Moore County commissioners and the Opioid Task Force discussed opioid legal settlement funds and their next steps at the Feb. 27 meeting at the Rick Rhyne Public Safety Center in Carthage. The opioid settlement was an agreement between drug companies and pharmacies concerning the marketing and abuse of opioids. The county’s Opioid Task Force was assembled to review and recommend organizations that will use the funding for programs to fight opioid addiction.
From 2022 through 2038, Moore County will receive $11,732,99 in the opioid settlement to help combat the epidemic. It has allocated approximately $690,000 annually and plans to use that amount through 2038 in early intervention, naloxone, and recovery support, including housing.
Some of the first funds allocated in 2023 went to Samaritan Colony, a drug and alcohol treatment center. Samaritan Colony completed its 2024 reimbursement contract for $137,880 and has a contract for $240,000 that expires June 30. It has submitted the required progress report and needs to submit its audit.
Samaritan Colony Executive Director, Mark Christopher, shared housing concerns at the meeting, stating they needed permanent housing because they leased six homes, which could be sold anytime. They lease one home near Pinebluff on nine acres and would like to purchase the property and build a duplex with 10 beds.
Samaritan Colony houses and oversees 49 men in recovery living independent lives while attending therapy and group meetings.
Construction on Samaritan Colony’s 14-bed residential facility for women in Rockingham will soon be completed.
Housing support fits the Opioid Task Force’s funding requirements and will discuss increasing its funding.
Allocated funds also went to FirstHealth, which spent $97,357 of $134,628 in 2024 and has a reimbursement contract for 2025 with $134,628. It has submitted the required progress report and needs to submit its complete audit.
Moore County Peer Support Coordinator Stephanie McLean with FirstHealth helps find treatment for individuals, responds to emergencies, and has helped save lives with CPR and naloxone. She said she once drove an overdose patient to the hospital and had to use her brakes to jar the person against the seat to keep him breathing, which demonstrates the personal commitment level of opioid service providers.
The Opioid Task Force will begin negotiations with Samaritan Colony and FirstHealth for contract terms up to two years.
Sandhills Adult & Teen Challenge extended its 2024 reimbursement contract into 2025 for $289,985, expiring June 30. The Opioid Task Force received their progress report and is waiting for budget documents and audit before considering further funding.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Sandhills spent $47,012 of its 2024 $57,447 funds. It has not requested funding for 2025, has an incomplete impact report, progress report, and audit.
Moore County Schools Director for Student Support Services Tracy Metcalf said the school district wants to find ways to identify and provide at-risk youth with prevention services. At-risk students are primarily those with people in the home abusing substances. Social workers and counselors assist with the increase of anxiety and vaping use, but it is insufficient. The school has not met the Opioid Task Force’s funding requirements and wants to work with service providers.
There is approximately $160,000 remaining after meeting funding requests from the Opioid Task Force’s first four service providers for 2024, and seven more organizations are now interested. The remaining funds may increase because when service providers do not use all their funds, it returns to the task force fund.
The Opioid Task Force said it will continue working with its existing partners before reviewing new interests, so they will have contracts completed for the county commissioners by July 1.
Feature photo: Samaritan Colony Executive Director Mark Christopher discusses housing concerns Feb. 27, 2025, at the Rick Rhyne Public Safety Center in Carthage.
~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a new upcoming release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi.
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