Boyle County health department wins $166,000 opioid grant for Recovery Community Center; homeless coordinator role expands outreach

Brent Blevins, speaking for local health and harm‑reduction efforts, told the Fiscal Court that Boyle County was one of three counties awarded a $166,000 opioid‑related grant to create a Recovery Community Center (RCC). The RCC is intended to co‑locate the county’s harm‑reduction team and related outreach services so clients can access multiple programs in a single, welcoming facility rather than be shuttled among separate sites.

Blevins said the board of health agreed to fund a position to work with the homeless coalition — led locally by Dr. Ray Kiir — and the harm‑reduction program. The county has seen nearly 2,000 visits to harm‑reduction services in the past year, with roughly 40% of visits involving exchanges of clean materials and many visits focused on food, water or basic support rather than only substance‑use interventions. The RCC will centralize referrals and outreach, and staff indicated they will return in several months with an update once program operations and a facility search advance.

Separately, participants discussed a prior hotel‑voucher program the meeting referenced at approximately $17,000 (transcript wording: “Hudson Ellis grama”/amount referenced) and the need for local fundraising to restore similar voucher capacity. Court members emphasized coordination with Bluegrass Aid and schedule constraints on opioid‑abatement grant applications; no final appropriation was approved at the Oct. 28 meeting.