Beatitude House Receives $140K for Peer Support Specialist

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Beatitude House has received a $140,500 grant to support its efforts in fighting addiction by delivering recovery support services.

The grant from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation will go toward providing a peer support specialist and other support, said Brigid Kennedy, president and CEO of Ursuline Sisters Mission.

“Substance abuse is a major cause of homelessness,” said Whitney Washington, Beatitude House director. “This grant will allow us to add a peer support staff member with lived experience to work specifically with residents experiencing active substance abuse or are in recovery, allowing them to break free from the cycle of addiction.”

Alisha Nelson, executive director of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, said the foundation is “pleased to partner with Beatitude House to support their efforts to save lives, rebuild families affected by addiction and foster strong and resilient places to live.”

The recipients announced as part of the foundation’s first grant cycle were chosen after a review process that included evaluation by the local OneOhio Regional Board, the OneOhio Expert Panel and the foundation’s board of directors.

The grant is part of an inaugural round of approximately $51 million in funding made available by the foundation as part of its mission to combat the opioid epidemic by supporting prevention, treatment and recovery programs and services. The grant money was funded by 55 percent of settlement funds the state is receiving from the pharmaceutical industry because of its role in the national opioid epidemic.

Beatitude House, which has provided housing in the Mahoning Valley for more than 30 years, is a ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown and is overseen by the Ursuline Sisters Mission. For more information about Beatitude House, visit the Ursuline Sisters website.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.