Wake County will award $3 million in National Opioid Settlement funds to 13 local organizations working to address the opioid crisis through early intervention programs, naloxone distribution, recovery housing support, and recovery support services.
Between 2000 and 2022, 36,000 North Carolinians died from a drug overdose, according to the NC Department of Health and Human Services. More than 2,000 of them lived in Wake County.
To combat the ongoing opioid crisis, in 2021 the state and the county joined a historic nationwide settlement with the drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen and the drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson to pay $26 billion to communities opioids have harmed. Since then, states have reached additional settlements with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, and others named in national opioids lawsuits, bringing the nationwide settlement total to $56 billion.
North Carolina’s state and local governments are set to receive $1.5 billion over 18 years as part of the deal. Wake County will receive $65.3 million in that time frame. Each fiscal year, the county board of commissioners will decide where to spend that money and how much.
This year, the board allocated $7.5 million in its Fiscal Year 2025 Wake County Opioid Settlement Funding Plan. Of that, the county will soon distribute $3 million to community partners who were selected through a Request for Proposals process that began in April.
The funding plan was created with the help of public input from a community meeting and an online survey where county residents shared how they think the settlement funds should be spent. Residents said they wanted more support for youth and their families, better access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone, and investments across the “continuum of care,” from prevention to recovery.
Based on that input, the funding plan allocates $300,000 for collaborative strategic planning, $2 million for evidence-based addiction treatment, $1.95 million for recovery support services, $1 million for recovery housing support, $1 million for early intervention, $300,000 for naloxone distribution, $500,000 for criminal justice diversion, and $450,000 for addiction treatment for incarcerated individuals in the current fiscal year.
Thirty-nine organizations submitted proposals, requesting more than $12 million total.
“The big takeaway here is that the need is great, and there is a lot of interest in being able to support this work,” Wake County Opioid Settlement Program Manager Alyssa Kitlas told the board of commissioners during its August 12 work session.
Although only 13 of the interested organizations are receiving funding this round, the county will soon award more money to more organizations in a second wave of funding for this fiscal year.
The exact funding amounts are still being finalized and the county will publish that information on its National Opioid Settlement landing page when available.
The organizations receiving funding this round are:
- The Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education for low-barrier youth mental health first aid training for parents, caregivers, and youth-serving adults.
- Arise Collective to expand their Women’s Reentry Project to provide a deeper level of services and support to justice-involved women struggling with opioid use disorder.
- Boys and Girls Club of Wake County to expand early intervention programs for Wake County’s youth.
- Coastal Horizons Center to hire a Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS) and licensed clinical therapist who can serve Wake County residents living with an opioid use disorder.
- Emmaus House to expand the availability of recovery housing for men on Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) by securing an additional location and expanding support available through their existing program.
- Fathers Forever to expand their availability to provide transitional housing and comprehensive support services for men in need of recovery housing support.
- Healing Transitions to expand their peer-support specialist team to include a Hospital Liaison Peer Support, a Community Care Peer Support, and three On-Campus Peer Supports. The funding will also provide transportation to ensure individuals have access to medications for opioid use disorder.
- Illuminate NC to expand access to naloxone throughout Wake County.
- North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition to distribute naloxone to Wake County residents at the highest risk of overdose through fixed sites, mobile syringe service programs, and a mail-based naloxone distribution program.
- SMART Recovery USA to implement a project that would increase the availability of recovery support options for Wake County residents. SMART will hire a part-time Community Outreach Coordinator to cultivate a hyper-local community of practice that includes individuals and organizations committed to providing services to prioritized communities.
- SouthLight Healthcare to create a safe, recovery-oriented environment in their Peer Support Specialist-led Drop-In Center for clients seeking recovery from opioid addiction and other substance use disorders.
- Urban Ministries of Wake County to fund housing recovery support at the Helen Wright Center for Women including move-in costs and rental aid.
- Wake Monarch Academy to develop an adolescent “alternative peer group” for at-risk youth between the ages of 13-21 in Wake County who struggle with mental health and substance use disorders.
Reach Reporter Chloe Courtney Bohl at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].