GOSHEN – Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange County has received a $627,297 state grant from the Partnership for Success program. The five-years of funding will be used to help prevent heroin use, prescription drug abuse and opioid overdose among adolescents and young adults while increasing awareness about the dangers of those drugs.
Martin Colavito, the director of prevention services at Catholic Charities and a member of TEAM Newburgh, said drug abuse is fueled by other “collateral” issues.
“The problem is substance abuse; the collateral issues are what feeds it, and what we try to do is address those issues and that could be anything from somebody being hungry and somebody being homeless and navigating that to appropriate services to just providing support and education within schools and various other venues,” Colavito said.
The grant will support the goals of reducing prescription, heroin and opioid abuse and deaths among young people; increase public awareness; and increase the number of anti-overdose medication Narcan trainings offered to parents, family members and anyone living with a heroin/prescription opioid addict.
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