BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – The Berkeley County Council received a total of $707K in opioid recovery to be distributed amongst nine local organizations on Friday.
This comes at a time when the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office reported 53 drug overdose deaths in 2024, a notable decrease from the 84 deaths in 2023. However, the numbers this year are expected to be higher than last year’s. Berkeley County has already seen more than 35 overdose deaths this year.
This is the third year Berkeley County has received opioid recovery.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for us to be a pass-through for this funding to be able to allow these nonprofits the opportunity to be on the front lines of the opioid epidemic so that they can do their part in combating of this epidemic,” Lechele Brown, Berkeley County grant administrator, says.
This year’s funding is specifically from a $26 billion national opioid settlement from manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies involved in the opioid epidemic. The money the organizations receive must be used for drugs to reverse opioid overdoses, opioid-related treatment, treatment for the incarcerated, prevention programs, syringe service programs and other remediation use.
“We have so many people who are battling issues that we don’t know anything about,” Brown says. “And it is good that we have their resources, and they can find like-minded individuals to help them get through this time in their lives when they find themselves at their lowest point.”
The Berkeley County Coroner’s Office will receive $100K in funds and says the funding will especially help them with toxicology for suspected drug overdoses throughout the county.
In 2023, the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office established an Overdose Fatality Review board to study fatal overdose cases and prevent future deaths. Agencies and organizations around South Carolina have been trying to help reduce the deaths caused by overdoses by providing businesses and other places with Narcan.
“The funding that we receive gives us opportunity to see more real-time data,” Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell says. “We’re dedicated, along with other departments, to try to stop this epidemic from happening and making sure the resources are there for the families.”
WakeUp Carolina is a nonprofit organization dedicated to awareness, education, and recovery from substance use disorders and will receive $100K in funds. They say the money is vital and will continue helping them break the stigma.
JR Weaver is the veterans program coordinator for WakeUp Carolina and leads a veteran support group every week. He says he sees how addiction recovery resources that his organization provides can change lives on a daily basis.
“It means a great deal to me because I was that veteran that came out of active duty without a plan and struggling with undiagnosed mental health issues, and it took about 14 years to actually seek veteran affairs treatment,” Weaver says. “Being in a position to help other veterans get through it, without everything that I had to go through, has been amazing for me.”
Berkeley County Council approved the following recipients for funding:
Berkeley County Coroner’s Office: $100,000
Changed Lives Ministry: $74,990
Ernest E. Kennedy Center: $80,754.80
Fair Haven Home for Men: $80,754.78
FAVOR Lowcountry: $80,754.78
Kay Phillips Child Advocacy Center: $80,754.80
Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office: $29,204
Remnant House Outreach Ministry: $80,755.48
WakeUp Carolina: $100,000
The organizations will receive the physical checks on Friday during an Opioid Awareness Event in partnership with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office and EMS. The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Berkeley County Administration Building. It is free and open to the public.
“Just a drop of hope would make a huge difference in someone’s life,” Weaver says. “Hope is the catalyst for change.”