Warner & Kaine Applaud Nearly $940,000 in Federal Funding to Support Those Recovering from Substance Use Disorder in Southwest Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine applauded $939,669 in federal funding to help people in recovery from substance use disorder rejoin the workforce in Southwest Virginia. The funding was awarded by the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Initiative, which provides funding across Appalachia to address the substance use disorder crisis.

“In addition to expanding access to substance use treatment programs, it's critical that we're helping individuals recovering from substance use disorders access the resources they need to succeed,” said the senators. “We’re glad this funding will help more Virginians across Southwest Virginia get the job skills and support they need to enter or reenter the workforce.”

The funding is distributed as follows:

• $500,000 for the YWCA Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia in Glade Spring to provide access to family resiliency and recovery-to-work supports, including workshops on health and wellness, soft skills and entrepreneurship, personal finance, housing, career coaching, teen and adult parenting, and nutrition and cooking. 
• $439,669 for Mountain Empire Community College Foundation in Big Stone Gap to grow their Project Amelioration Program, which helps individuals with substance use disorder in Dickenson, Lee, and Wise counties gain hands-on job training, financial education, and life skills training. The program also offers counseling services, social services, and employment assistance. 

Warner and Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, have long supported those recovering from substance use disorder. The senators announced $1.4 million in federal funding to expand access to mental health care across Virginia. Kaine introduced a bipartisan bill to combat the fentanyl crisis and bipartisan legislation to support peer support specialists and expand access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Kaine has also introduced the JOBS Act, which would help more Americans get good-paying jobs by allowing students to use federal Pell Grants to afford high-quality, shorter-term job training programs for the first time. Kaine introduced the Jobs Plus Recovery Act, which incorporates job training into addiction recovery programs and was passed as part of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act of 2018.

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