Several local organizations were among those statewide who were recently announced as the awardees of a supplemental round of the West Virginia First FoundationÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Initial Opportunity Grants.
The West Virginia First Foundation was designed to both receive and distribute opioid settlement funds across the state in support of treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction efforts.
The grant program was established in October and received 174 applications, and WVFF awarded nearly $10.4 million in grants. The supplemental round was established to offer a ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œsecond chanceÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to applicants, according to the foundation, with an additional $6.21 million in funding to award.
The Quick Response Team under the Cabell County Commission was an original awardee of the grant and received $321,826 during the first round of funding in December.
Connie Priddy, Huntington QRT Team coordinator, also works for Cabell County EMS. She said the QRT Team was started in 2017 through federal grants that were slated to end in September 2024, although the team was given a no-cost extension until September 2025.
The team, consisting of a paramedic, member of law enforcement, a peer or behavioral health specialist and a community faith leader, uses EMS data to figure out who has overdosed and visits them within 24 to 72 hours of the incident.
The team knocks on doors, checks on the person and offers them links to services. The QRT also has a referral line and has expanded to hosting free-standing clinics, Priddy said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve had communities throughout the country come here and learn how to be a QRT,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSo weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve really sort of been instrumental in getting this off the ground in multiple places, and itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s because of our team, because our team is so good.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
From 2020 to 2024, Priddy said the team has contacted 1,020 clients with 32.16%, or 328 individuals, entering treatment after contact. With the grant from the WVFF, Priddy said the team will be able to extend its services for another nine months to a year before itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll need to apply for other funding resources.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m a nurse, so I know how hard the health care system is to navigate, and you add the stigma of having substance use disorder ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” knowing who to call, where to call, how to call, how to reach out for help is nearly impossible,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSo to have a team like our team is just really beneficial.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Of the supplemental round awardees announced last month were the Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation, the Huntington City Mission, LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place, Recovery Point of Huntington and the Salvation Army of Huntington.
CHHF
The Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation was awarded $121,634 to expand the ChildrenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Advocacy Center (CAC) in Mason County. The funding will help to sustain a full-time staff member and provide training for the CACÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s multidisciplinary partners, as well as support a system for encrypted forensic interviews.
The CAC allows children who may have suffered trauma to speak with a trained interviewer and receive support, including therapy, courtroom preparation, medical exams and other resources.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe are deeply grateful to the West Virginia First Foundation for believing in our vision and supporting our work,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Angela Seay, CAC director, said in a news release. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTogether, we are making strides to make the children of West Virginia safer.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Huntington City Mission
The Huntington City Mission was awarded $31,754 to use toward a vehicle for its Anchor of Hope program, according to Executive Director Mitchell Webb.
Webb said the program, which deals with behavioral health, has been going on for about five years and has had a dedicated building on 6th Avenue for nearly two years. Since then, he said the program has grown, with its current therapist alone having a caseload of about 60 people.
Social workers within the program need to be able to travel with their clients to get IDs and other information, attend doctorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s appointments and access other services.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œOur thinking was, instead of just pulling people out of the river, letÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s go upstream and find out why theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re falling in, and thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s what weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re attempting to do with Anchor of Hope,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Webb said.
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place was awarded $212,860 to help with its residential treatment program, according to Finance Director Olivia Meade. Meade said LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place believes its purpose is to serve families in the community, specifically those within its residential treatment program and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) program for infants.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWith the First FoundationÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s mission of using this month to help communities affected by opioid use ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥¦ we really felt and believe that it was a good fit, funding-wise, for the programming that we provide,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Meade said.
Recovery Point
Recovery Point of Huntington was awarded $163,280 to become WVARR (West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences) -certified. The Huntington facility houses 100 men from around nine to 12 months who receive all of their basic needs while there, including abstinence-based programming.
WVARR sets the standard on the capacity facilities like Recovery PointÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s can have. In order to receive its full certification and maintain its 100 beds, Vice President of Development Leah Cook said the facility will need to add some additional restrooms.
Without the funding, the facility would need to reduce its services to only 60 beds.
Cook said Recovery Point also hopes to turn to WVFF is in the future to expand its transitional housing in the area.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army of Huntington was awarded $22,425 for prevention education with students, according to Corps Administrator Sgt. Jaclyn Johnson.
Johnson said the Salvation Army provides drug and alcohol prevention courses for youth and is becoming certified in a program called Too Good For Drugs for K-12 students. She said the beginning stages of the program will be at the local branch, but she hopes to eventually meet with the Cabell County Board of Education to teach it within afterschool programs.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI think drug and alcohol prevention really starts with our students. You catch the problem or the issue before it starts. And I think, really, prevention is the key to be able to keep people away from an addiction,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Johnson said.
The full list of Initial Opportunity grantees across the state is available online at .
