UCDD Awarded Substance Abuse Cohort Program Grant

The Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD) has received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission Substance Abuse Cohort Program.

UCDD Executive Director Mark Farley said only four regions across 13 Appalachian states received the funding.

“Basically, over the next 9 months, we’re going to receive roughly $200,000 worth of technical assistance,” Farley said. “That’s not actually money that’s going to be coming to us into our budget. They (Appalachian Regional Commission) will be spending roughly that amount of money, helping us with technical assistance as we build this network.”

The UCDD will use the funding to support the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) as it builds a centralized information hub for addressing the region’s opioid epidemic. Farley said the UCHRA received a $630,000 grant for that project last month.

“We’re very excited about this because it’s a great sister program for the one that we received and announced last month,” Farley said.

Farley announced the latest grant funding during the UCDD’s Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday.