BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – Governor Jim Justice signed the West Virginia First Foundation (WVFF) into law in 2022 to provide about a billion dollars of funding throughout the mountain state to combat the opioid epidemic. Now, applications for the “Initial Opportunity Grant’ will be reviewed. The WVFF received applications from non-profits, tax-exempt organizations and organizations with a statewide presence and they will be reviewed by the grant committee and expert panel, using a scoring rubric based on specified criteria with a final say from the WVFF Board of Directors.
“In this initial opportunity grant process, we’ve allocated just over 19 million dollars throughout the states and regions,” said WVFF’s Executive Director, Jonathan Bard. “We set up target areas like diversion programs, youth prevention, child advocacy, and transitional and recovery housing. In those areas, we just were really excited to receive applications from people who were interested. ”The $19.2 million allocated …