As Williamsburg youth and families battle substance abuse, a new grant for a local nonprofit organization hopes to make that fight easier. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $2 million to Bacon Street Youth and Family Services.
“We are beyond thrilled about this amazing opportunity to dramatically expand services in the Hampton Roads area,” Kim Dellinger, Bacon Street’s executive director, said in a news release. “This allows us to provide substance use counseling, parent education, youth and family programming, treatment and case management through a tiered approach.”
Bacon Street will receive $400,000 of the grant money each year for five years as part of SAMHSA’s Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals initiative.
“With the continuing challenges related to the opioid epidemic, layered over the already insurmountable circumstances of housing, families who are struggling, are homeless or are precariously housed will be able to receive services at low or no cost to them,” Dellinger said. “We cannot wait to make a difference.”
It will help fund the Journey Home Project, which directs prevention, treatment and recovery services toward people also confronted with homelessness. This includes direct treatment, primary care services and connecting clients with benefit programs such as Medicaid.
The program targets people ages 10-26, and the organization aims to serve 1,250 people annually across Williamsburg, Newport News, Poquoson and Hampton alongside James City, Gloucester and Mathews counties.
“We are so very excited to have been awarded this grant,” said Erin Ellis, Bacon Street’s prevention director. “With this funding, we can expand our outreach services to include surrounding communities, providing wraparound and prevention programming for our youth and their families. Personally, I feel extremely grateful that Bacon Street has been given this opportunity to more fully serve our community.”
