Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers

Western North Carolina (WNC) has been hard-hit by increasing numbers of persons with psychostimulant use disorder (PSUD). Chronic poverty and a recent surge in the availability of inexpensive street drugs and polysubstance use have caused an increasing number of overdose-related emergencies and deaths. The three counties targeted in this project—Cherokee, Clay, and Graham—continue to experience extremely high social, health, and economic burdens as a result of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and PSUD. Additionally, the three-county region has an extreme and persistent shortage of providers and services to address prevention, treatment, and recovery from SUD and PSUD. Multiple data sources indicate this shortage is fully inadequate to the demand for these services. The proposed RCORP grant will strengthen and expand prevention, treatment, and recovery services for rural individuals who misuse psychostimulants, in order to enhance their ability to access treatment and move toward recovery.