United Way of the Wabash Valley (UWWV), located in West Central Indiana, is a volunteer-led nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the lives of all individuals residing within the Wabash Valley. Different from other United Ways, our organization has adapted an impact-based model that relies on volunteer-led councils that identify and support community partners addressing the most prominent issues in our communities. In 2018, UWWV established its Substance Use Disorders Council, which actively works to identify opportunities to invest in and support the enhancement and expansion of substance use related prevention, treatment, and recovery solutions for individuals in the Wabash Valley.
In 2019, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council received an RCORP Planning grant, and work performed under this grant identified a significant lack of locally available service in the rural Indiana counties of Parke, Sullivan, and Vermillion as well as a need for increased community awareness of the breadth of prevention, treatment, and recovery solutions that may be implemented locally. This RCORP Planning grant culminated with a virtual educational symposium that covered topics such as American Society of Addiction Medicine levels of care, existing prevention programs, effective treatment practices, harm reduction techniques, and recovery housing and recovery community organizations. In 2020, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council received an RCORP Implementation award to begin addressing the gaps identified through the Planning grant. A consortium of key community partners who participated in the Planning grant, including a local federally qualified health center, a local community mental health center, a local recovery provider and a local youth-services organization, has used this grant for a variety of activities, including:
- Creating two new rural recovery residences
- Creating nine new permanent drug take-back sites
- Increasing access to naloxone
- Hiring and training additional therapists, case managers, and peer recovery specialists
- Providing billing and coding training for providers, to maximize reimbursement for services
- Conducting multiple local town-hall events designed to combat stigma and continue raising awareness
- Implementing youth-centric prevention programming in multiple schools
To compliment many of these activities, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council also invested United Way donor funds to provide additional prevention programming, mentoring for incarcerated populations, enhanced referral technology, and the training of over 50 additional peer specialists.
In 2022, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council received an RCORP Psychostimulant Support grant that will help to maintain the momentum generated through previous years’ efforts. Again working with a consortium of key community partners, several of which were partners on the previous RCORP Implementation award, this grant will allow for expanded prevention programming in schools, treatment services for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) or those directly impacted by SUD, enhanced HIV/hepatitis C screening, multiple “Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment” (SBIRT) trainings for community organizations, the implementation of contingency management services, and the establishment of a new Recovery Café environment (along with other activities). In addition, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council is investing United Way donor contributions and non-HRSA grant funds to support a law enforcement diversion program and provide opportunities for individuals in recovery to earn degrees.
Through its RCORP work and beyond, UWWV’s Substance Use Disorders Council is committed to promoting, supporting, and investing in effective prevention, treatment, and recovery solutions so that all individuals in the Wabash Valley have an opportunity to live happy, healthy lives.