Special to the Record
The City of Chelsea has announced it will allocate approximately $2 million in State Opioid Settlement Funds to distribute Opioid Abatement Grants to local organizations and individuals committed to delivering activities and events designed to promote the prevention and intervention of opioid use in its community. The funds, which are part of a settlement between Massachusetts and companies involved in distributing opioids, will be paid out to the City in increments over time through Fiscal Year 2038.
Over this period, Chelsea will earmark Opioid Abatement Funds to launch an Opioid Abatement Micro Grant Program open to Chelsea-based organizations and individuals who aim to deliver activities or events focused on opioid prevention and intervention. Each year, grants of up to $2,500 will be available to support these efforts as funding allows.
Applications for the Micro Grant Program will be accepted on a rolling basis until funds are fully allocated. To apply, visit chelseama.gov or contact Flor Amaya, Director of Chelsea’s Department of Public Health, at [email protected].
Chelsea first began to put its Opioid Settlement Funding to use by awarding larger Opioid Abatement Grants to two key local organizations in September 2024: An award to Roca in the amount of $123,989.57 to be paid out incrementally over the course of three years, and a grant to Community Action Programs Inter-City, Inc (CAPIC) in the amount of $525,600 to be incrementally paid out over a three-year period.
Roca, a violence intervention and behavioral health program for young people with headquarters in Chelsea, will use its award to deliver life-saving cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) skills, as well as education and workforce readiness programming, employment, and effective referral and connection to harm reduction services and clinical care, to local young people with opioid and substance use disorders.
CAPIC, which delivers equitable harm reduction interventions, connection to care, and wrap-around services to individuals with substance use disorders, will use its award to connect individuals to appropriate and equitable interventions in a coordinated way with an overall goal to increase their quality of life.
Chelsea will also allocate $13,333.50 to fund its Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) Software, which facilitates the sharing of non-fatal drug overdose data with other communities in the Commonwealth.
The City of Chelsea is set to receive approximately $2 million from a total of seven opioid settlements through Fiscal Year 2038. This funding is part of a larger agreement reached between Massachusetts, other states, and opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers who contributed to the opioid crisis. These settlements provide funds annually to strengthen resources for opioid prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.