Two grants totaling over $1 million were awarded to South Western Oklahoma Development Authority to address opioid misuse in 23 counties: Alfalfa, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Cimarron, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Jackson, Kiowa, Major, Roger Mills, Texas, Tillman, Washita, Woods and Woodward.
The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Implementation Grant is for $1 million. SWODA wants to reduce opioid use disorder among new and at-risk users and reduce fatal opioid overdoses.
Medication assisted treatment on a mobile medical unit will be used while utilizing telehealth services for treatment and recovery. This is in collaboration with Red Rock Behavioral Health Services and Northwest Center for Behavioral Health. The mobile unit will be staffed with an advanced practice registered nurse and patient navigator.
Funds will also be used in public schools in conjunction with Oklahoma Department of Health educators in a life-skill training for third through fifth grade students to help them avoid the misuse/abuse of opioids and prescription drugs.
Other ways the funds will be used include purchase of Narcan distributed to Vance and Altus Air Force Base barracks. There will be funds available to train doctors to become Data 2000 waivered to treat opioid abuse disorder patients using medication assisted treatment. Oklahoma Conference of Churches will train peer coaches and increase the number of recovery programs in their communities. The conference of churches will collaborate with The Amethyst House in Altus to establish a recovery house in central western Oklahoma.
SWODA also received a $50,000 grant from Telligen Community Initiative, a private, Iowa-based charitable foundation. The one-year funds will supplement the salaries of the advanced practice registered nurse and a patient navigator for the mobile medical unit.
Western Oklahoma Opioid Prevention Consortium was one of only 15 grants selected for TCI’s 2020 Oklahoma and Colorado-based funding cycle, which awarded a total of $640,685 in grants to nonprofit organizations in these states, $325,000 to Oklahoma and $315,685 to Colorado. TCI works to support projects in health innovation, health care workforce development and access to care for the underserved. Since 2014, TCI has awarded more than $10.3 million to 251 organizations and projects in Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Western Oklahoma Opioid Prevention Consortium is represented by the following:
More information will be coming soon to the SWODA website at www.swoda.org. For more information, call (580) 562-5042.