Moundsville is launching a grant program using opioid settlement funding so local service agencies can receive funding to continue their work or create new initiatives in the community.

The city currently has $302,918 in its opioid settlement fund, which comes from a joint lawsuit the city joined with municipalities across the state. Vice Mayor Sara Wood-Shaw said city officials aimed to use the remaining funding to fill “gaps in services” in the community.

Feedback regarding what services are needed in the city was collected during a September 2024 meeting between city and county officials and local service organizations. Wood-Shaw, who formed the Opioid Subcommittee when she served as mayor, said the new grant program would put the decision of what services are needed in the community “into the hands” of agencies.

“We already have a lot of great agencies that are doing successful work in our community and would be able to do even more if provided with some additional funding,” Wood-Shaw said. “We want to put this application into their hands and see how we can help our community, rather than the city council trying to recreate the wheel and develop a program that the city council or staff do not have the expertise to execute.”

Agencies will apply for the funding by submitting general information about their project, including its title, amount of funding requested, total program budget and a brief summary of the proposed program with specific services and activities to be funded. Programs can be new, an expansion of an existing program, a pilot or a one-time initiative.

Agencies must also include a sustainability plan describing their capacity to implement the program successfully.

“Since this is not a continuous funding stream, we need agencies to describe how they will continue the program,” Wood-Shaw said. “They will answer whether there are other sources of funding or community partnerships that can support the work for this program.”

Additionally, organizations must provide a detailed program budget that includes personnel costs, supplies, facilities, other direct costs and administrative overhead. The agency must also provide its annual budget and most recent financial statement.

“We tried to keep the application simple and straightforward because we didn’t want it to be too cumbersome, but we also want to understand who’s applying for the funding, what they’re going to do with it and make sure it’s filling a gap in services,” Wood-Shaw said.

Grant applications will be available on the city’s website, cityofmoundsville.com.

The city also plans to use a portion of its opioid funding for a peer recovery specialist for the city, who will be a First Choice Services employee. The company will cover the benefits and salary of the employee, with the city using opioid funding to repurpose a police cruiser and pay for gas for the employee’s transportation.

“The peer recovery specialist will be able to assist the police department with transporting in-need individuals in the city, so we will be using opioid funds to refurbish an old police cruiser to make it look more like a normal vehicle for the employee to use,” Wood-Shaw said. “We’ll also be using opioid funds to cover the gas that the individual will use when transporting individuals. A small amount of opioid funding will cover any needs we have there.”