Bangor is now accepting applications for portions of the funding it has received through opioid settlements, the city announced Monday.
Organizations that are interested in applying for grants to address the impact of the opioid crisis and substance use disorder must return the application on the city’s website by noon Dec. 1.
The application comes about three years after Bangor began receiving the money and four months after its Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee started meeting. The city will distribute about $650,000 in this round of funding, according to the announcement.
Thus far, the city has spent about $550,000 of its funds on a case management program to mitigate the HIV outbreak in the area, which has mainly affected drug users, and $20,000 on needle cleanup services.
Since they first started meeting, committee members have expressed interest in distributing the money through a grant process, although they decided the need for HIV services was urgent enough to fund that project before releasing the funding application.
The application is open to Maine-based organizations that provide services in Bangor. Groups proposing a project can apply for funding in three tiers: up to $10,000, from $10,001 to $25,000 and $25,001 to $50,000, according to the announcement.
The advisory committee will review proposals and make recommendations to Bangor’s City Council, which will have the final say on funding decisions.
The city is expected to receive about $3.4 million in opioid settlement funds through 2038. Recovery advocates have criticized the city for taking so long to spend the portion of funds it has already received, and some were frustrated by the decision to award the city’s public health department such a large chunk of those funds through the HIV case management program.
Penobscot County is also accepting grant applications for its opioid funds, although it is only distributing about a third of its available money in this funding round.
