CHILLICOTHE — Grandparents and other relatives raising children affected by substance use disorders across southern and southeastern Ohio are getting new help with the everyday costs of that care, after the Area Agency on Aging District 7 was approved for grant funding from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation.
The funding will support “Pathways for Kinship Kids,” a program that helps kinship caregivers cover costs such as school clothing, school supplies and fees, and uniforms and equipment for extracurricular activities. The agency said the assistance is designed for children whose lives have been affected by substance use disorders — a group that, in this part of Ohio, very often means children being raised by grandparents.
The grant is part of a $45.7 million regional funding initiative distributed by the OneOhio Recovery Foundation to strengthen addiction prevention, treatment, recovery and community resilience efforts across the state. The money comes from a portion of the settlement funds Ohio is receiving from the pharmaceutical industry over its role in the national opioid epidemic.
The Area Agency on Aging District 7 received its funding through OneOhio Regions 9 and 10, which together include all 10 counties the agency serves along with additional counties. Region 9 covers Adams, Brown, Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike, Ross and Scioto counties, while Region 10 covers Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs and Vinton counties.
Foundation officials said the awards reflect a focus on organizations working on the front lines of substance use disorders through prevention, treatment and recovery services, and that recipients were selected through a review process involving regional volunteers, an expert panel and the foundation’s board of directors.
“These new grant awards build on the momentum of our first cycle and represents another powerful opportunity for Ohioans to come together and create lasting change,” said Alisha Nelson, executive director of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. “With these investments, we can expand hope, strengthen recovery, and equip our local organizations on the frontlines with the tools they need to help more individuals and families heal.”
The latest awards mark the second cycle of regional grants from the foundation. In its inaugural cycle, OneOhio awarded more than $45 million to more than 240 projects across Ohio, supporting youth prevention programs, school-based mental health services, recovery housing, treatment expansion, post-overdose outreach and behavioral health workforce development.
For kinship families in the agency’s 10-county southern Ohio service area, the practical effect is help with the unglamorous expenses that arrive every school year — the clothes, the fees, the cleats and uniforms — for households that often took in children on short notice and on fixed incomes. A complete list of Regional Grant Cycle 2 recipients is available at oneohiofoundation.com/regionalgrantcycle2, and organizations interested in future funding rounds can sign up for updates through the foundation.
