Broome County Awards Mini-Grants to Fight the Opioid Epidemic
The Boys and Girls Club of Western Broome, Broome-Tioga BOCES, the Southern Tier AIDS Program and Truth Pharm are the recipients of a new round of funding to support their efforts to fight the opioid epidemic in the county.
$25,000 was allocated in this year’s Broome County budget for the mini-grants with the money to be spent before the end of the year. The funds are earmarked toward education and prevention, including training on and distribution of Narcan drug overdose rescue kits.
Broome County Executive Jason Garnar praised the winning proposals saying each group submitted very strong plans.
The mini-grants range from $5,000-$10,000.
In addition to prevention and education, STAP says it plans to put overdose reversal kits in high-traffic public areas like gas stations and fast food restaurants where addicts may secretly use drugs.
Broome County Director of Public Health Rebecca Kaufman says fighting the epidemic is multi-faceted and needs new ideas for saving lives and reducing the stigma associated with substance use disorders.