City requesting funds to continue fentanyl crisis fight

The fentanyl crisis continues to have a significant impact on communities throughout the nation, and Sallisaw is committed to providing awareness campaigns, training and naloxone distribution, while also continuing its support of the Sallisaw NOW Coalition.

To this end, the City Commissioners endorsed a grant application that would provide an additional $2 million over four years to fund Sallisaw NOW Coalition and “the important work being completed … in their efforts to fight overdose and fentanyl crisis affecting our communities.”

The grant application through the First Responder-Comprehensive and Addiction Recovery Act (FRCARA) would continue to provide funding the city has administered since 2019.

“Our nation, state and local municipalities have seen an influx in overdoses and deaths due to fentanyl. This past year, there were over 100,000 deaths directly related to fentanyl, or substances containing trace amounts of fentanyl,” District Attorney Jack Thorp said. “The counties I represent are not immune to the tragedies of fentanyl-related deaths and overdoses. All too often, I receive phone calls learning of another overdose, and many times, these phone calls are from parents or school administrators telling me that overdose was a child.”

Thorp was among those who penned letters of support and commitment for the work of Sallisaw NOW Coalition.

Amy Edwards, prevention services director for Sallisaw NOW Coalition, and Micki Kimble, special projects coordinator, explained their goals to the commissioners and what the organization has accomplished in the past four years as well as since Sallisaw NOW Coalition began in 2007. Kimble told the commissioners the organization is partnering with all county fire departments and police departments, and the county sheriff’s office.

Then Sallisaw City Manager Keith Skelton emphasized the need for the organization’s efforts and continued grant funding.

“Staff would like to continue the important work being completed by the Sallisaw NOW Coalition in their efforts to fight the overdose and fentanyl crisis affecting our communities,” Skelton told the commissioners at their monthly meeting. “To accomplish this, we are preparing to submit another grant application for First Responder-Comprehensive and Addiction Recovery Act (FR-CARA) grant monies, which would provide an additional $2 million over four years. This is the same grant we have been administering since 2019. The new funding would be used to continue providing awareness presentations, training and NARCAN distribution to individuals, public safety agencies and communities. The new grant would also provide additional funding to maintain NOW staff salaries.”

Skelton said the current grant has ensured that more than 230 local law enforcement personnel have received training to aid them in their fight against drugs in our communities. In addition, more than 3,100 overdose-reversal (NARCAN) kits were made available to local first responders and community members.

“Sallisaw NOW staff was able to conduct close to 100 presentations across Sequoyah County, and has received multiple invitations from across northeast Oklahoma to provide their fentanyl awareness presentation,” he said.

As part of the FR-CARA application, and to bolster grant-funding confidence and reinforce the vital work being proposed, letters of support and commitment have been received from Thorp, Sequoyah County Undersheriff Charles House, the Cherokee Nation Public Health and Ki Bois Community Action Foundation.

“We still rely on organizations like Sallisaw NOW Coalition to be proactive and increase awareness and, in emergency situations, ensure that those who encounter a potential overdose are properly trained and prepared for lifesaving measures,” Thorp wrote in his letter of support. “Given Sallisaw NOW Coalitions’s history and track record, I believe it would be an excellent candidate in receiving the funding and support offered by the FRCARA.”