Albany County is announcing grants to support addiction services throughout the county.
More than $2.3 million dollars in Community Grants is going to 14 support organizations throughout the county, funded by National Opioid Settlements against pharmaceutical companies. County Executive Dan McCoy announced the awards Friday.
“2.3 million will be funded for education programs, treatment, recovery, prevention, all these targeting different things. These funds are going to be making meaningful difference in our community, improving people's lives and helping to break the cycle of addiction. That's what we're looking at, to break the cycle,” McCoy said.
The organizations, including Albany Medical Center and the Colonie EMS, will use the funding to create or expand treatment, recovery, and support services.
It comes after an earlier announcement that the county would be partnering with Catholic Charities to put the overdose reversal drug naloxone, or Narcan, in more buildings across the county.
McCoy says drug companies are to blame for the opioid crisis.
“For them to give you a 30-day supply, or a 14-day supply, was unnecessary. And again, that's why these pharmaceutical companies made all this money, and we watched it go on. So they are a huge blame on what has happened to our community,” McCoy said.
County Legislature Chair Joanne Cunningham, a fellow Democrat, agrees.
“All my kids have had their wisdom teeth out. And I will tell you, they send home a bottle of opioids, that, you know, I don't know how they think that 17-year-old needs 18 pills or whatever it was,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham says drugs don’t only harm the user.
“I was speaking to a constituent from the Delmar Rotary Club two weeks ago who lost his son because of a fentanyl overdose that resulted in a straight line back to opioids,” Cunningham said.
Deputy Chairwoman Wanda Willingham agrees, saying she had returned from a trip the day before when she received a call.
“The call was this friend of mine. And she says she believes that her brother overdosed and she's trying to find out where he is and he had died,” Willingham said.
Dr. Nicole McFarland is CEO of Senior Hope Counseling, one of the grant recipients. She says the grant will allow her organization to place a peer in the emergency room at Albany Medical Center for seniors facing opioid-related emergencies,” McFarland said.
“We feel that this grant will allow this individual not only to refer to Senior Hope for age-specific outpatient services for older adults, but also to other community-based agencies, because he will be seeing a wide range of ages at the ER and the inpatient unit
McCoy says people need to stop avoiding uncomfortable discussions surrounding drug use.
“You're afraid to stand up, and that happens a lot of times where ‘I don't wanna lose my friendship.’ Isn't it better to lose a friendship than to lose a life? Don't be afraid to speak up,” McCoy said.
According to the New York state Department of Health, in 2021, Albany County saw 31.3 all-drug overdose deaths per 100,000, with 26.9 per 100,000 opioid-related.
Per the Department of Health, in 2018, the percentage of Albany County adults who self-reported misusing pain medication within the last year stood at 5.4.
A full list of grant recipients is available here.
