Finance committee approves forwarding $150,000 DHHS overdose-response grant to city council
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Summary
The finance committee approved forwarding a resolution to accept $150,000 from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to fund an overdose response team in Bangor that partners with Options, community health and counseling, the police department and Together Voice.
The Bangor City finance committee voted to forward a resolution authorizing the city manager to accept $150,000 in grant funds from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to support an overdose response program.
Staff said this is the seventh year of the grant, which funds a team that follows up with individuals who experience an overdose to connect them to recovery services, harm-reduction resources and other supports. Staff listed partner organizations as Options (liaisons), community health and counseling, the Bangor Police Department and Together Voice.
During discussion, a committee member asked whether the grant-funded activities duplicate coordination efforts being supported by United Way. Jennifer Gunderman, director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services, said the overdose response is a specific, replicated model focused on direct, on-the-ground outreach to people who have experienced or are at risk of overdose and that her team does not recognize duplication in practice.
Committee members also discussed a separate $400,000 award to United Way intended to develop a community resource hub; members said a report from United Way was due in December and directed staff to follow up to confirm the status of that work and any potential overlap.
A motion to accept the DHHS grant was moved and seconded and the committee proceeded with a roll-call vote; the transcript records committee approval but does not provide a full, explicit tally for each member on the record.