City also to receive new $2.3M federal grant to continue prevention efforts
PROVIDENCE, RI – As part of National Recovery Month, Mayor Brett P. Smiley, Chief of Policy and Resiliency Sheila Dormody and Providence Director of Housing and Human Services Emily Freedman today announced major investments to support the ongoing implementation of the City’s Overdose Prevention Strategy, which outlines the ways in which the City will work to expand investments in recovery and sets long-term goals of further integrating behavioral health supports across City departments. The City also announced that it has been awarded a multimillion Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
“Providence has felt the impacts of the opioid overdose epidemic more deeply than many other communities across Rhode Island,” said Mayor Brett Smiley. “In response, my Administration has collaborated across departments to develop a multipronged approach to meet the immediate and long-term needs of our most vulnerable communities. We are developing innovative public safety programs that provide preventative emergency services and prioritizing investments that reduce behavioral health disparities and increase access to harm reduction resources in every neighborhood.”
The City’s Overdose Prevention Plan announced last year sets goals over the course of the next three to five years to address both immediate and long-term needs for recovery programming and identifies strategic priorities in promotion, prevention, rescue and harm reduction, treatment and recovery.
In recent weeks, the City designated more than a quarter of a million dollars to the Project Weber/Renew Overdose Prevention Center, which is set to open later this year and will be the first overdose prevention center in the nation outside of New York City. The opening of this facility further supports and expands upon ongoing harm reduction efforts across Providence, especially in areas experiencing high overdose rates and vulnerable populations at increased risk for adverse consequences of drug use.
In addition to the Overdose Prevention Center allocation, the City is seeking to administer more than $600,000 to local nonprofits through five new grant opportunities. Grants range from $30,000 to $250,000 and are funded by Opioid Settlement Funds from the 2021 National Opioids class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. Interested nonprofits can find more information about the RFPs online.
- The Neighbors Seeking Recovery Mini-Grant aims to continue addressing financial barriers to care for Providence residents by providing emergency mini-grants to individuals entering or continuing treatment.
- The Youth Empowerment Activities Grant seeks to increase protective factors that prevent youth substance use by increasing opportunities for youth participation in structured, substance-free activities by building skills that help empower youth to make good decisions regarding substance use, increasing pro-social activities and connections for youth.
- The Multiple Pathways Start-Up Mini-grants seek proposals for projects that create or expand recovery-oriented activities in support of the multiple pathways to recovery.
- The Innovative Recovery Supports for Specific Subpopulations seeks to find innovative solutions that will advance recovery for underserved and unserved populations.
- The Recovery Housing Supports Grant aims to expand and improve recovery housing options in Providence.
The City also announced today that it has been awarded a $2.3M grant from SAMHSA for its Providence Overdose Prevention Project, a comprehensive strategy that enhances first responders’ ability to save lives. The program increases the capacity of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff and community members to use evidence-based practices to engage people who use drugs and connect them to services, reduce fatal overdoses through education and naloxone distribution, and lower nonfatal overdose rates by connecting individuals to appropriate supports.
“The opioid crisis has had an outsized impact on our most vulnerable populations,” said Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva. “This initiative better equips our first responders with the tools and training to save lives and combat the overdose crisis head-on. The multiyear grant will significantly enhance our ability to connect individuals to life-saving services, reduce fatal overdoses and build a safer, healthier community here in Providence.”
For more information on the City’s Housing and Human Services programs, please visit the department’s website.