MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Nearly $300,000 in federal grant funding recently announced for Berkeley County, W.Va., will bolster the community's fight against opioid abuse.
The three-year, $298,458 grant to the Berkeley County Council was among $6.2 million in Department of Justice funding awards aimed at the state's opioid problem that were announced Tuesday by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
The funding awarded through the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program will pay the salary for a full-time recovery-network manager and 10 percent of the salary for the heath department's nurse director and epidemiologist who are involved in harm-reduction program efforts, said Kevin Knowles, the county's recovery-services coordinator.
The grant award also will cover 10 percent of Knowles' salary, which is mostly paid with county funds.
Nearly $60,000 of the grant award will be used for harm-reduction program materials, according to county records.
Knowles said Wednesday that the grant funding will enhance what the community currently is doing to target opioid use.
The resource center that Knowles manages has served more than 2,700 people so far this year, with more than 100 individuals requesting treatment referrals, according to a report released last week by the council.
The number of overdoses in the county this year has been trending higher than 2016, with more than 335 in the first six months of 2017.
Knowles noted there have been fewer overdose deaths.
"If it's one life (saved), it's better," he said.