Massachusetts Communities Receive Opioid Settlement Funds
Part Eight
By Luke Schmaltz, VOICES Newsletter Editor
This series explores how Massachusetts communities are accessing funds awarded from recent lawsuits against opioid retailers, manufacturers, and distributors. The cases were led by then-Attorney General Maura Healey and settled out of court in 2021 and 2022.
Charges were leveled against Walmart, CVS, Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, Purdue, and Walgreens. 351 municipalities statewide were awarded a total of $1 billion – to be distributed over the next decade-and-a-half. Leaders from each municipality determine how to spend the money based on the specific needs of the community.
Leadership in Boston
Brendan Little is the co-founder of HALO (Healing After Loss to Overdose), a program which supports people who have lost loved ones to overdose. “In 2014, I started working for the City of Boston as the Policy Director for the Office of Recovery Services,” Little begins. “I am in long-term recovery, and I have experienced the loss of many people – family and friends – to overdose, including my first 12-step sponsor.”
“My job at the city was to focus on substance use city-wide. We were the first municipal recovery office in the country, and we were tasked with being the glue that connected the various pieces of the recovery network. We frequently heard from residents in need of financial assistance after a loved one died from an overdose.”
“At the time, there was no money specifically allotted for this,” Little explains. “Sometimes we were able to help, many times we were not. Then, I met HALO co-founder, Elsa Gomes Bondlow, a Boston-based philanthropist of Cape Verdean descent. She’s an amazing person and she has a fund called the Social Equity Access Fund. She helps business owners from underserved communities. Her outreach is not centered around substance-use issues or recovery. But I knew she could get money out quickly, so I befriended her and asked for help.”
“We paid for 16 funerals over four years,” Little says. “Once the money from the opioid settlement started coming into the city’s general fund, we decided to advocate for more money to put towards this initiative.”
Generational Dynamics
“Governor Baker appointed me to the ORRF (Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund) Committee during the initial meetings on how to spend the settlement money. During the two years I was on that committee, I kept asking, ‘What about the families left behind by an overdose death? How are we going to help them?’”
“The response was usually something like, ‘That is so sad, but we need to spend this money on getting people into treatment or on harm reduction.’ While I share those concerns, I was compelled to keep emphasizing that this is once-in-a-generation money. The damage done by opioids is a generational problem, and the settlement money is a generational solution.”
“There is a public component to this. People need to know that the dollars are getting to the streets, and HALO presents a very tangible way of doing that.”
Interrupting Grief
“Paying for a funeral at a family’s time of need is a way of letting them know they are worthy of support and community and that other people care about them. That type of interruption in their trauma and grief can prevent them from going down the same road as their deceased loved one. No amount of money can ever make up for all the loss, but we can mitigate some of the harm and head off future problems.”
“We applied for funds through the Boston Bullpen Project (BBP) and in October 2024, we were awarded a grant of $375,000. This was named the Family Overdose Support Fund, and we launched in January of this year. In regard to how the opioid settlement money is being spent nationwide, nothing like HALO exists – at least not on this scale.”
Scalable Outreach
Now that their initial vision for HALO is taking shape, Little and Bondlow are setting their sights on how to utilize the organizational framework as a template for other communities. “We are hoping to partner with other cities, potentially the state, and potentially other states,” Little says. “We want the HALO model to be available to anyone who wants to emulate it.”
Progress in Belchertown
In June, 2024, VOICES spoke with Kris Hoag, Chair of Belchertown Overcoming Adversity Together (BOAT). Hoag and her colleagues assembled an opioid settlement fund committee, which first convened in November 2023.
They broadcast the committee’s charge to the community via newspaper and held a public forum in the town hall. Residents were invited to learn what the funds could be used for and how to apply for spending consideration.
Initially, funding for two projects was approved: an after-school program for middle-school kids and a budgetary enhancement for Drug-Free Community. Funding for the latter allowed expansion of opioid prevention outreach.
Recently, Hoag followed up with VOICES to share the effects this process is having on the community.
VOICES: What have you and your team learned throughout this process?
Kris Hoag: Consistency is paramount. We meet once a month to discuss outside proposals and ideas on how we may better serve our community.
Patience is key. The processes take time, as the OSF (Opioid Settlement Funds) committee meets once a month. A proposal that is passed may take up to two months to finalize.
Another thing we learned is that we need to educate our community members at large about the availability of monies. We reached out to Honest Beginnings, a local men’s sober house with 12 beds, and invited them to our last OSF meeting to discuss opportunities for funding. This was highly successful, as we are creating a few projects with them.
V: Are there specific effects the implementation of the funds is having on the community?
KH: The after-school programming provides a safe space, provides positive relationships with mentors, and opportunities for developing healthy behaviors. Young people who engage in afterschool programs reduce the risk of substance use through the development of protective or resiliency factors such as school connectedness, self-control, self-confidence, and quality peer relationships.
The additional Drug-Free Community funding allowed the expansion of services beyond prevention to include treatment, harm reduction, and recovery.
V: What advice can you offer to leaders in other municipalities who may be at the initial stages of this process?
KH: Take it slow. Make sure a clear process is in place for others to apply for funds.
Create a committee. This will ensure money is being spent how they are supposed to be spent. Keep track of ALL data. Have an open public information session for community members. Publicize in the local newspaper what the OSF entails. Have a 12-month action plan. Get people on board who are invested and supportive of the recovery community, substance prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.
V: Has this process improved communication between community leaders, residents, and members of the local and regional government?
KH: Absolutely. Our OSF members are very active in our community. We are vocal and take the opportunity to educate businesses and community members through outreach, tabling at events, and inviting organizations to meetings. We are a connected community and that makes a big difference in how we operate.
Communication in Cape Cod
In July, 2023, VOICES spoke with Beverly Costa-Ciavola from the Cape Cod Neighborhood Support Coalition. Her team created a comprehensive model for communicating with residents through public forums to determine the needs of the community. This information was then used to formulate a strategic plan to direct the settlement money to the areas of greatest need.
In a recent follow up with Costa-Ciavola, VOICES learned more about how the plan is rolling out into the community.
VOICES: How is the process of determining how to spend the settlement money unfolding from where things were in July 2023?
Beverly Costa-Ciavola: The Commission formed a group to review the incoming grant applications after the Town put out an RFP. We reviewed them and chose five organizations to receive funds. A new round of grants will be given out in the spring. We also have a mechanism in place to distribute smaller, rolling grants throughout the year, up to $1000.
V: What have you and your team learned throughout this process?
BCC: We learned that the process of listening to our community goes a long way in building trust, and we have been able to engage some of those community members in other things the Commission is doing, such as community events.
V: Are there specific effects the implementation of the funds is having on the community?
BCC: I think it is much too early to determine effects. The grant cycle is in the middle and we have not yet received reports for the groups that received money.
V: What advice can you offer to leaders in other municipalities who may be at the initial stages of this process?
BCC: The Barnstable County Substance Addiction Council has been sharing widely the report that was written about the process, and we have seen two other towns following our lead.
V: Has this process improved communication between community leaders, residents, and members of the local government?
BCC: I think it is too early to determine improvements in communication, except to say the town selectboard and town manager's office have been very supportive and we continue to reach out to them.