21-05-2025
West Virginia First Foundation recognizes grant recipients fighting substance use crisis
SUTTON, (WBOY) — About a year after opening its doors, the West Virginia First Foundation (WVFF) celebrated those who have received its Initial Opportunity Grant on Tuesday.
The WVFF opened up applications for the grant around eight months ago, and Tuesday marked the end of the grant period in which the WVFF awarded $17 million to 94 projects throughout West Virginia to address substance use disorder.
The recipients, including non-profits, community organizations, local governments and law enforcement, gathered Tuesday to be recognized.
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'We're celebrating the doers of the state, the people that are the tip of the spear. They've gone through a very challenging and robust application process and they've proven the worth of these projects. They are all so valuable and these are the folks that take these tools that we can provide and get them back into the communities,' Jonathan Board, Executive Director of West Virginia First Foundation, said
Several times throughout the event, speakers mentioned how there was a 43% decrease in overdose deaths in West Virginia in 2024, but the West Virginia First Foundation said that there's still a lot of work to be done.
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