Lexington-based The Courage Center one of four in U.S. to receive overdose reduction implementation
January 26, 2021
The Courage Center is one of four organizations in the country to receive an implementation grant from the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to fund local pilot projects to reduce overdoses.
The two major strategies of the Coordinated Overdose Response and Engagement (CORE) project are to:
1. Partner with Lexington County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to connect overdose survivors with a peer recovery support specialist from The Courage Center who will help the individuals and their families navigate local treatment, recovery, and wrap-around services.
2. Participate in an Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) Committee convened by the Lexington County Coroner’s Office that will examine overdose fatalities to identify gaps and opportunities for intervention.
The first strategy is initiated during EMS transport of an overdose survivor. Survivors will be given a CORE Care Pouch that holds a cell phone loaded with 60 pre-paid minutes and pre-programmed with The Courage Center’s phone number. Within 24 hours post-overdose, a certified recovery coach will call the phone to offer comprehensive resource navigation to community-based services to help them get and stay well.
The OFR Committee will thoroughly review selected cases representing various locations throughout the county (e.g., suburban and rural locations) and types of drugs (e.g., fentanyl, methamphetamine, etc.) involved in the overdose deaths.
“We are grateful for NACCHO’s support of our CORE project. CORE will allow for increased collaboration with our partners in Lexington County Emergency Services and Lexington County Public Safety to address polysubtance use and repeat overdoses,” said Dr. Pam Imm, chair of The Courage Center board of directors. “The innovation of this pilot project will allow us to connect survivors much more quickly to local resources and allow overdose fatality data to inform future initiatives.”
The Courage Center
The Courage Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that builds bridges between substance addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery by providing one-on-one recovery coaching and peer support services at no cost to our participants. We are the only Recovery Community Organization (RCO) in South Carolina focusing specifically on adolescents ages 14-18, young adults ages 19-26, and their families. We are located at 860 Park Road, Lexington, SC 29072. Reach us at (803) 369-3905 or at CourageCenterSC.org.
