July 2, 2024
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley Announces 15 Grant Recipients for ‘Better Ways to Cope’ Projects
Funded with opioid settlement dollars, projects focus on prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery
MILWAUKEE – County Executive David Crowley is announcing that 15 organizations have been selected to receive grants as part of the “Better Ways To Cope” initiative that is administered by Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Behavioral Health Services (BHS).
Better Ways To Cope is regranting Opioid Settlement Fund dollars to nonprofit and for-profit organizations to develop prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery initiatives that focus on increasing access to information and resources to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths, preventing substance misuse disorder, and increasing healthy coping choices. The newly funded projects will kick-off July 11, 2024.
“Milwaukee County is committed to ensuring opioid settlement funds are being used in the most effective way possible to foster collaboration and innovation in addressing the overdose crisis and substance use disorder facing our community. By funding transformative substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery projects, we are working to change the lives of individuals affected by opioid addiction,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “Our goal is to increase access to life-saving resources and programs to reduce the likelihood of overdose-related fatalities in our community.”
Below are the organizations receiving grant funds. Project descriptions for each organization receiving grant funds are available HERE.
Prevention – Five awards for $200,000 each:
- Changing Hands Mentoring, Inc.
- Community Advocates
- Hmong American Friendship Association
- Mental Health America/Community Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
- Safe and Sound
Harm Reduction—Four awards for $200,000 each:
- Benedict Center
- City of Cudahy Health Department
- Samad’s House
- Vivent Health
Treatment – Two awards for $200,000 each:
- Outreach Community Health Centers
- Serenity Inns
Recovery – Four awards for $150,000 each:
- Inpower Solutions LLC
- Great Lakes Dry Hootch
- Manna Behavioral Services
- Milwaukee Turners, Inc.
Since its inception in 2021, Better Ways To Cope has been instrumental in regranting substance abuse prevention funds to community-based programs. Leveraging this successful track record, Milwaukee County DHHS BHS is poised to further its impact by directing resources toward transformative initiatives aimed at tackling challenges related to the opioid epidemic.
“We are very excited for this next cohort of Better Ways To Cope projects. The organizations selected submitted exceptional projects that leverage existing partnerships as well as new approaches to reach people in our community from a prevention standpoint, for those who are currently struggling with addiction, and individuals on the road to recovery,” said Jennifer Wittwer, Director, BHS Community Access to Recovery Services.
Learn more at BetterWaysToCope.org.
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