LYNN — The City of Lynn Opioid Working Group is making $250,000 available to groups and organizations for innovative approaches to combating the opioid epidemic.
The group, which makes recommendations to the Mayor’s office on how Opioid Abatement Settlement Funds should be spent, released a notice of the available funding on Monday, after which they will be accepting applications for 30 days. Applicants may apply for one-time or recurring funds.
“I am confident that making these funds available will significantly help address the challenges our community faces in regards to substance use disorder, and allow members of our community that are struggling to get the help, resources and support they need and deserve,” Mayor Jared Nicholson said in a statement.
The $250,000 is a portion of the funding that the city received as part of a lawsuit between the Massachusetts Attorney General and several pharmaceutical companies that led to a statewide settlement. As of July 9, the city had $924,000 in its funds, according to Faustina Ceuvas, the mayor’s diversity, equity & inclusion officer and senior advisor.
Ceuvas said this is a pilot program to gauge the interest of organizations in participating, but the working group would be open to presenting another round of funding if the first phase of funding was proven successful.
Applications will be evaluated by the group using a rubric aligning to qualities such as abatement strategy, project goals, community collaborations, anticipated measurable outcomes, and timeline and budget. Once approved, applications will be sent to the Mayor’s office for final approval.
Opioid prevention specialist Candice McClory said they wanted to keep notice of funding availability broad so anyone is encouraged to apply.
“We are looking for people, for ideas that kind of get creative as far as bridging gaps and getting rid of barriers to access to care,” she said. “We really want anybody and everybody to apply. We want to hear all the ideas, any ways that we can build community and help support people that are in recovery and working toward recovery.”
The application is available on the City website at LynnMA.gov.
