West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute Receives $498,880 from Appalachian Regional Commission’s INSPIRE Initiative

CHARLESTON, WV, UNITED STATES, September 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (DII) has been awarded $498,880 by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Recovering Together: A Community Outreach Expansion & Employment Project to Combat Substance Abuse in Three Appalachian States project. Focused on 21 counties across West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, this project will employ individuals in recovery, aged 18 and older, to serve as outreach coordinators. These individuals will receive job skills training and employment services, distribute emergency opioid response kits to communities, and conduct outreach to decrease stigma and increase community resources needed to address substance use disorder. They will work in tandem with law enforcement and other state and local partners to educate community members about overdose prevention and treatment, and recovery resources.

The project is part of an $11 million award package through ARC’s Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Initiative. INSPIRE addresses workforce gaps and economic challenges due to the impact of substance use disorder (SUD) in Appalachia.

“In order to have a healthy Appalachian economy, we must make sure we have a healthy Appalachian workforce,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “I am so proud of the way ARC’s INSPIRE initiative ecosystem empowers Appalachians in substance use disorder recovery to gain the training, resources and support they need to enter or re-enter the workforce while also becoming productive members of their families and communities.”

“We are excited to work with state and community partners in three Appalachian states to build and train a recovery workforce, increase access to overdose response and education, and connect persons to recovery resources,” explained Dr. Susan Margaret Murphy, DII president. “This expansion project allows us to work with law enforcement, universities, and municipalities to coordinate SUD response and expand access to overdose prevention resources and tools.”

Since April 2021, ARC’s INSPIRE Initiative has invested $65.7 million in 200 projects that have impacted 380 counties across all 13 Appalachian states. These investments have secured an additional $48.1 million in matching project funds and are projected to improve nearly 4,000 businesses and help prepare over 18,100 individuals for new job opportunities.

Learn more at www.arc.gov/SUD.

About the Drug Intervention Institute
The Drug Intervention Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in Charleston, West Virginia. The Institute’s mission is to reduce opioid and drug-related deaths in Appalachia and the nation by (a) preventing substance use through education (b) reducing overdose through training and distribution related to naloxone and other opioid reversal agents, and (c) supporting harm reduction and other drug-response efforts. Learn more at: https://www.wvdii.org/.

About the Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.

Dr. Susan Margaret Murphy
Drug Intervention Institute
+1 681-205-2287
email us here

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