Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stigma And Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
New River Valley campaign uses opioid-abatement funds to tackle stigma, expand recovery services
Summary
The New River Valley Regional Commission described a regional recovery “ecosystem” funded by Opioid Abatement Authority awards that has financed transportation, mobile harm reduction, peer centers, school curricula and anti-stigma outreach across Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the city of Radford.
Anna Champion, community health project manager for the New River Valley Regional Commission, outlined a regional anti-stigma and recovery effort funded through opioid litigation dollars during an Oct. 12 Abatement Academy webinar hosted by the Opioid Abatement Authority.
The New River Valley project, Champion said, combines local matching funds and Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) awards to support transportation, mobile harm-reduction services, peer centers, school curricula and public-education work across Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the city of Radford. "We now have three service agency providers," Champion said, and "five vehicles were purchased" to offer free rides for people with substance use disorder.
The campaign aims to reduce stigma — which Kinsey Weaver, community accountability coordinator for the NRV recovery ecosystem, described as "any negative belief, assumption, or judgment" that keeps people from seeking care — by combining outreach, trainings, storytelling and targeted communications. "Stigma can be broken down into three main areas," Weaver said, naming self, social and structural stigma and describing how each creates barriers to treatment, work and housing.
Why it matters: program organizers told webinar attendees stigma reduces use of treatment and harm-reduction services and that reducing stigma can increase engagement with available care. Champion said the regional plan grew from public forums and intergovernmental planning begun in fall 2022 and formally submitted to the OAA in spring 2023.
Key program details described on the webinar: the region reported a local match of almost $2,000,000 for the first year of OAA funding and $4,380,000 in cooperative competitive awards in year two; the transport service operates from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and has provided 4,224 rides to date; a mobile harm-reduction program called Rise Above operates weekly in each locality and is a certified syringe program; two new peer centers are opening in Floyd and Giles this year and a Day 1 recovery center in Giles is scheduled to open later this year; and a community support fund will provide emergency wraparound payments at the locality level.
The project also supports education and public engagement. Organizers said mailers reached about 35,000 households; a neuroscience-based school curriculum (the Just Say No curriculum developed at the Medical University of South Carolina) has been implemented across local school systems with Virginia Tech students delivering lessons and pre/post surveys showing improved knowledge; and a multiday training, "Demystifying Substance Use and Harm Reduction," produced measurable shifts in participants' attitudes toward hiring people with a history of substance use.
Meredith Lane, an intern coordinating the justice-involved technical team, and other presenters described events and storytelling projects designed to normalize help-seeking and highlight lived experience. Lane said cross-sector events — including a student panel, a regional Appalachian event to distribute naloxone and recovery concerts — have helped bridge student and community audiences and promote peer-led messaging.
Organizers described challenges and lessons learned, including the difficulty of providing truly on-demand rides in a rural region, the importance of starting outreach early, and that offering continuing-education credits substantially increases training participation. Champion said the regional effort also leverages a Department of Transportation rail and public-transportation award through the community service board to expand operational hours for transportation.
No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the webinar, which was an informational presentation and Q&A; the session closed with organizers thanking attendees and noting a subsequent webinar would be scheduled though a date was not provided during the call.
The New River Valley presenters asked that communities tailor stigma-reduction strategies to local resources and partners, and they highlighted the role of higher-education partners (Virginia Tech, Radford and New River Community College) in staffing and outreach.
