Youth program introduced to county commissioners, council

Leeann Wright, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Pulaski County, was present at the April 13 joint session on behalf of the Recovery Cafe to request some money from the county opioid settlement funds. Wright said that tackling substance misuse in Pulaski County has been a strategic focus of the Community Foundation since 2022. The foundation has collaborated with the Pulaski County Drug-Free Council and a number of other community partners in and effort to address it. A group of people in local school systems, law enforcement, the judicial system, the hospital, community organizations, families who have someone in recovery or families who have lost someone due to substance misuse all help to make recommendations for how the county may utilize the remaining opioid settlement funds. First, it had been recommended to start a recovery community to support those living with addiction. Not long after, the Recovery Cafe; was born. While the current cafe is targeted for adults, they are now seeking to adapt the cafe model to support youth, which would be housed in a separate location from the current cafe. This proposed youth engagement center would focus on youth ages 12 to 17 and would provide programming such as academic tutoring, workforce readiness training, evidence based prevention programming and positive social engagement opportunities during evenings, weekends, school breaks and other times when youth may not have access to supervision. Wright said that they are asking for $12,000 of the opioid settlement funds to cover start-up costs, which would include 12 months of rental fees, utilities and internet connection.