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Wilkes County allocates $1.77 million in opioid settlement funds for recovery, treatment and prevention
Summary
The Wilkes County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution directing $1,768,227 in opioid settlement proceeds for FY2025–26 across nine strategies including recovery support, jail‑based treatment, naloxone distribution and school‑based prevention.
The Wilkes County Board of Commissioners on July 1 adopted a resolution directing $1,768,227 in opioid settlement funds for programs that range from naloxone distribution to treatment inside the county jail.
Assistant County Attorney Brooke Felts told the board the resolution meets North Carolina—s Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the Supplemental Agreement for Additional Funds (SAAF) requirements by identifying strategies, the MOA exhibit codes, the dollar amounts and the one‑year spending period running July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026. The board approved the resolution unanimously.
The county identified nine authorized strategies and named local providers in the resolution: Recovery Support Services (A3) — $473,149 to Wilkes Recovery Revolution, Hospitality House of NWNC and the Wilkes County Public Health Dental Clinic; Addiction Treatment for Incarcerated Persons (A11) — $431,500 to provide medication‑assisted treatment at the Wilkes County Jail; Evidence‑Based Addiction Treatment (A2) — $335,499 to Wilkes County EMS Community Paramedicine; Prevent Misuse of Opioids (G11) — $215,000 to Wilkes County Schools for the SPARCS program; Recovery Housing Support (A4) — $115,631 to Hospitality House of NWNC; Naloxone Distribution (A7) — $111,832 to Wilkes County EMS; Reentry Programs (A12) — $62,616 to Project Lazarus; Treat OUD incentives (A11) — $10,000 to CareNet Counseling of Wilkes; and training/supervision (A9) — $13,000 to CareNet Counseling.
Heather Murphy, executive director of the Health Foundation, described the county—s measurement approach and said the State reviews three core questions: "How much did they do? How well did they do it? What difference did it make?" She said the foundation and state partners work with funded providers to define performance measures reported to the State.
The resolution and attachments place the funds in a separate special revenue fund as required by the MOA and specify lead providers for each strategy. Assistant County Attorney Felts and Murphy said the Health Foundation helped draft the plan and coordinated early review with state officials.
The motion to adopt the resolution was made by Commissioner Evan Handy, seconded by Commissioner Hardin Kennedy and adopted unanimously. The adopted spending plan covers the one‑year window required by the MOA, and the board noted the funds will be tracked and reported under the State framework.
