TPD awarded $5,000 grant from HOPE for a Drug Free Stephens

HOPE for a Drug Free Stephens has awarded the Toccoa Police Department a $5,000 grant to fund outreach, education, and prevention of fatal and non-fatal Opioid overdoes in Toccoa.

According to HOPE for a Drug Free Stephens Co Chair Kathy Whitmire this funding will provide education for the officers, educational materials to support outreach in the community, oversight of a new drug take-back location, scholarships for drug treatment and NARCAN Nasal Spray.

Whitmire presented the check to the Toccoa Police Department on Friday, June 5.

She says this is a renewable grant for up to three years if all requirements are met.

Toccoa Police Chief Jimmy Mize says his office is “seeing more and more opioid related incidents in the City of Toccoa and this funding will help us address this problem with outreach and education in our community and a supply of the life-saving NARCAN nasal spray”

HOPE for a Drug Free Stephens is a collaborative effort between law enforcement, the hospital, physicians and mental health providers, employers, and community stakeholders that belong to the Stephens County Mental Health Collaborative formed in the summer of 2018.

The principle goals of the Collaborative are protecting our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in Stephens County.

The consequences of Opioid use effects everyone in Stephens County by impacting public safety, public health and the economic viability of our community.

The urgent need for community awareness and solutions for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is demonstrated by the fact that four overdoses and one death by overdose were reported in Stephens County in the last month.

For questions regarding HOPE for a Drug Free Stephens contact Whitmire by calling 706-491-3493.