic Adventures, Princeton, WV

· Brittany Massaroni, Armadio Luxury Exchange, Princeton, WV

· Amy Patterson, Sandstone General Store and Eatery, Sandstone, WV

· Yvonne Ortiz, Heavenly Sweet Pastries, Meadow Bridge, WV

· Adam Hodges, MuttonChops, Oak Hill, WV

· Jennifer Gilkerson, Sunset Berry Farm & Produce, Alderson, WV

· Trey Yates, Greenbrier Dairy, Alderson, WV

· James Birt, Housed-Up; Fayetteville, WV

Employers can register for the Communities of Healing recovery-to-work program at the Fruits of Labor Communities of Healing website. Registration is open through July 23.