BAXTER — Several projects aimed at helping people suffering from substance use disorders and their families will receive a chunk of Crow Wing County’s opioid settlement money.
County commissioners approved doling out up to $20,000 to a variety of community projects, ranging from youth peer support services in Brainerd Public Schools to assisting domestic violence victims struggling with substance abuse.
One such program is the Open Arms Resource Center from new nonprofit organization Lighthouse Beginnings. It operates three sober living homes in the region, with two in Brainerd and a women's house in Little Falls.
The Baxter center set to open early next month is aimed at helping people through the recovery process with one-on-one help and access to resources in an environment with other recovering people.
Executive Director Jesse Jones said they recognized gaps in the system for people working to become and remain sober.
"The gaps are when you’re coming out of incarceration or you're coming out of long-term recovery," Jones said. "We just kind of work with people to help with jobs — we have this placement with jobs. We have housing, peer support, just the gaps that are in that area for people to transition back."
Jones said he also envisions the center as a safe, warm place for people to spend time during the day — whether they have a home to return to or not. The one-stop shop approach will contribute to holistic programming for individuals in need "where they do not feel like they are being passed off," the organization's grant application stated.
A committee met this summer to consider the best uses of the funds. The Open Arms Resource Center project topped a list of applicants based on a vote by committee members, with 11 total projects garnering the full requested amount and two other projects splitting the remainder of the funds available at this time.
The County Board previously agreed to use funds for a drug coalition coordinator position, a social worker focused on substance use disorders, law enforcement trainings and a vending machine to distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan in the lobby of the Crow Wing County Jail.
Hundreds of millions will come to Minnesota from various settlements with manufacturers over the harms caused by opioids.
Opioid overdose deaths in the state increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General.
Health department data shows an increase of 44% in opioid-involved overdose deaths between 2020 and 2021, reaching an all-time high of 978 deaths. With data now available for 2022, the numbers rose even higher to 1,002. A majority of these deaths involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to state officials.
Of all 5,359 Minnesotans whose deaths were attributed to any kind of drug between 2019 and 2022, 46 were Crow Wing County residents.
Meanwhile, Beltrami County had the highest per capita rate of drug-related deaths of any Minnesota county in 2022. Thirty-three Beltrami residents died of overdoses that year, with 25 of those deaths attributed to opioids.
Beltrami officials established a similar opioid steering committee this summer and gathered input from residents on how to spend settlement dollars last month.
