$7.4 million in grants awarded to Northeast Tenn. organizations for opioid addiction response

Murry Lee
·2 min read

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – More than $7 million in grant funding has been awarded to Northeast Tennessee organizations by the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council (OAC).

The OAC announced in a news release Thursday that nearly $81 million in grants was distributed across the state in hopes of funding the response to opioid addiction for up to three years.

The grants were awarded after the OAC received and reviewed almost 400 proposals from various organizations. The council approved 116 grants earlier in March.

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In Northeast Tennessee, 14 programs received grant funding, totaling $7,408,560. The grants are meant to go toward treatment, recovery support, primary prevention, education and training, harm reduction, and research and evaluation.

East Tennessee State University received grant funding for 10 projects.

Below are the Northeast Tennessee organizations receiving grant funding, as well as their totals and projects:

  • Ballad Health

    • Strong Futures OUD/SUD Treatment Services for Pregnant and Parenting Women – $509,075

  • Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition

    • Using Strategic Prevention Framework to Prevent OUD in Students in Carter County – $147,529

  • East Tennessee State University

    • Stigma Reduction to Facilitate the Adoption of Evidence-Based Treatments of Opioid Use Disorder in Northeast Tennessee Jails – $199,893.00

    • Educating and expanding the paid and volunteer SUD workforce – $299,942

    • Expanding and Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce – $1,586,690

    • Development and Implementation of a Fentanyl Adulterated with Xylazine (FAX) Overdose Prevention and Response Education Program – $204,795

    • Nurse-led Health Clinics – $321,374

    • Expansion of Baby Steps: An Interdisciplinary Clinic and Care Coordination Program to Improve Outcomes for Opioid-Exposed Infants and Children and their Families – $565,219

    • Recover with Nature – $98,278

    • Northeast Tennessee REACH (Recovery Ecosystem – Access to Care and Health) – $359,199

    • F.I.G- Filling in the Gaps – $407,567

    • VICTOR: Veterans Improving Connections in Tennessee for Opioid Recovery – $193,393

  • Fairview Housing Management Corporation

    • Recovery in Action Supportive Services – $422,000

  • First Tennessee Development District

    • Caring Workplaces 2.0 (CW 2.0) – $924,452

  • Frontier Health, Inc.

    • Youth Drug Prevention Project – $1,369,047

Several statewide organizations like the Tennessee Department of Health and Pathway Healthcare – Tennessee, LLC also received funding.

The OAC stated of the $81 million, nearly $33 million was dedicated to projects aimed at treatment for those suffering from opioid addiction.

“When the history of the opioid crisis in our state is written, people will look back at this date as a landmark on the road to healing the unbelievable harm done to so many families and communities,” said Dr. Stephen Loyd, Opioid Abatement Council Chairman.

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