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Trousdale County health council uses local CARES and opioid funds to open mental‑health clinic and build coalition
Summary
Brenda Harper described how Trousdale County health‑council partners used CARES dollars to start a mayor’s task force, open a local mental‑health clinic and revive a substance‑misuse coalition, citing early increases in local access to services.
Brenda Harper, a longtime Volunteer Behavioral Health leader and local health‑council volunteer, described a county‑led effort in Trousdale County that used county CARES funds and local organizing to open a mental‑health clinic and rebuild a substance‑use prevention coalition.
Harper said Trousdale County organized a mayor’s task force on mental health and substance misuse in 2022 after a county community health assessment identified obesity, mental health/suicide and substance misuse as top priorities. The county commission approved an $80,000 allocation from CARES funding to help pay rent and startup expenses so a provider — Volunteer Behavioral Health — could offer regular clinic days in a location designed to preserve confidentiality (medical office at one end of a building, pharmacy at the other).
The effort also reconstituted a substance misuse coalition (Hartsville Hope and Healing Alliance / Drug Free Carroll County), attracted opioid abatement funds ($50,000 cited) and worked with criminal‑justice leaders to explore a local recovery court. Harper said the clinic began with one day a week and grew to more days as local demand rose.
Ending: Harper urged other small counties that community health assessments and mayoral backing can catalyze services and that modest seed funds (rent/support) can enable larger providers to serve underserved rural communities.
