The Save a Life Recovery Resource Center in Lincoln was told it needed to look after every penny at a meeting on Monday morning.
That same evening, the Orono Town Council approved a $15,000 donation to the nonprofit which will go towards funding for needle exchanges, HIV testing and community events along with resources like meals and fresh vegetables from an on-site greenhouse.
The center has run on a $95,000 budget in recent years while providing resources to 420 visitors a month from 15 communities, according to Board Chair Laura Sandborn.
Orono Police Chief Daniel Merrill said he picked the facility to receive the donation after hearing about how important it is for the community north of Orono, and he didn’t know about its financial struggle at the time.
This is the first time Orono has used any of its roughly $40,000 opioid fund. The council voted unanimously to approve the donation at the same meeting in which Merrill presented it. This comes at a time when Bangor is struggling to decide how to spend its settlement funds. Most recently, the city formed a committee to suggest ways that the money could be spent.
And while it may not be going to a program specifically in Orono, Merrill said he was simply looking for the most useful way to spend the first chunk of the opioid settlement.
“I want to help Orono as much as I can, but if [the funds] can help support the region and spend the money wisely, we’ll spend them that way,” Merrill said.
It’s not possible to know how many Orono residents use the program because the center is anonymous. Orono police do not send people to the center because it is more of a resource hub than a recovery center, Merrill said.
The donation was a “home run” first use of the funds because of how far reaching the center is, Merrill said.
“North of here, Lincoln is the next stop for services,” Merrill said. “We’re not just helping Lincoln, we’re helping the people 45 minutes or an hour north of there, too.”
Orono has previously attempted to use its opioid fund as a donation to Fresh Start, a sober living organization in Bangor and Orono, but was not able to send the money due to restrictions on using the funds on previously completed projects.
The town is looking to use more of its funds to help people facing homelessness or addiction in Orono, Town Manager Clint Deschene said.
The donation is part of multiple different towns and areas Orono is working with and aligns with how Orono is trying to “help the region” by not just looking at its own problems, Deschene said. The settlement fund was given to towns to use in curbing the opioid epidemic any way they found fit even if it’s not in the town the funds come from, Merrill said.
Future spending will be focused on how Orono can most benefit from the money with collaborations with the University of Maine or local resources being at the forefront, Merrill and Deschene said.
The Orono Police Department is looking into creating a scholarship program for Orono High School or University of Maine students who will major in social work, Merrill said.
