RED SPRINGS — A nonprofit agency here has been awarded more than $300,000 to aid opioid overdose victims and provide outreach services in Robeson County.
Bright Light Community Center, located at 112 W. Fourth St. in Red Springs, was awarded in April a grant to fund efforts to reduce rates of substance use and overdose deaths among Medicaid and uninsured Robeson County residents. The grant was provided by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in Winston-Salem.
The money will be used in a project to help improve the lives of residents through implementation of a peer-driven opioid overdose response team, community outreach, community education, and awareness and advocacy efforts, according to a Center press release. Bright Light Community Center was awarded a total of $330,000, to be received annually over a three-year period.
The annual allotment of $110,000 will support he community-based, multi-level intervention Drug Responsive Empowerment Workgroup program, said Jacqueline Carthen, executive director of Bright Light Community Center. She anticipates funding to be given to the center at the start of June.
“The D.R.E.W. (Drug Responsive Empowerment Workgroup) program is designed to address opioid overdose mortality in Robeson County by partnering with local community entities to build and sustain an opioid response team that will provide outreach and education to individuals and families who have experienced a recent overdose,” Carthen said.
The purpose of the D.R.E.W. program is to ensure linkage and enhance coordination of care among professionals for an increase to access to evidence-based practices, such as medication-assisted treatment and trauma-informed/integrated approaches, education on how to respond to overdoses to family members, and other services as necessary for stabilization.
For example, the funding will be used to help victims of overdoses and provide them with resources, such as transportation or shelter if needed, Carthen said.
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office responded to 17 overdose deaths in 2019, Sheriff Burnis Wilkins previously told The Robesonian. There were 51 overdose deaths in the Robeson County in 2020.
As of May 7, there were 25 overdose deaths in the county, Wilkins said.
The rate of unintentional opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents from 2015 to 2019 was 16.3% in Robeson County, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The statewide rate was 15.3%.
There were 1,359 Emergency Department visits in April “for overdose involving medications or drugs with dependency potential” across the state, according to NCDHHS. There were 230 more visits in 2021 than the previous year.
Robeson County had the highest rate of medicine/drug overdose ED visits in April, with a 67.4% rate and 88 ED visits recorded that month, according to NCDHHS.
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and nonprofit Center are working together to make an impact on not just the numbers, but the lives of OD victims and their families.
“At the Trust, we partner with local communities to ensure everyone has a voice in how to improve health, especially residents who have been most affected by health inequities,” said Madison Allen, senior program officer at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
“Bright Light Community Center promotes community empowerment and is committed to helping impacted families and organizations participate in broader planning efforts to address substance misuse in Robeson County. We look forward to seeing what they will accomplish in the years ahead.”
Bright Light Community Center seeks to support disadvantaged communities through collaborative partnerships, mentorship and positive resources. The Center is a nonprofit agency that utilizes a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to building resiliency and self-sufficiency in rural communities. The organization has served the Robeson County community through various community projects and events since 2018.
