|Photo by Joselyn King| Moundsville Mayor Sarah Wood-Shaw, left, and Marshall County Administrator Betsy Frohnapfel share a moment before the start of the West Virginia First Foundation meeting Thursday at The Highlands Event Center.

TRIADELPHIA – West Virginia has about $1 billion in opioid settlement funds to spend, and the first checks have already been sent to the state’s municipalities to help their committees with the cost of addiction recovery programs.

Now it’s time for the second round of funding requests, and applications are currently being accepted from organizations that have ideas.

The West Virginia First Foundation board convened for a regional meeting Thursday night at The Highlands Event Center.

Dr. Steven L. Corder, medical director for Northwood Health Systems, represents Region 1 on the foundation board and he addressed a small group of local government leaders who have questions about spending they received. He then spoke about the foundation’s Initial Opportunity Grant Program, which was established to distribute another $19.2 million throughout the state.

Online applications are due by Oct.5, with recipients being announced by Dec. 31.

Corder said the foundation expects to have more than 200 applications by the Oct. 5 deadline, and these will be divided up among the 13 members of the West Virginia First board based on their areas of expertise. Those determined to be most worthy will be passed on for consideration by the board as a whole.

“If money can affect this epidemic we’ve been having, and can be used to help people affected by this – this is a unique way of being able to do this.” Corder said.

Funding received can be put toward youth prevention and workforce development, child advocacy center and neonatal abstinence programs, diversion programs and interdiction programs, and certified transitional and recover housing expansion.

Each of the state’s six regions will be allocated $800,000 in each target area. The Foundation may issue up to four awards per target area per region, according to established guidelines.

Corder added he was “a little embarrassed” to admit the job on the board was more than he expected. Corder was appointed to represent Region 1 on the West Virginia First Foundation Board last December.

“We’ve come a real long way. What the Foundation is really doing is starting a $1 billion company from the ground up,” he explained. “This type of organization has really never been done before.

“With the magnitude of the problem, it strikes each and every one of us that it is a significant undertaking, and we want to do it right. We want this money to be useful and purposeful in the right. Everyone involved is not only motivated, but also aware of the responsibility that’s been placed on them.”

He believes the board has accomplished a lot in the last nine months, including the hiring of an executive director.

“In the sense of doing what’s right, we really need to assess what the needs are,” Corder continued. “We know they are going to be different in different areas.

“West Virginia is a very diverse population in some ways, and what the geographical needs are we expect to be different throughout the state.”

Regional board meetings to assess grant applications will be set up to consider future rounds of grant applications. Those interested in sitting on the Region 1 board should email Corder at scorder@westvirginiafirstfoundation.org.

The Marshall County Commission’s initial opioid settlement check was for $588,489, according to Marshall County Administrator Betsy Frohnapfel. The Ohio County Commission, meanwhile, received $380,916, said Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell.

They explained the reason for the disparity is that the City of Wheeling is located within Ohio County, and received a settlement of its own.

Additional payments will be forthcoming to municipalities over the next five years.