City opens the application period for the second round of grants for the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund

The devastation of the opioid crisis is counted in the city’s rising death rate.

Almost four people lethally overdosed daily in 2022, an 11% increase over the year before. Thousands of Philadelphians have died from unintentional overdoses since the Trump administration declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency in 2017.

The city has opened its second round of grant requests for the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund. The $1.6 billion state fund was established last year as result of a $26 billion settlement from a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and the drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson.

The city, whose portion totals $200 million, received $20 million last year, the first of 18 annual payments.

Between 2018 and 2022, the Philadelphia Department of Health had also recorded a dramatic rise in Black and Latino overdose deaths. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is fueling much of the overdose death rate.

“It is no longer accurate to call this an opioid epidemic; it is an overdose epidemic driven by an increasingly contaminated drug supply,” Mayor Jim Kenney said last month.

» READ MORE: More Philadelphians than ever died of overdoses in 2022, with toll especially grim among Black residents

According to the Scattergood Foundation, which manages the fund, the grant requests must address overdose prevention, community and family healing, or substance use prevention, using the expertise of people with real-life experience. The Philadelphia-based Scattergood Foundation focuses on building a stronger behavioral health system.

The abatement strategies must also be aligned with the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, the primary oversight organization overseeing how counties spend the money, which maintains a list of approved and recommended opioid abatement strategies.

Last year, 75 organizations applied for the initial round of funding, and 27 recipients shared almost $2 million to provide prevention and harm-reduction services.

“While overdose rates sadly continue to rise, we are making progress with the services we provide through the work of these grantees who are working in the community and are trusted messengers,” said Noëlle Foizen, director of the city’s Opioid Response Unit.

Tatyana Woodard of the Ark of Safety, a shelter in North Philadelphia specifically for queer and trans communities, used its $100,000 programming grant last year to launch a drop-in center.

“We started our Journey program for trans and gender-nonconforming youth with overdose prevention and healing. We also hired a coordinator for the position who is trans-identified,” Woodard said.

The Scattergood Foundation is currently recruiting people to serve on the Community Granting Groups.

“The right to dictate how dollars from the opioid settlement get spent is central to the process of collective healing,” said Joe Pyle, the foundation’s president.

Many grant outcome goals for the coming year were influenced by first-year recipients. Woodard served on the fund’s community advisory board, a mix of grantees and people who work to reduce the harmful consequences of opioid addiction. They helped come up with this year’s grant criteria.

“Basically, we weighed in on the deliverables for the second round,” said Woodard, who plans to reapply.

“While our first round of grantees has brought great ideas and support, one of our goal this cycle is to increase participation from organizations and community members in North Philadelphia” said Caitlin O’Brien, Scattergood’s director of Learning & Community Impact.

Community-based organizations, including previous grantees, with an annual budget of less than $5 million and who are located in and serve residents of the city are eligible to apply.

The 19134 zip code, which includes Kensington, had the highest number of overdose deaths last year — 193 people. Although West Philadelphia also saw a rise in deaths, organizations focusing on Kensington and North Philadelphia will receive special consideration.

Groups that can supply meaningful harm-reduction solutions can apply for either a $20,000 organization-support grant or the $100,000 program-support grant, both of which can be used for a wide range of operating and program costs.

The online application is available on the Scattergood Foundation’s website.

Two 90-minute information sessions will be held: Dec. 5, at 10 a.m. and Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m.

Applications are due by Jan. 11, 2024, at 5 p.m.