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Northeast Kentucky Substance Use Response Coalition Awarded $1 Million Grant

August 12, 2021

MOREHEAD – The Northeast Kentucky Substance Use Response Coalition has been awarded a second round of funding by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP).

This Implementation project, a $1 million award, will be used to: establish the Coalition’s jail reentry program, First Day Forward, in the Montgomery County Regional Jail; expand medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) availability in Rowan County; begin offering MOUD pre-release to incarcerated individuals in Montgomery County and at the Rowan County Detention Center; enhance recovery resources in Lewis County; and provide prevention education to students, and substance use disorder education to medical providers, in all three target counties. The project will last from Sept. 1, 2021, through Aug. 31, 2024.

The Coalition, established in 2018, is comprised of eight organizations that represent multiple sectors and includes: St. Claire HealthCare and its hosted Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center; Achieving Recovery Together, a recovery community organization based in Winchester; the Clark County Health Department; Comprehend, Inc., and Pathways, Inc., community mental health centers; Tri-State Primary Care; the Kentucky Rural Healthcare Information Organization; and the Gateway District Health Department.

“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to continue the Coalition’s work and to expand our Implementation efforts into three new counties,” said KaLeigh Hemminger, director of the Coalition. “We are already seeing positive results from First Day Forward as part of our current Implementation project, so knowing we now have the chance to continue impacting the real people struggling with substance use disorder in northeastern Kentucky – we’re just really thankful for that chance.” 

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact KaLeigh Hemminger at 606.783.6506 or via e-mail at kaleigh.hemminger@st-claire.org.