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The Opioid Action Council for Chisago County recommended a half-dozen grants to be awarded from pharmaceutical company lawsuit settlement funds,  and the county commissioners unanimously supported the group’s advice.  In total this round of grants distributes  $229,000.

The Chisago County Action Council is an appointed group of a maximum of 19 diverse community members;  consisting of clergy, law enforcement, school officials, people working in recovery services,  and public health representatives. The mission is to use settlement monies to promote recovery, treatment, use prevention and other locally-focused efforts related to opioid abuse and curtailing the availability of illegal narcotics.

There were 11 applicants in this first call for proposals.  Five were awarded.  There are plans for subsequent grant offerings.  Chisago County is projected to receive lawsuit payouts for over a dozen years in a formula established by the state legislature.

The main criteria was that the grant application description for using the funding;  needed to be locally focused, with an integrated relationship established in this county, and the organization should be a non-profit or go through a non-profit, and the outcomes had to be directly related to bettering county residents’ lives.

The grants are going to:

Fentanyl Free Communities.  One of its founders is a county resident whose son was taken by an overdose of illicit fentanyl. Michele Hein teamed up with former and present state leaders for the purpose of  responding to fentanyl products wreaking havoc in communities. The grant is for $44,300.

There will be a  Peer Recovery Specialist assigned to serve county school districts, through a grant awarded to MN Prevention and Recovery Alliance in the amount of $92,980.

Chisago County Sheriff’s Office will be awarded $32,380 for a device (the NARC ID 1064nm) that identifies substances in the field and to also provide training.

Canvas Health gets $42,726 to provide fentanyl-related support services in the county jail and probation system.

And, $16,766 to the Steve Rummler Hope Network to increase access to naloxone (an opioid overdose reversal drug). Chisago county has several NAPs or naloxone access points now,  and the network has been instrumental in supporting these free sites.  Fentanyl test strips are also available at the NAPs at no charge.  NAPs are at Chisago Lakes Area Library, Fairview in Wyoming, Soo Fly Salon in Shafer, Rush City City Hall and the Family Pathways food shelf locations in Chisago City and North Branch.  The kits and information are free to anyone, no questions asked.

One of the chief public health strategists working with the county’s Action Council told the commissioners they might have noticed some of the grant awards were attractive due to there being a mental health component to what the applicant had to offer. “We know they (opioid abuse and mental health struggles) go hand in hand.”

County Board Chair Marlys Dunne serves on the action council and she extended compliments to the council leaders in the audience for the efficient and professional way the grants were getting out into the community,  and to the many hours put in by those who also attend council.

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