MOUNT VERNON — Four local organizations will receive a total of $100,000 to support programs that help heal children and families affected by addiction.

Knox County commissioners awarded TouchPointe Community Resources, Knox Public Health, Knox County Head Start and the Knox Health Planning Partnership $25,000 each.

The money comes from Knox County’s share of the opioid settlement dollars that the state of Ohio negotiated with pharmaceutical companies.

The commissioners and the Knox OneOhio Advisory Work group created a grant program to disburse the county’s share.

Kay Spergel, executive director of Mental Health & Recovery of Licking and Knox Counties, and Lisa Lloyd, senior program director at the Knox County Foundation, presented the work group’s recommendations to the commissioners on Nov. 4.

Spergel said the four organizations are experienced with managing funding and grant applications.

“We can say from a standpoint of capacity that they are able to manage this and manage it correctly,” she said.

“Each one of them has its own unique way of approaching the same issue and similar sorts of outcomes, which are to stabilize families and children and to assist with the impact that addiction has had on the kids and families.”

Lloyd said, “All of them had detailed conversations with us ahead of time about the proposals they wanted to make, so they did a lot of research.”

Spergel agreed that the four applicants understand the community’s needs.

“They’ve done their homework. They have some data to demonstrate,” she said. “Obviously they have some data that demonstrates need, but they also are presenting evidence-based practices that they know have worked and been successful in other places.”

Commissioners test the waters with Round 1 of funding

Knox County’s opioid fund had around $300,000 before the commissioners awarded the four grants. All of the projects are one-year projects.

Spergel recommended the commissioners hold off on awarding additional grant funding until they see the organizations’ results, noting they might want to continue funding these four agencies.

Conversely, the commissioners might decide $25,000 is not enough or that money should go to other programs that focus on different areas, such as the legal system or first responders.

“As a beginning, this gives you a little bit more control to decide what it is that you want, and what you would like to see, and what outcomes you would like to see obtained as a result of this funding,” she said.

“We can gauge the success and then decide where we want to put future funding. And it helps them get their feet wet a little bit because they may look at their own results and see it was better to go this direction with the money than another.”

OneOhio’s Region 18

In addition to each county receiving opioid settlement funds, the OneOhio Recovery Foundation receives settlement money.

The foundation created 19 regional boards to evaluate programs in their respective areas. The boards then recommend projects to the foundation board for funding.

Spergel represents Knox County on the Region 18 board and serves as its chair. Morrow, Marion, Union, Delaware, Licking, and Fairfield counties round out the region.

The Ohio Foundation will release Round 2 applications in December. Applications are due in January 2026, and the regional boards will make recommendations in February.

In Round 1, Region 18 received $2.3 million, and applicants could choose to request funding for one, two, or three years.

Round 2 is smaller, with a pot of $1.9 million. This time, all projects must request a duration of two years.

“There were 79 or 80 applicants for the last go around, so it will be highly competitive,” Spergel said.

by Cheryl Splain November 7, 2025