The Appalachian Regional Commission is awarding money to five communities in eastern Kentucky to help those recovering from substance use disorder re-enter the workforce.
It comes from the commission’s INSPIRE initiative, which is awarding money across 165 counties in nine states across Appalachia.
Gayle Manchin is the federal co-chair for the organization. She says the program is meant to help people just out of recovery.
“This enables individuals to become parents again, to pay taxes, to own property, to help that community thrive and grow, and it takes all of us working together to make those kinds of good things happen,” she said.
Some of the grant awards include:
- $500,000 to Kentucky Rural Health Information Technology Network, Inc. in Corbin
- $500,000 to Hazard Community and Technical College’s Culinary Workforce Development Initiative
- $500,000 to the Thrive Community Coalition’s Second Chance Workforce Ecosystem Expansion in Inez
- $500,000 to Pathways, Inc.’s Pathways to Careers project in Ashland
- $100,000 to Fresh Start Health Foundation, Inc.’s Ground Up Coffee Project in Ashland
Manchin says the INSPIRE program is meant to create a “continuum of care” in otherwise isolated, Appalachian communities.
“It's how this community can come together. And business and nonprofits, small foundations, everyone can be involved in supporting so that the community as a whole supports the health and well being of all of its community,” she said.
The A-R-C reports the overdose mortality rate in 2023 was 52 percent higher in Appalachia than the rest of the country, accounting for 25 more deaths per 100,000 people. Overdose deaths spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have been slowly dropping since.
