(SOA) — Currently, it is estimated that more than $55 billion in opioid settlement payments will be paid to states across the country to help fight the opioid epidemic.
As Spotlight on America has been tracking settlement payments for the past year, investigative reporter Angie Molesky found that many grassroots organizations that have been fighting the opioid crisis on the front lines for the past decade are struggling to raise funds.
It’s been nearly two years since 9-year-old Ava lost her father to an opioid overdose, and since then she’s been raised by her grandmother, Jackie Lewis, in Columbus, Ohio.
“We’re going through a lot of change right now. We’re selling the only home she’s ever known,” Lewis said of her granddaughter. “I’m amazed at how strong she is. She just perseveres. I watch her persevere and get through difficult things.”
Lewis is now a vocal advocate for families who have lost loved ones to drug use. She had high hopes that the opioid settlement money would help affected families, such as paying for funeral expenses and getting them access to treatment if needed. But she says raising funds for families and grassroots groups has been difficult.
“The application process, in my opinion, is overly complicated,” Lewis told Spotlight on America.
Funding processes vary from state to state
The funding process varies from state to state and can be very confusing. Ohio created a private nonprofit called the OneOhio Recovery Foundation to distribute 55 percent of settlement money to local communities. The remaining money is split between local governments (35 percent) and the state government (15 percent).
Two years after the state received its first payments, OneOhio has yet to distribute any funds, although some have been distributed to local governments.
“Honestly, it makes me angry,” Lewis said. “Every day, we don’t have news. Every day, people are dying, families are losing children, little kids are separated from their mommy and daddy.”
In 2023, approximately 3,600 people in Ohio will die from opioid overdoses.
OneOhio opened the grant application process this spring and posted on its website that “grant award announcements are expected to begin mid-summer.”
However, in late July, the “midsummer” reference was removed and replaced with “announcements are expected to begin later this year.”
Spotlight on America reached out to OneOhio to learn more about the delay, and while the foundation’s public relations firm did not directly respond to a request for an interview, they said in an email that the original “mid-summer” timeline was only an “estimated timeline” and that due to the “high volume of funding requests” they received (1,442 applications from 777 different organizations), the review process is “still ongoing.”
OneOhio said grant awards will be announced as they occur and posted on the foundation’s website, and the company encourages people to “check back in the coming weeks and months for updates.”
The state is set to receive about $2 billion in settlement money over 18 years, more than most other states because it was hit so hard by the opioid epidemic.
Grassroots access is difficult nationwide
Alexis Preuss lost her son Jeff to a drug overdose 10 years ago and has since dedicated her life to fighting the opioid epidemic.
“It’s really hard,” Preuss told Spotlight. “I’ve been dreading the 10-year milestone for the last year because I feel frustrated with where our country is and that we haven’t progressed enough.”
Preuss, who founded Truth Farm, known for its annual March on Washington, pays tribute to loved ones lost to drug overdoses across the U.S., said he represents thousands of families across the country and that grassroots groups across the country are struggling to raise funds.
“This is 100 percent a national issue,” Preuss said.
She explained that many grassroots groups were founded by friends and loved ones who lost someone to an opioid overdose, emphasizing why it’s so important for organizations to get a share of these funds.
“We’re filling in the gaps and caring for people who the system has left behind,” Preuss said. “Nobody hangs on at the end like a mother or father who’s lost a child.”
Opioid Subsidy Tracking Portal
The Opioid Settlement Tracker website recently launched a new resource in collaboration with the Legal Action Center to track which states are offering grant opportunities to community groups.
Founding attorney Christine Minhee said that as of early August, about a dozen states had yet to announce their community grant programs.
She says it’s vital that local community groups are able to access these funds.
“The impacts of this crisis are felt most at the community level, so it’s important to follow the wisdom of the community here,” Minhee told Spotlight on America. “Hundreds of thousands of people have had to die so that state and local governments could get billions of dollars from these pharmaceutical companies. So I think it’s essential that decision-makers reach out to those who are most affected in order to spend these funds well.”
Minhee says the goal of the website’s new grant tracker feature is to provide a level playing field for those who need these resources most.
“Community organizations with very shoestring budgets are competing against well-funded applicants who know how to play the game,” Minhee said.
Getting help
Returning to Ohio, Jackie Lewis worked with eight nonprofits and hired Health Impact Ohio, a company that specializes in writing grant applications, to help with grant applications.
“We needed someone who knew what was going on inside, so to speak, and this group knows the people involved, the politicians and the way things work,” Lewis said.
So now they’re waiting, hoping to raise funds to help their cause.
Meanwhile, Ava is preparing to return to school in a new district this fall after her old home was sold. She’s looking forward to making new friends and is grateful for all that her grandma has done for her.
“She’s a good mom,” Ava said, smiling shyly, as Grandma hugged and kissed her.
