LYNN — The city is searching for community members who are experienced in addiction recovery to join Lynn’s new Opioid Working Group.
The Opioid Working Group, comprising representatives from a variety of public and private organizations, will brainstorm ways to invest the city’s opioid class-action settlement money toward addiction recovery and prevention in the community.
“It’s taking a modern approach to solving the opioid substance use concern in our communities,” said group member Faustina Cuevas, who is also the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion officer. “So the centering of our conversations really are about harm reduction.”
From July 2021 until Dec. 2022, former Attorney General Maura Healey brought forth a series of class-action lawsuit settlements with opioid distribution companies. A total of $920 million in settlement money was distributed to addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in municipalities across the Commonwealth.
Lynn, which has received more than $700,000 in opioid settlement funds as of Nov. 2022, is expected to collect more than $3.3 million rolled out over the next nine years.
The group met for the first time on Feb. 7, and is currently looking for two or three new members with experience in opioid work and prevention.
Group member and public health nurse Jennifer Almonte said that the ideal candidates will have experience and expertise regarding substance abuse disorder.
“There’s still a call for community members to be on the committee, because we want to have voices that are representative of the people that need the help,” Almonte said.
Cuevas said that the group encourages community members in recovery to apply, either online or in-person at Room 103 of City Hall, by the end of February.
“We have tried to make a pitch for people that are in recovery to apply and have been really welcomed, because we know that they have valuable perspectives that they can bring to the group,” Cuevas said. “The goal really is to center on the people who have been most affected, and thinking about strategies of getting the funds to the right people.”
