A new initiative is looking to tackle a growing opioid abuse epidemic in Beaufort County.

On June 1, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust announced its decision to grant $906,000 to Metropolitan Community Health Services, specifically to combat opioid abuse. The grant money is part of the Charitable Trust’s Healthy Places NC program, which seeks to fund more health resources to rural areas over a 10-year period.

“A major piece of the Trust’s Healthy Places NC work is looking at factors beyond the hospital walls that impact a person’s well-being,” said Laura Gerald, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. “These grants are a testament to the momentum in Beaufort County to improve health and overall quality of life in the community. It is exciting to see Beaufort residents and organizations coming together to develop local solutions to local challenges.”

Lt. Russell Davenport, with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit, said the opioid epidemic is a real threat in this area, and one that has gotten progressively worse.

Opioids range from prescription pain pills to heroin, and according to Davenport, they are only getting stronger.

Heroin is now often cut with fentanyl, which is 100 times stronger than morphine, or carfentanyl, which is 10,000 times stronger. Law enforcement officers are in danger of overdosing on these drugs while simply searching a suspect’s vehicle, as the drug can enter the body through the skin or by inhalation, Davenport said.

“We’ve already focused on it in the drug unit. We’re going just as hard as we can to get it off the street,” he said. “It’s a priority for us.”

Davenport said Narcan, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, has begun to cause more problems when officers encounter addicts.

He said opioid addicts are now starting to push the boundaries even more, getting as high as possible to the point of unconsciousness, because they know first responders can save them with Narcan.

“They are not scared … to use heroin now. We’ve had more overdoses because they know there is a drug out there that will bring them back to life,” Davenport said. “I’m all about saving somebody’s life, but how many times are we going to bring you back to life?”

Battalion Chief Doug Bissette, with Washington EMS, said first responders are trying to gain as much knowledge and information as possible about how to handle these kinds of overdose calls.

“Our agencies aren’t seeing it as much as other agencies are, but we are starting to see it starting to pick up and spike, you know, where we’re going to these overdose calls, and it is the opiates,” Bissette said. “We are working on getting stuff out to be able to combat it a little bit more in the city.”

Jim Madson, director of the Beaufort County Health Department, said his department is exploring strategies to bring to the county.

“I work with the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch at the Division of Public Health and the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) to look for practices that might work best for our community,” Madson wrote in an email. “There are some efforts being addressed at the state level which might help us with funding. At the local level, the health department is working with the BC360 Behavior Health Task Force to identify what we can do and to address the needs.”

According to a press release, Metropolitan’s initiative focuses on a holistic approach, meaning a variety of resources will be provided, including health, behavioral health and social services, rather than just clinical stays, which often don’t work. Davenport said many families want their addicted loved ones to be incarcerated, as it’s one of the only ways to keep them away from drugs.

Metropolitan Community Health established its program for whole-patient assistance after employees saw a need for more resources for opioid addicts, according to Executive Director Michael McDuffie. The grant money will go toward the expansion of that program.

McDuffie said the program also screens residents and connects them with the appropriate experts so they can receive the treatment that is right for them.

“We want total and complete abstinence from opioid misuse in our community. Thanks to the grant from the Trust, we won’t only be able to treat opioid users, but we can also help residents sustain employment and return or stay in school,” he said in the release.

In addition to the $906,000 grant, Kate B. Reynolds is also awarding Cornerstone Family Worship Center a $242,825 grant to help create BCHC3 (Beaufort County, Healthy Clergy, Healthy Congregations, Health Communities), which is meant to connect area leaders working to improve health care from a faith-based perspective.

“As faith leaders, we can’t just pastor our church. We must pastor our whole community. This community faces serious health challenges, and we are in a unique position to help,” stated Bishop James McIntyre Sr., senior pastor at Cornerstone Family Worship Center.

“This program will help us come together, learn from each other and make sure we are not duplicating efforts. And, at the end of the day, we hope to improve both quality of life and quantity.”