Cumberland County released another allocation of its over $31.84 million in national opioid settlement funds. 

Approved by the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 25, the county is spending almost $4 million on five projects that will provide early intervention, recovery and reentry services, housing and employment connections to residents with substance use disorders and their loved ones.

Following feedback from townhalls by the Cumberland County Department of Public Health, this latest distribution requires that the projects include a partnership between a health care, substance use, or mental health provider and a community-based organization. So, while only five projects were funded, 11 organizations will be delivering services. Those organizations and their services are:

  • Carolina Treatment Center of Fayetteville and Broken Chains JC, a national community of bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts who provide Christianity-centered recovery services. 

Receiving the maximum grant allocation of $800,000, the organizations will provide street outreach to offer recovery services and housing scholarships for those in recovery. The pair will also connect residents to employment and offer reentry services to those leaving the Cumberland County Detention Center.

Carolina Treatment Center of Fayetteville previously received an opioid settlement grant to provide substance use disorder treatment and other services for residents involved with the Cumberland County Justice Services’ Family Drug Treatment Court.

  • SouthLight Healthcare, a nonprofit mental health and substance use treatment provider, and Oxford House, a substance use recovery housing organization with nine locations in Cumberland County. 

First-time recipients of national opioid settlement funding, the organizations received a little over $761,700. The grant will be used to hire two community-based peer support specialists to connect residents not yet in substance use disorder treatment to services at SouthLight’s Fayetteville location. It will also go towards Oxford House, which will provide free housing to those in SouthLight’s intensive outpatient substance use disorder and other recovery programs.

  • Mid-Carolina Regional Council of Governments, Rapha Medical Center and Spring Lake Family Support Services, which serves residents experiencing homelessness and domestic violence.

The trio’s $800,000 grant will provide free, evidence-based treatment for uninsured and underinsured residents diagnosed with opioid use disorder, one of only two projects doing so. They will also work to identify individuals at risk of substance use disorders and intervene early by connecting them with support services.

The Mid-Carolina Regional Council received a grant for early intervention work in the county’s previous release of opioid settlement funds.

  • Community Health Interventions Specialty Clinic, which offers primary care and specialty care for STIs, and Primary Care of North Carolina, another health clinic.

The organizations are managing the second project providing free, evidence-based treatment to those diagnosed with opioid use disorder who don’t have insurance or whose insurance doesn’t cover treatment. This $800,000 grant will also fund their peer support specialists’ and community health workers’ efforts to help clients access services that improve their overall health, including recovery resources like support groups and primary health care.

This is the first time either organization has received funding from the county’s share of national opioid settlements.

  • North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, an organization working to reduce the negative health consequences of drug use, and Carolina Infectious Disease Clinic.

The pair will help residents access substance use disorder treatment through their $793,335 grant, offering to schedule appointments, arrange transportation and provide other recovery support services. 

They will also offer preventative wound care supplies for low-severity wounds, which are increasing in Cumberland County due to the presence of xylazine in the drug supply. The veterinary tranquilizer is linked to side effects like open sores, according to a study published in the international journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition previously received funding from Cumberland County’s share of national opioid settlement dollars for recovery support and reentry services, and criminal justice diversion programs.

Grant funds will be distributed over the next four years, running through December 31, 2029. Lead organizations on the projects — SouthLight, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Carolina Treatment Center of Fayetteville, Mid-Carolina Council of Governments and Community Health Interventions Specialty Clinic — will receive the money to then allocate among their partners. 

Each month, the organizations will present updates on their work to the Cumberland-Fayetteville Opioid Response Team (C-FORT), which they will join if they are not already members.

There will be future funding opportunities for the proposed projects not selected in this round, given that Cumberland County will be receiving settlement funding through 2038. 

More funds are also coming as the county commissioners agreed to the terms of a new settlement with Purdue Pharma and the company’s owners, the Sackler family. The county is projected to receive over $3.26 million from the settlement.

However, there are no immediate plans to fund more than the current slate of organizations, Jennifer Green, director of the county’s department of public health, said in this month’s C-FORT meeting.

CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.