Agencies and businesses that serve those struggling with opioid addiction have more money to work with today after the OneOhio Recovery Foundation announced the recipients of its first round of grants.

The charity, charged with managing Ohio’s share of the multi-billion dollar settlements reached with the pharmaceutical industry over its role in the opioid epidemic, will make more than $51 million available across the state. Region 7, comprising Mahoning and Trumbull counties, is eligible for more than $2.8 million, which will help fund substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery projects.

The first round of awards were announced Wednesday.

The foundation awarded a total of $1,709,855 to 12 different entities in OneOhio Region 7, including more than $400,000 to Mercy Health-Youngstown. Two others received grants of more than $200,000, and several other entities received grants of more than $100,000. Several others received smaller grants.

“The overall theme with these grants is they’re peer driven,” said Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board and Region 7 representative on the OneOhio state board. “We find that peers are very important in the recovery process because they have lived experience. Specifically in our area, we see them as an active member of the team along with doctors, nurses and counselors.”

Mercy’s three-year grant for $400,300 is titled “Expand Peer Recovery Support Services in the Mahoning Valley.”

“They have some peers in the emergency rooms and hospitals to try to get people into the programs, and they want to expand that,” said MHRB Associate Director and Region 7 Committee Chair Brenda Heidinger. “Most hospitals have one or maybe two peers, and now Mercy wants to expand that to 24/7 coverage so they don’t miss patients in need that come in at odd hours.”

Thrive Behavioral Health Center in Warren received a one-year $271,857 award for its project, titled “Peer Empowerment: Building Stronger Communities Through Recovery Support.” Thrive representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Youngstown-based Beatitude House, operated by the Ursuline Sisters Mission, received a three-year, $140,500 grant for its “Beatitude House Permanent Supportive Housing Program.”

“They will hire a peer supporter to help people there with addiction and get a vehicle so the peer supporter can transport those women to meetings and treatment and make sure they get involved in the recovery lifestyle,” Heidinger said.

Broadway Recovery Services of Boardman is run entirely by peers, Heidinger said. The organization received a $123,123, one-year grant for “Unio-Peer Recovery Support.” The grant will serve Broadway in roughly the same fashion as Beatitude House’s award.

“Their director and most of their staff are people with lived experience, those in recovery themselves, and they run some great programming for both addiction and mental health,” she said. “It will add some extra support to recovery housing, a peer recovery supporter and transportation to get people to meetings.”

Another project that received a significant grant was Niles-based Cadence Care Network. The organization received a three-year, $247,678 grant for an expansion of Project AWARE Trumbull County. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website, Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) is designed “to develop a sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental health programs and services.”

Cadence officials could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but Heidinger said the program is counselor-based.

“It supports counselors in schools in providing both prevention education and support for students identified as having their own issues or living in a home where the family may have addiction issues,” she said.

Heidinger, who was on the application review board, said prevention and recovery support was at the top of the region’s list.

“Those are the gaps we identified and were looking to fill in our reviews.”

Some programs did not receive such large grants, but Heidinger said they fit the niche nicely.

Coalition for a Drug-Free Mahoning County received a two-year grant for $37,756 for “Equipping Emerging Healthcare Providers to Improve Patient Outcomes.”

Heidinger said the program focuses on bringing addiction awareness into college education for those entering the medical and dental fields.

The program works through the Eastern Ohio Area Health Education Center, run by the Northeast Ohio College of Medicine in Rootstown. Heidinger said students at Youngstown State University in the nursing, dental and physician therapy programs will benefit from the grant.

“It exposes them to a broader array of things in the medical field, and they train them all on the signs of addiction and prevention so they can work with their patients,” she said. “So, it may not be a doctor or nurse at a hospital who recognizes a patient has those issues, but a physical therapist might.”

Others receiving grants include:

* Alta Care Group, Empowering Youth, “Expanding the Reach of YouthMOVE in Mahoning County,” two years, $123,151.

* Community Legal Aid Services, “Legal Assistance with Record Sealing and Expungement to Support Recovery,” three years, $150,000.

* Mahoning County Public Health, “Installation of Harm Reduction Vending Machines to Decrease Unintentional Overdoses,” three years, $81,000.

* Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, “YUMADOP Prevention Program,” two years, $78,120.

* ACMC Healthcare System Glenbeigh, Workforce Development Expansion and Recovery Support, one year, $32,400.

* New Day Recovery, “Vouch for a New Day,” three years, $24,000.

OneOhio spokesperson Connie Luck said the board is still reviewing other grant applications, but Heidinger said she expects the region to receive all of the $2.8 million initially allocated to

Mahoning and Trumbull counties when the request for proposals was opened in March.

Luck said the foundation will host a webinar in January for all applicants, which includes a grant writing workshop and state representatives who will discuss identifying funding opportunities beyond the OneOhio Foundation.

“The foundation is committed to helping all organizations be ready for the next funding opportunity, to keep supporting these great ideas and initiatives across the state,” she said.