Four Fort Wayne groups receive mini grants
Four Fort Wayne organizations working to address opioid and substance use in the community have received funding from the city’s Opioid Settlement Fund Mini Grant Program.
The City announced on Monday that each of the four groups received $10,000, marking the program’s first mini grant payouts.
Mayor Sharon Tucker’s office says the effort seeks to expand the reach of settlement resources to community organizations and pilot projects.
In 2024, 58 overdose deaths and 583 emergency department visits due to drug overdoses were recorded in 2024.
Tucker’s office says the grants are being awarded to local groups that “are already meeting people where they are and filling gaps that larger systems cannot always reach”.
The grant recipients are as follows:
Action Over Silence - Veteran Peer Support & Harm Reduction
Action Over Silence will use its grant to expand veteran-to-veteran peer support and harm reduction services for service members, veterans, and their families across Fort Wayne.
Forgotten Stones - Behavioral Health Integration for Individuals Transitioning from Homelessness
Forgotten Stones operates Fort Wayne’s only emergency day shelter serving adults experiencing homelessness who have some income but do not qualify for traditional housing programs. With this grant, Forgotten Stones will launch a behavioral health integration pilot, embedding licensed counseling, psychiatric telehealth consultation, and clinical assessment capabilities directly into its housing stabilization program.
The Language Access Lab - Opioid Service Language Access Pilot
Allen County is home to thousands of households with limited English proficiency, yet local recovery and harm reduction services have lacked the language proficiency to effectively serve them. The Language Access Lab will expand the reach of Fort Wayne’s recovery ecosystem to residents who speak Spanish, Burmese, and other languages in communities that have historically been excluded from life-saving services.
The Lighthouse Thrift Store - Workforce Development Through Recovery-Integrated Thrift Store Operations
The Lighthouse Thrift Store will use its grant to expand workforce development opportunities for program participants through hands-on employment training in its thrift store operations.
